Chapter 17

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I am coming from Quebec City, a place filled with joie de vivre in Old Quebec. This is the closest I have been to a European feel, and up until recently my most favourite locale in Canada. I am getting ahead of myself though, first I must regale my stories from Vancouver Island. Let me take you out to the west coast where lush nature, robust trees, and vegetation abounds.

We landed at Vancouver International Airport on October the 28th. Quickly transferring to the ferry via a city bus, and soon we were crossing the beautiful Canadian Gulf Islands on a vivacious and radiant day. Ninety minutes later, we disembarked the ferry about thirty minutes from the capital city of Victoria.
We had no idea what lay ahead of us or the journey we were about to embark on. A tenacious woman picked us up after her quitting time on Friday afternoon. She drove us in her big four door Dodge Ram pickup truck for about an hour on mountainous roads to Sooke. The sign we read as we entered the small city was this, “Sooke, Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea.” We arrived at a country bungalow surrounded by huge trees, wandering deer, and a yard scattered with paraphernalia. This was just the precursor to what our eyes would see upon entering the homestead. Things everywhere, I cannot even begin to say what I was looking at. All I felt was that we had landed in a very different space than I had known before. As Alice said in The Wizard of Oz, “Toto, I’ve a feeling that we are not in Kansas anymore.”

We were welcomed in by the husband, a retired Royal Mounted Policeman. His wife was an administrator for British Columbia Hydro. We had made the connection, sight unseen previously over the internet. After introductions to the two cats, both males, one age 22, and one age 15 years, Gilbert and Nicholas respectively, we were escorted down to the chicken coop. There we met our new feathery friends, all 33 of them; 32 hens and 1 rooster. Seeing our new setting was a little overwhelming for sure, we were just taking it all in.

After spending one night and a half with the pet-owners, they drove us to the airport on the island in the wee hours of the morning, at 3:00 a.m. specifically. We arrived at the airport, dropped them off, and drove away in the powerful Dodge Ram, and collected our thoughts. Didn’t have too much time to linger though because I had a lesson at 5:00 a.m. Being in British Columbia, the time difference moved all my lessons up by three hours. We sought out a Starbucks so that I could have my class inside somewhere warm. Unfortunately, we had to wait for thirty minutes for it to open so I did my lesson inside the interior of this sizable vehicle. Thanks to my students who endured this, you know who you are.

Home, we went, after acquiring some needed groceries, and sat down to assess the situation. We cleaned little areas of the house so that we could survive somewhat comfortably. The house was actually a very pleasant home once you cleared even a tenth of the stuff! We had a wonderful wood burning fireplace, a functional kitchen island, a very comfortable king-sized bed with an ensuite bathroom. There was a sizable hot tub filled with salt water out in the yard. The best was yet to come in the form of the Galloping Goose Trail that ran just off the backyard. This was a 55 kilometre trail running from Victoria to just north of Sooke. It was lush with huge, old-growth trees standing on either side of the path, with fern covered forest floors abounding all around. It became known to me as Jurassic Park though dinosaurs did not roam here, bears did. I ran on this trail whenever it wasn’t raining, and I never once saw a bear! It is actually named after a "gawky and noisy gas rail-car which carried passengers between Victoria and Sooke in the 1920s".

That brings me to the nonstop rain and mild temperatures we experienced almost daily. Though the inclement weather, the wettest month in history mind you, attempted to bring us down, it didn’t. Even the subsequent power outage for twenty-four hours didn't deter us. The reason why was found in friends, our newly found treasured friends from the past. On the ferry crossing, I texted a pen pal of sorts that I have shared written words with for over fifteen years. She and her husband lived on the island. I went out on a limb, and connected. What began with this text, snowballed into meeting them for a coffee. From that meeting, we hit it off together and met every week and more for coffees, lunches, hiking, and most of all, friendship. Just as we were shocked with the new dwelling, we were wonderfully surprised by the warm embrace of our friends. What was only an online friendship prior to our trip west, ballooned into a real genuine friendship. I will be appreciative of this connection for as long as I live.

Let me offer you a glimpse into our daily schedule. We would rise at 5:00, have coffee and breakfast, and go down to the chicken coop. We prepared the chicken's breakfast, let them loose into the chicken pen or outside into the sprawling backyard to give credence to the name, free-range chickens. Their freedom would depend totally on the weather. Shoveling the you-know-what (💩) from the chicken coop, we tolerated the pungent smell of ammonia with every shovelful. Finally, we would collect the eggs in a basket, and take them up to the house. We had become farmers indeed! The day would stretch out into work, lessons, a run along the highly acclaimed trail from the backyard, reading, writing, and cooking. When dusk arrived around 6:00 p.m. we would warm up the hot tub, put the chickens into the coop for bedtime, and return to sit under the stars and soak away all concerns. That was a typical day. On the other days, we would venture into Victoria to see our friends to hike various trails, visit scenic places, and share coffee or lunch together. One day we visited the Legislature and dined in the fancy dining room usually reserved for the senators and Members of Parliament. We had a tour of the grounds and the government chambers. We visited their house and were introduced to the monthly elevated Zoom talks with the family. And we absorbed the scenic flower patches at the famous, Butchart Gardens, the grounds at the University of Victoria, and a coastline hiking trail. On the weekends, we would go to a food truck and indulge ourselves with a tasty breakfast sandwich; eating it while looking out at an awesome scene of the bay. There was no shortage of magnificent natural scenery.

What do I take away from our island stay? Well, I no longer view Quebec City as my most favourite place in Canada. Definitely, now the lure of nature is calling me out west. The environment in British Columbia is almost perfect with the milder temperatures, bountiful nature, and lush surroundings. Jurassic Park is inviting me back. The trails and the absolutely astonishing landscapes cannot be taken for granted. We climbed some peaks and sat at the top breathing in the sublime views. The stars at night seen from the hot tub were bountiful and sparkling. The abundance of nature suits me perfectly. Best of all are the friendships made along the way. This pet-sit will be a cherished memory especially due to our connections.

We flew back to Toronto on the 5th of December, and on the 6th, we took an eight-hour train ride to Quebec City with a short stop in Montreal. Let me leave you with a comical snapshot. We arrived in Quebec City on the eve of the 6th. Frazzled and tired after travelling all day, we left the station to spend a night in an Airbnb, only about 550 metres from the station. A piece of cake really, a time to stretch our legs after sitting all day. In reality, we left the station and instantly were transferred to a winter wonderland complete with fresh fallen snow, and lots of it. We dragged our suitcases, each of us with our own through snow mounds, along icy streets, and simply impossible roads. We were about to give up, but knew that we had no alternative, so one foot in front of the other was our motto. What should have taken a few minutes took about an hour. We were never so happy to unlock the door and drop our bags inside. A beautiful trendy high-ceiling loft apartment awaited us. A long-enjoyed bath, a glass of wine, and a welcoming bed, were had before we drifted off in slumber. The next day was full of promise, all in French.

Au revoir and bonne nuit,

Rosemary🌹