Stayed at the Painted Turtle Hostel last night (pic 1). This is a wonderful property near Nanaimo's harbour in the best part of downtown. It's brand new so everything is fresh and the staff is very friendly and helpful. You should see the great room/kitchen. I'm going to have the home family room remodeled in the same style. Checked out to head back south a few kilometers to Chemainus to view the murals, but took a self-guided tour of the historic Nanaimo waterfront first. Nanaimo was really built by coal mining and lumber and was, I think, a pretty rough and tumble place during the mining and lumbering hey day; however, the city has taken pains to clean up and put on a tidy front since tourism is now a huge part of the city's economy. Pic 2 is of the harbour cannons and pic 3 is a shot across the harbor of some of the many sailboars at anchor in the city's marine "parking lot." I was really just in the city to take advantage of the cheap lodging and its proximity to other attractions, but I think a day in the city touring through the zillions of great little shops and pubs could be in order if I stay on the island long enough. On to Chemainus whose claim to fame is an outdoor gallery of murals And the murals are not to be missed, in my opinion. But first a little history and some general observations about the place. The city's motto is "Just an Hour's Drive from Victoria but a World Away in Time." Apt. This little berg mainly consists of quaint cottages in the English style surrounded by beautiful gardens, all in full bloom on this day. The air was heavily scented with a heavenly perfume. Representative cottage in pic 4. The town was built on logging and there's still an active mill which appears to be the only industry going. Pic 5 is a shot into the harbor with logs floating next to the mill. I didn't realize that logs were still delivered to mill in that manner. I guess it's a cheap method of transport. En masse the population is elderly (I was right at home). Many nursing homes. I'm guessing that the mill isn't enough to employ all the youth and the extremely quiet atmosphere likely wouldn't be their cup of tea either so they head for Victoria. I think people come here to retire. I would. As I said, the murals are the tourist attraction here. There are 33 murals, each depicting a bit of the city's history, and each painted on the facade of a city building. Some are enormous (the largest is 33 meters long) and some are small jewels tucked into shady corners. Some years ago the mill was threatening to close, the town faced becoming a ghost town, and the city government commissioned the murals in an effort to bring in tourists (Chemainus is a little off the beaten path) and bolster the economy. It worked. I had a 1:00pm appointment with the whales, so I didn't get to see all the murals, but most, and I include pics of several of my favorite. The shot of the dog is just gratuitous. He raised his paw to shake my hand. I love him. And then God made Orcas and all the humans said, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww." Based on a mention in a guidebook, I chose Ocean EcoVentures headquartered in Cowichan Bay for my whale watching excursion. What a lucky choice!!! Ocean EV uses a zodiac for the trip. If you haven't seen one, they look like large rubber rafts with seats and an engine. But they're very stable in the water and skim the waves like a gull. Little chance for seasickness. And best of all you're only a couple of feet from the water when it's time to view the whales. Ocean EV is run by a guy named Simon who was also our tour guide. Simon (last name unknown) is not just a guide but also something of an ad hoc research assistant, providing photos of (you should see his camera) and information about the whales that call the area home 6 to 8 months of the year to 3 different renowned whale researchers. He's extremely knowledgeable about the whales - the pods, the whales names (yes, they have names and are constantly under study), their life histories, eating, mating and travel habits, etc.). There were 11 of us plus Simon and the driver all clad in waterproof flotation suits (see pic) and we set out for an ~80 mile (yes miles, not km) round trip. On the way out we spotted a bald eagle perched in a pine surveying the water (pic) Photo disclaimer: 1)I'm a lousy photographer B) Orcas are very fast and elusive III) I'm a lousy photographer. I took ~300 shots and mostly got open water or just the tips of dorsal fins. Also, the tour boats are supposed to remain ~100 meters from the whales so even though I was zooming madly, that's awfully far for the type of camera I have. I've included a few of the better shots I got but the whales can only really be appreciated on the water - and I don't mean the water at SeaWorld. There are 3 pods (loosely means families), J, K, and L, of whales that inhabit the waters around Vancouver Island 6 to 8 months of the year (referred to as resident pods)but there are also transient whales that are a different but very similar species that come and go year round. The way to tell the difference between resident and transient whales is by the dorsl fin. It's oriented about straight up on the residents but is curved and shark-like on the transients. Also, the residents eat only fish while the transients eat only mammals - seals and the like. First whale pic is of a 10 month old baby swimming over the top of its mom - the baby was very playful and constantly rammed her mom and swam over her and just acted like a kid. Everyone was scanning the water in the distance when an adult skimmed alongside the boat just under the surface. I almost fainted and got the blurry pic that's just after the two clear close ups. They are enormous and awe inspiring. All the tour captains communicate amongst themselves out on the water and give whale locations. Simon got a report of a group of transients hunting near land so we headed toward the coast. Transients travel in very small groups, maybe 5 or 6, while the resident pods can include 40 or more individuals. When we found the transients, they had just group-killed a seal and were thrashing about eating. I didn't get any good shots of the seal feasting but the first pic that has land in the background shows the curved dorsals of two of the transients. They were cruising the shore looking for more seals. The next photo shows a seal that they had run aground. It's high tailing it to higher ground. Wish the photos were better. But the experience could not have been any better. It's not cheap to whale watch, but make room in the budget.
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