It has been a busy last few months, lots of work, lots of work at home too. After several weeks, we have finally managed to get both bikes up and on the road – it was quite the task. We had mine repaired, and not 2 days after getting it back, the tire died on it again. Luckily the bike shop replaced it again at no charge–damned faulty inner tubes. They were quite good despite the issue of the tire.

Today we finally had the chance to go out and enjoy the bikes. I am glad to find that we didn’t lose to much of what we had gained from the bikes last summer. We had little issue with the hills. This time last year we would have never been able to ride like we did today.

We were out biking for close to 4 hours. we ended up going down to the rocky beach down in Oak Bay and sat on the beach for about half an hour, before continuing down the scenic rout down to Ogden Point (where the cruise ship launch from) We ended up down on Fisherman’s Wharf and having this wonderful meal of fresh local fish and chips, while the harbour seals played just bellow us.

The Wharf itself is an interesting sight, wonderful fresh local fish can be bought to take home, or eaten right on site, whale watching and harbour tours launch from there as well. The character of the building at the wharf was amazing. there were some 30 “floating homes” of all different colour, size and shap. Some ranging from little bachelor sizes homes to a massive 2 floor home with the roff as a large balcony. Definitely a sight to see.

All and all, we spent about 4 hours in the lovely 32 degree weather biking around this beautiful island. It was a wonderful day, and a real treat.

Been a pretty good weekend. We had Kate’s sister and friend come into town on Sunday. I picked them up from the ferry, and then the adventure began. The plan was to go to the Merridale Cidery. Apparently it was an hour outside of Victoria. So I programmed the address into my GPS and was surprised to see it was only 20km from the ferries. Excellent! we will get there nice and early. Except the GPS wanted us to drive through the ocean. No as much as I would like to have an amphibious car, I don’t have the means to drive through the ocean. Okay fair enough. My GPS could just be screwy. Sometimes that happens with software. So Sharon pulls out her GPS. And the same thing happened again.

Well this is no good. We will just have to head back into town and go from there. We managed to make it back to Victoria, despite the two GPS systems yelling different directions at us in an attempt to prove superiority over the other (we listened to neither at this point). At this point they both start agreeing again, and we start out to the cidery once again. Just to have them send us into off-road/private road routes. Most likely at this point the just wanted to watch the humans dance to their tune. Again we make it back to the highway and drive a bit further, and the system sends us on this long circuitous route. But finally we are there.

So we went in, had our tasting, bought some cider and decided it was time for lunch. It was raining so we sat in the car, and started listening to some music. And apparently we listened to it for a little too long; we killed the battery.

So off to find jumper cables I go. Of course no one has any, and I finally cave and call a tow truck. Right atfer, Rhian asks some people who just pulled up if they had any jumper cables. Nope. of course not. What the did have however, was muscle power. I drive a standard, and there is this neat trick called a push start. So we push my car down a hill, and thank the gods, it worked.

Of course we still hadn’t learned with the GPS, and we try to follow it back home. Only for it to send us to to the same closed roads. At this point we figure they might as well be speaking Norwegian as the directions fron the device were utterly useless. So we sett it to Norwegian, We figured it was actually more helpful this way, as at least we now know how to say “Turn Left”

~Dusk

Clouds paint the sky grey and silver, causing a dreamy feeling to wash down over me, like the showers that hang in the air. But instead of enjoying the weather, I sit inside my blue and grey cube with none of the diffuse sunlight in sight.

I am missing having a full weekend off, Split days leave little time to do anything. With the exception of Sundays, one of us is always working, and of course on opposite schedules as well. I find that our days off get too packed with things, that we either get nothing done, or have a harder time finding a day to relax.

We finally made it to the beach last week. The salt air, cool waters and burning sand was revitalizing. Sail boats lined the horizon, and sunbathers line the sand. I forgot how salty the sea is. We came back, covered in sand and salt, and with a memory card full of photos.

To finish of the day at the beach, we had a Mediterranean inspired meal. Pork stuffed with Spinach, feta and pepper, Hummus and pita, Feta Spinach pastries. All finished with a lemon shisha. The meal was deceptively colourless. All pale and greys and yellows. But one bite into a pastry or patty, and the colour and flavour poured out. Vibrant greens and reds quickly took over the plate. as we savoured our patio meal.

From there we went down to the Inner Harbour to watch the Symphony play. They were set up on a barge, in front of the Legislative grounds. The night ended with Fireworks to the 1812 Overture. The music was great, but the fireworks were rather lack luster.

This week hasn’t been the best on our bikes, Kate’s gears shattered on her Wednesday afternoon. My rear tire is blown. Tomorrow we will have to try and patch together the bicycles. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult to repair.

Today ended up being a beautiful day. There was this consistent mist that just begged for us to wander.We are finally starting to learn the area around us. Everywhere we go is so colourful. There are deep forest greens with spots of electric and saturated colors; the overcast skys caused all of the colours to pop brilliantly.

It is very different wandering on the coast. There is no flat, dull areas, every place has a story to tell. Roads curve , rise and fall. Trees and shrubbery create overarching tunnels and gateways. There is a life to the city and streets that is so welcoming. The city seems to embody the wanderer’s spirit that resides in us.

~Dusk||