Winter

It was unseasonably cold here for several days - we even had a light dusting of snow - but it has warmed up a bit the last few days though still damp and cold. Here's what it looked like along the West Bay Walkway this morning.

Worth a Second Look - 4

I've taken many photos of these huge floating hotels while they are moored at Ogden Point or entering or leaving the harbor but I think this is my favorite. I took it in May 2011. There was lots of snow on the Olympic Peninsula mountains that year. I like the contrast between the bright mountains in the background and the dark rocks of Work Point in the foreground and the way these two features frame the huge ship.

Autumn on Work Point

Cold nights lately are making the leaves turn. Here's what it looks like on Work Point, the westernmost end of the Inner Harbour.

Stormy Weather

Victoria is usually a sunny place but lately the weather has been pretty much as pictured above. This is the entrance to the Inner Harbour, Work Point on the right and the Ogden Point Breakwater beyond the rocks.You can see the people out for a Sunday stroll on the breakwater when the rain let up for awhile.

Autumn

Fog creeps over the western end of the Inner Harbour at Work Point while a vee of migrating geese passes high overhead.

Work Point from the West Bay Walkway

Here's another photo I took on a recent walk along the West Bay Walkway. Right next to the West Bay Marina and its float homes is a small RV Park, visible on the right in this photo. We are looking southwest towards Work Point, the western side of the entrance to the Inner Harbour.

Mobile Homes

Here's another shot taken from the top of the Matson Lands, overlooking the West Bay Marina. On the right we can see some of the float homes that are moored there. Just to the left of them is an RV Park where another type of mobile home is moored, these ones with wheels. It looks like a great place to park for the winter.

Pale Landscape

Fern likes winter's muted colors which is a good thing because even the most vibrant landscape such as Work Point pictured above is looking pretty washed out at this time of year when compared to summer's saturated colors.

West Bay Walkway

Here's another from a recent walk along the West Bay Walkway, the westernmost portion of a footpath that encircles the entire Inner Harbour. Here we are looking westward towards Work Point (on the far right), one side of the entrance to the Victoria Harbour. Those distant peaks are on the Olympic Peninsula in the USA.

Westsong Walkway

Here's a little different view of the Westsong Walkway that goes from Vic West to Songhees Point (just off screen to the right). This photo was taken from the RV Campground on Work Point.

Work Point

This photo is taken looking in the same direction as yesterday's but from below and eastwards on the West Bay Walkway. If you want to orient yourself, look at the RV Camp in roughly the centre of yesterday's photo. Part of the same camp is visible on the far right of today's photo. Here we are really looking at the entrance to Victoria's Inner Harbour. Any vessel entering the harbour must pass between Work Point (on the right) and the Ogden Point Breakwater (on the left). Blustery weather lately has given us some great cloud formations.

Skyline

We'll start off the new year with a photo from a few days ago of the Victoria skyline seen from Macaulay Point, just west of the entrance to the Inner Harbour. The rocky area in the left foreground is Work Point. The two red and white ships are Canadian Coast Guard ships moored at the Coast Guard wharf. The tallest building near the center of the photo is the Sussex Building and below it can be seen the red brick towers of St. Andrew's Church, both on Douglas Street. If you click on the photo you can see a much larger version (3,000 pixels wide).

Misty Morning

Work Point House

When I snapped this photo on my morning walk a few days ago it was mostly because I liked the goose standing so alertly on the top of this rocky little island. When I got home, however, I was also pleased to see that it was a nice capture of the interesting stone house on Work Point in the background. The house was built by John Henson, a stone mason. He and his family lived there from 1929 to 1939 when Work Point became of wartime strategic significance since it marks one side of the entrance to the Inner Harbour. The house then became a part of the Work Point Barracks. Apparently it is still as solid as when it was erected, a tribute to John Henson's skills.

Floating Hotel

Victoria is now well into cruise ship season and between now and October we will see hundreds of these huge floating luxury hotels. The one pictured above is the Radiance of the Seas while it was making the turn to enter the Ogden Point Cruise Ship Terminal. The rocky point in the foreground on the right is Work Point, which marks the western side of the entrance to the Inner Harbour. Ogden Point is just off camera to the left. Click the name of the ship above for a virtual tour of its interior. These ships are quite extraordinary and are much removed from the ocean liner I boarded 50 years ago the first time I crossed the Atlantic. In those days an ocean liner was a means of transportation. Now it is a way of life. Some of these ships have been built as condominiums where the residents live aboard more or less permanently and decide collectively where to cruise, etc.

Lately....

The weather has been clear and cold and although some of the spring flowers are appearing, spring is only just beginning. This photo, taken yesterday, gives a better idea of how far spring has progressed. Most of the trees are just showing a blush of green though some kinds have leafed out considerably. This is the view of the western side of the entrance to the Inner Harbour as seen from the Westsong Walkway. In the distance, center, is Work Point With the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula dimly visible in the distance.

Work Point

Here's a view of Victoria's Inner Harbour that is probably not too familiar even to the city's residents. It was taken from the western point that marks the entrance to the harbour, called Work Point. It is on the opposite side of the harbour from where I often photograph the city. On the left side of the photo, the large green patch that can be seen marks one side of Lyme Bay, my usual haunt, where Spinnakers is located. Off camera to the extreme right is Ogden Point, which marks the eastern side of the entrance to the harbour and is where the cruise ships dock.