Back from Huge Plant Country

I’ve been back from B.C. for several days now and haven’t written a blog post.  My excuses are many; my daughter moved back in with us and needed my help; I messed up my arm and neck a bit (too much computer, or moving heavy furniture, not sure which); I’m distracted by all the chores demanded by my house now that I’m back; plain old procrastination.  Can’t forget that last one.

Enough self-recriminations, I’m happy to report that our trip to B.C. was wonderful.  We enjoyed seeing our relatives and a friend in the Vancouver area; then we travelled over to Tofino by car and ferry to experience the beauty there.  I’ve been to Vancouver a couple of times, as well as Sechelt and Abbotsford, but this is the first time in the month of June, when nature has been going strong (after the winter pause) for several months.  Plants get very big there, and grow very fast!  My nephew, his wife and their two children have a wonderful cottage on Gambier Island (between Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast), and my niece-in-law was telling me that she really notices how aggressively things bounce back after cutting, especially since they can only get there on the weekends. The forest is just outside their property, although it’s a bit hard to tell exactly where the property line is. (Dang vegetation! It grows wherever it pleases!)  The forest is old-growth and absolutely wonderful.  I’ve never been to a tropical rain forest, but I felt like I was experiencing it on Gambier Island and in Tofino.  Trees are huge and covered in moss with plants and vines hanging all over them.  Enormous dead trees crisscross the forest floor with other enormous trees growing out of them.  It’s fascinating.

The cottage we rented in Tofino had a gorgeous bush hanging over the deck with bright pink flowers on it.  On closer inspection I realized it was fuchsia!  I’ve always liked the extravagant flowers of the hanging baskets of fuchsia that we find here in the east, but it never occurred to me to wonder what they’d be like in a mild climate.  Well, it was really something. Check out the picture above! The hummingbirds and bees were very busy enjoying the nectar.

We visited the Tofino Botanical Gardens just up the road from where we were staying, as well as the Hot Springs about 90 minutes by boat away from Tofino. I loved the Gardens, and so did my husband, which is saying something; he’s not much of an aficionado.  The goal of the Gardens was to highlight the local flora, the rain forest and the history of the First nations people of the area.  It was well worth the cost of admission, though it was not a large garden compared to most.  We both admired the art installations, the ponds and the path through the forest. 

I have to stop this for now, though I have much more to add.  I’m definitely experiencing a flare-up of something in my neck and elbow.  No fun!  I’ll try to remember how to add a photo album so you can enjoy our trip vicariously.

Well, I did it, I guess!  Click below to check out the photos. 

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