So Long Victoria – Hello Cowichan Valley

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Day 6 

Of course, we started our day with a delicious breakfast at The Ruby on Douglas!  We had really liked their coffee, so we picked up a package of it at the local roaster  – Tide Thief Discovery Coffee, roasted in Victoria, BC.  Yum.

Then we packed up, checked out, and headed down to Clover Point Park – the southern-most tip of Vancouver Island.  We missed low tide, but there were still tide pools to explore, and we did see a few sea creatures.  Next we went further up the eastern shore to Cattle Point Dark Sky Urban Star Park, where we explored a few more tide pools.  Two interesting facts about this park: 

(1)    Per the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, “An Urban Star Park is an area in which artificial lighting is strictly controlled and active measures are in place to educate and promote the reduction of light pollution to the public and nearby municipalities. Sky glow from beyond the borders of the Reserve may be visible to observers within the area, but the skies are still usable for astronomy.”
(2)    From 1860 to 1910, cattle were pushed overboard from paddle steamers, operated by Hudson’s Bay Company, to swim ashore to what is now Cattle Point.  (In 1860, the company closed Fort Vancouver and moved its headquarters of the Columbia Department to Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island.)

After exploring Cattle Point, we headed north on BC 1 to Lake Cowichan, our home for the night, as we stage in for riding the Cowichan Valley Trail.  Serendipitously, we stopped in the cute town of Mill Bay for a picnic lunch.  (There was an accident-caused slowdown on BC 1 ahead of us, and Google Maps suggested a workaround through Mill Bay.)

After settling in to our hotel, we explored Cowichan, did a little grocery shopping, checked out the trail we will be riding tomorrow, and had a good dinner and dessert at the Cow Café and Cookhouse. 

All set for a joyful ride tomorrow!

Diane & Rob

First the coffee.................then the Tide Pools






















Shells
A jellyfish trapped at the transition between the tide pools and deep dark sea.

Kelp hoping for a high tide.
And two pics of Diane at her cutest, Rob







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