Bonaire - Above the water!

There is a lot of beauty below the sea in Bonaire but there is also lots to see on land!

Flamingo Airport - yes it's pink! 

The weather was hot and humid - about 30⁰C every day with sun and cloud and a nice  gentle breeze.

Every day, twice a day, we boarded a boat from this dock, to head out to one of the many spots on the reef to dive. We also shore dove, snorkeled and swam from here.

The Divi Dive dock

There were different shades of Bougainvillea and lots of birds - yellow canaries, green parakeets, frigate birds; many monarch butterflies and a wide variety of reptiles from small geckos to 7 ft. long iguanas sauntering across the road! 

The beach view from our hotel room

Monarch Butterflies

Lizard

Tropical Crabs

Tropical Crabs shyly hid on the rocks below the beach and dock. I was able to capture some photos of them from the water.

Slave Huts - outside

Bonaire is in the Caribbean Ocean. It is about 39 kms long and only 5 kms wide and is 80 kms off the shore of Venezuela, near Caracas.

Due to the limited supply of vehicles Keith and I rented one scooter to tour the Island on our last day. The engine sounded dicey a few times and worried it wouldn't make it to the top of a steep hill I got off and walked.

Nevertheless we had a great day!

Slave Hut - inside

Bonaire's main resource is salt which is produced through evaporation. We witnessed vast pink pools of it on the Island. Some of the pools were inhabited by flamingos.

Bonaire was colonized by the Spanish in the 1600s, followed by the Dutch. Repressively indigenous people were enslaved to harvest the solar salt.  The huts below - photos outside and inside - were set up for them to stay in while they worked harvesting and then loading the ships that pulled up to Obelisks, like the orange one below, identifying the location of  the salt.

Obelisk marker to let boats know where to load up salt 

Flamingos in flight

Bonaire is one of only four nesting grounds for flamingos in the world. We saw hundreds of them in the salt pools and in Washington Slagbaii National Park on the north end of the island (below).

Flamingos at the salt pans

Bonaire's winds are perfect for kite surfing and wind surfing

Due to the dry, arid climate cactus grow well and tall. We had never seen such tall cactus.  

A cactus fence - that will keep people out! Ouch! 

The tallest cactus we've ever seen - upwards of 10 ft. 

Washington Slagbaai National Park

Wild donkeys and wild goats are found on the Island.  

Timid wild donkeys

Recycling and protecting the ocean is important.  By 2020 sunscreen that contains  oxybenzone,  that kills the coral will be banned completely. We were required to have a reusable water bottle with us on the dive boat.
The reefs are part of a protected Marine Park that was established in 1992. 

We were there for 8 days and there was only one small cruise ship at a time on 4 different days.

Colourful houses

San Bernardo Catholic Church

Recycled flip-flop art by #Green Foundation

Nightly sunset over the Caribbean Sea

Dive boats ready for another day

Last evening in Bonaire

I think we just might return to this island paradise! 

Under the Sea in Bonaire

Keith and I just returned from a wonderful dive vacation in Bonaire, Netherlands, a small Island off the coast of Venezuala.

We were there with a group of Albertans who all had an association with Ocean Sports, a dive shop in Edmonton where we took our diving training in 2008. 

We dove three times each day and we saw so many beautiful coral and fish that I just had to share some of my photos with you.  In addition to the photos you see here, we also saw rays, barracuda, butterfly and squirrel fish, sea urchins, seahorses, tarpon, Moray eels, a variety of split tail eels, turtles and even an octupus! The reef was alive with colours and we saw lots of purple tube sponges, fan coral and orange, yellow and pink coral.

Smooth Trunkfish

Lionfish

Yellowfin Goatfish

Spotted Eel

Lizardfish

Parrotfish

Peacock Flounder

T

Blue Tang

Yellow Trumpet Fish

Stoplight Parrot Fish

Scrawled Filefish

French Angelfish

Pufferfish

French Grunt above a Rock Beauty

Sea Anemone

Blue Chromis and Blueheads above the coral head

Barrel Sponge

Squid

Frog Fish

Christmas Tree Worms

Spotted Drum

Two big fish! 

Oh Victoria!

I have been meaning to write this blog about the uniqueness of this city where Keith and I now live.

The idea for it began when when Keith visited me the first year I lived here.  It then expanded when he moved here. 

After each vignette please roll your eyes and  say out loud "Oh Victoria!"

Everything closes at 5! 

A few months after I moved here I decided to walk over to a shopping mall after work.  It was a Tuesday night and I arrived at the SEARS entrance close to 5:30. I walked in and went up the escalator. There was a cashier serving a woman and child. I walked by them and was approached by a Security Guard who said "Sorry Madame, the store is closed.  Please follow me out."  Most stores are closed by 6 every evening.  

Small Town

One weekend when Keith came to visit we went to the grocery store and ran into someone from my work. We went to the liquor store and ran into another person from my work shopping and the husband of someone from the college working there. Then we went out for dinner and you guessed it.  Keith said "This place is too small for me!"

"I'm not driving to ..."

People complain about driving a few kilometres.  We were at the service desk at a lumber store and overheard a women, in reply to being told she needed to go to the other larger store 20 minutes away, indignantly say... "I'm not driving to Langford!"  That has become our mantra when we're told we need to go to the suburbs!

Fog

The second month Keith worked here was October, notorious for thick morning fog. He was at work but his Administrator wasn't there. He received a text from her telling him that photography was her hobby and the fog was amazing that morning so she would be in later.  

Older population

Early on in his employment Keith led the change of the phone system.  As people tend to dislike change there were complaints and a common complaint was "But we have our doctor on speed dial. How will we phone them now?"

Getting to know you! 

Whether at the grocery store or a trades-person at our house to provide an estimate, it seems that everyone loves to talk, ask about you and tell you their story.  We know more about people we don't know than we ever did anywhere else we've lived!  At first it drove us crazy, especially when we're waiting in line and the cashier is chatting with the customer.  Now we actually appreciate how friendly people are and how interested they are in us.  

WOR

Every summer I look forward to my return to the Rocky Mountains where I’ve spent many days hiking, skiing or driving through to the coast. I have always marvelled at their immensity and beauty having grown up in other parts of Canada. My love of these mountains is one of the reasons Keith and I chose to get married in Canmore amidst these amazing giants of western Canada.

Since 2005 I have hiked the trails and paths of The Rockies with an amazing group of women, known as the Women of Rock (WOR). This year was no exception despite all the other things I had going on.  I ensured that neither a birthday party nor wedding interfered with the well planned trip.  

In the past 13 years I have participated in 10 hikes, including one in Glacier National Park, just off the Trans-Canada Highway on my drive out to my new life in Victoria. 

View from Beauty Creek Hostel

This year we stayed at the Beauty Creek Hostel, about an hour south of Jasper and a few minutes north of the Columbia Ice Fields.  I had not been to this portion of the Icefields Parkway in decades and noticed how much the glacier had receded and the many new buildings to accommodate all the tourists.

Stanley Falls

Columbia Ice Fields

Some of the WOR overlooking Saskatchewan Glacier 

Twenty one of us hiked over three days at Stanley Falls - similar to Maligne Canyon without so many tourists; Wilcox Pass overlooking the Columbia Ice Fields; and Parker Ridge where we could see the Saskatchewan Glacier.

Due to the many forest fires in BC, as you can see we were hiking in haze but fortunately not smoke.

Another view from Beauty Creek Hostel

As you can imagine, over these 13 years we have all aged. The oldest members of the group are now 71 though you’d hardly know it. They hike as fast and look as young as the rest of us!  Although we used to hike many kilometres into the hut we now plan locations where we can drive up pretty close. Apart from less difficulty packing in all our stuff it allows us to bring more variety and fresher food - a definite plus! 

Some members have left the group, new women have joined in, a couple of women have had hip replacements and sadly, we lost a member of the group to cancer last year. 

But we continue and we are already planning our trip for 2019!  I can't wait! 

Stefanie’s wedding

On a hot, sunny August day last week my youngest daughter Stefanie married her sweetheart, Cody Charon. 

It was a small wedding in a beautiful location, a garden in bloom with roses, lilies, hydrangea and lots of verdant trees and shrubs.

The beautiful bride and her handsome groom were surrounded by community.

My mother performed the ceremony with a personal and inspirational blessing for the couple, talking about their personalities, choice of work and life together. Her husband signed, for those who cannot hear, some of the blessing.

My sister read Corinthians 13 - Love is patient, love is kind… and her sons, my nephews handed out little vials of soap so that after the vows the crowd blew celebratory bubbles.

Photos were taken by Joy, the groom's sister and Rob, Stef's dear friend. 

Everything was personal. They chose the menu, there were photos of the couple and a collage with funny and poignant photos of each of them over the years lovingly put together by their mothers.

Cody’s Mom made a sweet table bringing a variety of goodies from Oregon including salt water taffy - a testament to Cody’s sweet tooth.  The cake was a tower of many flavours of macarons - Stefanie discovered this delicacy in Lyon, France in 2010.  Each guest received a Roger’s chocolate, a Victoria favourite, as a thank you gift.

The MC was my older daughter, Andrea who also organized the music playlist.  Her husband Jason pitched in and did many odd jobs as did my husband Keith.  Stefanie did her own flowers and she and Cody with Andrea, my friend Marlyn and I decorated the venue.

There was a photo booth, some speeches, lots of good food and drinks – some from Portland - and dancing.  

It was a great day and the beginning of a life of love together

!