Tag Archives: Vancouver island

Port Alberni River Mist

The drive across Vancouver Island on our way back to the ferry was exceedingly pretty. The temperature in the passes was pretty low and what I imagine happens is that the mist freezes on to the trees. The result was these beautiful white trees looking like they had been created as some Christmas decoration. We were on a main road so no chance to stop and photograph them but, as we got down to Port Alberni, the mist was still around.

As we crossed the river, we got a view along the water between the trees with the mist hanging over the surface. It looked really beautiful. I stopped further along the road where I found a gap in the trees and could get down to the bank. Once out of the car, I figured that the cold temperatures could be handled for a short while and walked back to the bridge. We had a ferry to catch so I wasn’t going to spend too long exploring but this might prove to be a very photogenic place to explore if you had the time.

Butchart Gardens Christmas Lights

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While we got to Butchart Gardens before the sun set as seen in this post, the purpose of the visit was to see the illuminations. I had been there before during the day and knew it was a pretty garden but I didn’t know what to expect with the illuminations. I thought it might be pretty but was not expecting it to be so dramatic. The first are had some lovely lights within the trees with animated icicles. We then followed a route around the gardens to cover all of the areas. These areas also included displays themed around the twelve days of Christmas.

One area that really blew me away was a section under tree cover where they had lasers mounted on the tree trunks that scattered their light into the canopy above. The effect was magical and I spent a long time looking up at it as well as trying to get a decent shot of it. On one, the lens wasn’t originally zoomed out and so it drifted a little in zoom. The result was rather good but not what was needed. I like it but it will stay out of public sight.

Walking down in to the valley below the main house, the lighting was absolutely amazing. The density of light installations and the use of color was really impressive. The use of trees and plants to catch the light was great as was the use of some of the surrounding rock. They also had some streams of blue lights to give the effect of flowing water.

We had arrived at the gardens before the sun went down and we got in very quickly. There was no traffic. As a result, we had seen the whole display after dark relatively early in the evening. We were able to head back to town and, as we started to drive out, the traffic coming in was awful. We were sailing out but the cars were backed up the hill. I imagine it would take a long time to get in. I think our timing worked well.

Martin Mars Storage

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The days of the Martin Mars flying boats are probably done. Coulson had been flying them on firefighting duties but they have been superseded by more modern and cost efficient types. One of the airframes had been painted up in US Navy colors as what was supposed to be a move to a museum but that plan fell through. The two airframes are now sitting on the ramp at Sproat Lake and are showing no sign of moving.

The drive to Tofino takes you right past the Coulson facility so I stopped off on the way over. They don’t take visitors anymore so I just took a look through the fence. On the way over, I was really looking in to the sun so getting a shot was tricky. On our way back a few days later, we had made progress compared to schedule and the light was on the better side so I stopped off briefly to get a couple of more shots. I wonder what the future holds for these planes?

Butchart Cove

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Just before Christmas we made a trip to Vancouver Island to see Butchart Gardens at night with their illuminations. We got there before the sun went down and took a stroll through the Japanese Garden, a section that is closed for the night event. At the bottom of the garden, you come to Butchart Cove. There was a hole in the trees that provided a very predictable but worthwhile frame for the view into the cove. I decided to go for HDR for the shot given the extreme range of light between the shady trees and the exposed cove.

Tree Stumps on the Beach (With Frost)

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Walking along Long Beach in Tofino early in the morning, it was still pretty cold. The lack of wind meant it was perfectly comfortable in the sun but the air temps were low. The result was lots of frost on the tree stumps that were scattered along the beach. The texture of the cross section of the wood was already accentuated by weathering but the addition of the frost provided a bit more emphasis to the surface.

Nanaimo Heliport

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Our journey home from Tofino involved a ferry crossing from Nanaimo. We left plenty of time to get across the island as a result of some construction activity and, of course, we made it across easily. We were to early to check in for the ferry so waited in Nanaimo for a while. As we sat in the car, I saw an S-76 from HeliJet coming in to land. I had forgotten that HeliJet flew to Nanaimo as well as Victoria. Missing the arrival was annoying as they aren’t too frequent and there wouldn’t be another until after we had gone to the ferry.

However, departure on the return leg was not for a while so we headed around to the heliport. I assume it is a recent construction because it is a very modern looking building. The S-76 was parked on the pad right by the parking lot and with only a low fence unlike Victoria. It was a bit rainy so I stayed in the car until they loaded up. After start up and letting everything stabilize, they pulled up and headed out over the water en route to Vancouver. This might be a good spot on a sunny day!

Sunset Over The Beach in Tofino

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Three nights in Tofino meant three chances at sunset. Actually, it was more like two as we got there the first evening just a bit after sunset itself but the sky was still really lovely. The second night things were a bit more subdued as the sky was rather clear and there was little to reflect the last rays of the sun. The last night was far more impressive with some cloud on the horizon but obviously more in the atmosphere to glow. Here are a few shots of the sun dropping down and the lovely sky we had to enjoy as we relaxed by the beach.