Vancouver Island Jewel.... Chemainus

I’m a little embarrassed by the paltry amount of exploring I have done on my very own Island.  I was born here, why have I not seen this before?  Behold, Chemainus, BC. a jewel the Island can be proud of.  This lovely little church is St.Michael and All Angels Anglican.  Isn't it gorgeous.  

On our way home from our Victoria getaway Sweetie and I stopped in Chemainus.  I though “what a perfect place for photo ops!”  I have to tell you it’s much more than that. Of course I took tons of photos but when I put the camera down, I saw a wonderful small town, with friendly people, amazing scenery and the most amazing Art everywhere.

These murals cover the sides of some massive buildings.  They are spectacular.

 The brushwork on this lovely lady is wonderful. 

 Sweetie made a wish .... probably that I would hurry up already!

 We found a lovely little park on the waterfront to stop for a picnic.  What a view.

My favourite mural of all....

Let the melting begin....

 A quick walk about this morning reveals with an unexpected freeze overnight... the beauty of icicles.  We don't see them very often here.   I guess I really shouldn't stand underneath them very long.

 This poor plant is directly in the path of the snow melt coming off the roof.  Good thing it's a hardy specimen.

 Isn't this tangled twisted peice of ice amazing!!

 A sneak peak of the Vancouver Island mountain range... if we were able to trim some of those maple trees we would have a spectacular view.  But since they grow like weeds here, there's really no use!

 Icy gorgeousness!

Some snow damage.  I think this is fortuitous,  these branches always hit me in the head when I mow the lawn.  :)  Wow, we will be doing lots of cleanup after this winter.

Sea to Sky, or in our case, Sky to Sea

We are almost home... that is almost back to the coast.  How I miss the ocean.  While I love to visit the interior of BC I know I could not live that far away from that big beautiful ocean.

Little sneak peaks of the Squamish River as we sail along Highway 99 south.

The famed Britannia Beach, home of the BC Museum of mining.

You know you are closer to the coast when you spot an arbutus tree.

We're getting closer to horseshoe bay.  Little do we know what kind of ferry wait is ahead.  I really recommend if you are headed for Vancouver Island, and really, why wouldn't you be...reserve a spot on the  ferry to save yourself the pain of waiting for two sailings. When will we learn?

Okay, this is just dazzling. I so love the ocean.

The last shot of the trip.  We are almost home.