The observatory on Gonzales Hill can make you feel as though you've walked into an M.C. Escher drawing.
The whole landscape there is pretty surreal. Victoria seems a distant dream and panoramic views over the shining waters of the straits inspire feelings of flight.
The old timers thought that the mountain resembled a giant...
and a "Sphinx".
James Robert Anderson- son of the well known HBC fur trader and early Victoria settler A.C. Anderson- scaling the heights of Gonzales.
Windblown oaks in a hillside garden.
The old view over Fairfield.
This is Gonzales Bay over 100 years ago. I recently walked along this same shoreline from Ross Bay to McNeill Bay which, at the right time, can be done without much difficulty.
The waterfront was ablaze with life and light on this fine crisp sunday.
Harlequin ducks winter along the coast but usually migrate up rivers during the summer.
They are courageous swimmers and seem to enjoy the challenge of manoeuvering the crashing surf in their search for food.
There are some incredible rock formations along this part of the coast.
Sculpted and polished by a glacier.
A beach hut on the bay.
Kingfisher watching for his lunch.
After Foul Bay i came to Harling Point, where the Chinese cemetery is today. This is a picture of that neighbourhood in 1885.
Anyone who has been along the waterfront here knows of its magic. Coast Salish associate it with HALS, the Transformer.
The man made environment along the shore is interesting too.
If you continue along the rocks past the Chinese cemetery there is one more small cove to skirt before coming to McNeill Bay. This was the only point, alas, where road travel was necessary on my coastal odyssey, but only for a few hundred paces.
Looking the same direction in the nineteenth century.
This house on the far side of the Bay has always intrigued me.
Crease family picnic
The Crease’s were an early colonial family who washed up in Victoria in the 1860s. All of the women in the family were artists and, together, they left a considerable documentary record of their time.
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An expedition on the Gorge
The young ladies travelled throughout the Province and the world, documenting everything they could. The rocky meadows and shorelines around Victoria were a favourite haunt.
Oak Bay from Gonzales Hill
Oak Bay and Mt.Baker
Victoria from Mt Tolmie
Juan de Fuca Strait from Beacon Hill
Finlayson Point
Olympics
shorelifevictoria 