West is Best

Strange... but I had sort of forgotten how beautiful Canada is! For the August long weekend I decided to go to Victoria to scuba dive. Driving through the mountains, I thought "wow - this is amazing". When you see something beautiful on a regular basis, you start to take it for granted. After being away for a couple of years, you can look upon something, once overly familiar, with fresh eyes and appreciate it anew.

The diving was great, but cold! I had definitely forgotten what cold water diving was like. The last diving I did was in 30 degree water... this time 12 degrees. Brrrr!!! It is brain numbing. The new drysuit was fantastic for keeping the body warm, except on the first dive where I didn't quite get the zipper done up all the way. I ended up with water inside the suit up to my knees. Oops! After that I made sure someone else zipped me up. That way I would at least have somebody to blame if I got wet. Almost brought home a king crab... well, not for me as I don't eat seafood... but I would have given it to someone who would have appreciated it. Not quite big enough though. Highlights were a seal that came by for a visit on one dive and several dogfish shark. I am still to find the elusive Giant Pacific Octopus.

After a few glorious days on the island, I headed back to Vancouver on the mainland for a couple of days to visit friends. I stayed with my wonderful friend Diana who I hadn't seen for over a year (since she moved back from the UK). Diana organized a great day out in the Fraser Valley for us and a couple visiting from London (another teacher that D and I worked with). We went to Bridal Veil Falls and to a town called Harrison Hot Springs to see some amazing sand sculptures by former world champions and multiple-medal winners from the past seventeen years of the World Championships of Sand Sculpture. The sand sculptures were created for the Vancouver Sun Tournament of Sand Sculpture Champions. Incredible! Our last stop of the day was Minter Gardens, an extremely impressive floral show garden.

More than ever I am convinced that when I do decide to settle down in Canada, it has to be west... I absolutely love Vancouver Island.