Young Buck

I took a spin up to Walbran Park this afternoon for the view and was rewarded by being able to spend a pleasant half-hour with this young Blacktail buck. Though he kept a wary eye on me he allowed me to come quite close. As you can see in the photo to the left, I'm not the only one who is fond of Camas Lilies.

Looking West

I like this view from Gonzales Hill because while it is high enough to let you see what is ordinarily not visible such as the general shape of the landscape and the houses' roofs, it is also close enough to be intimate in that you can see the details on the houses, their sundecks and porches, sidewalks and the stairways they have built for shoreline access. In this photo we are looking westwards from the top of Gonzalez Hill, just in front of the the white observatory building posted here yesterday. Directly below is Gonzales Beach. In the distance on the right, Clover Point can be seen and beyond that on the horizon are the hills of Metchosin.

Walbran Park

Here's a view of MacNeil Bay that has never graced the pages of this blog before. We are here looking east from a tiny green space called Walbran Park. It's very close to Gonzales Observatory but seems to be a separate summit of the same rocky hill formation. However, while Gonzales provides beautiful views looking over the city and strait westwards, Walbran offers spectacular views looking towards the east. See Mount Baker on the far left.

Castle in the Air

On Gonzales Hill if you go around behind the Observatory (yesterday's photo) and look over the city towards the northwest this is the view you will see. In the upper left of this photo you can see what looks like a castle with red towers and turrets. It is a castle, Craigdarroch Castle, and we'll have a closer look at it tomorrow.

Gonzales Observatory

Take a few steps back from yesterday's photo and you will see Gonzales Observatory. It's no longer a functioning observatory but it's such a beautiful building that I don't care. It always reminds me of those photos of white Greek villages perched on rocky hilltops overlooking the Mediterranean.

Gonzales Bay, Ross Bay and Clover Point

This is the view from Gonzales Hill looking the same direction as Saturday's photo. In the foreground is Gonzales Bay and beyond that is Ross Bay, bounded by Clover Point. There were patches of the luscious purple Camas Lilies blooming in all the rock crevices atop the hill.

Gonzales Hill Shrouded

On a recent walk the fog rolled in and created such a eerie mood. - Fern