A Stroll Through the Tree-tops...

 Hullo!! This summer I went on an excellent adventure!!

And no... it wasn't to find Big Foot...

First we have to walk this way for a bit...

they have all sorts of driftwood animals here...

With some bears... excellent taste!

And a cougar!! Cool!

Think that one is an owl...

The walkway is high off the ground at this point...

So I don't think Beanie Mouse would manage this...

It's a lonnngggg way down!

OK... we are a the Malahat Skywalk!!

And if you thought this "through-the-tree-tops" thing was it... think again...

This is going to be exciting! We've been wanting to come here for ages!

Ooohhh... that's Saanich Inlet, a long, snakey, fjord-like inlet...

We picked a gorgeous day for a visit...

Ooohhh some driftwood eagles! Cool!

Alright... we are at the Skywalk!!! So now we just walk up this gentle spiraling walkway... 

And just keep walking...

Some cool views up here...

Nifty!

Of course every photo is better with a bear in it...

Are we there yet? Sigh... it's a long walk up...

More to Come... Stay Tuned...

West Coast Trail Medal and Mail

 Hullo! In one of the September posts, we said we were going to do the West Coast Trail for The Conqueror Challenge. And we finished it!!

It was only 75.6 km.... so it didn't take long.

And the medal came!!

Oooohhhh... ahhh...

That's the back... the West Coast Trail was originally created so that shipwrecked sailors could hike back to some sort of civilization...

The front is nifty...

It opens up and there is a compass thingie!!

I love it!

Oh... and as a reward... I also got the tiniest little Haribo bag in history! It's a perfect size for a little bear...

I love it too!

And we got mail!!!

It's a postcard from Little Fox... an invitation to a wine cellar... for next time! But honestly... we had another postal strike start in September... and just got a letter that was mailed September 21!!!! It's ridiculous. And it's not over yet... now they are doing rotating strikes...

Fisgard Lighthouse on a Spit of a Rock

 Righto!! We are tootling off the lighthouse Along the way we passed what looks like an old boathouse but is really camouflage for an old searchlight emplacement!!

Sneaky!!! I wonder if it would have fooled the enemy though?

And on the ground here, we have a strip of harbour defences... this "chain mail" could be pulled across the mouth of the harbour to prevent submarines from sneaking in...

It would have been held up by buoys like these...

I wonder how many times it got pulled up?

Alrighty... so back there... that's the main fortress... all hidden behind the rock outcropping...

And there's the lighthouse... almost there!

Almost...

It was the first permanent lighthouse on Canada's pacific coast, built in 1859-1860. The light and the first lightkeeper came from England!

It's gorgeous here on a sunny day but back then... stuck on this little dinky spit of a rock... meh... not the life for this little bear!

Let's go inside!

Ooohhh... fancy staircase but it's closed to visitors... sigh.

Would be nice to see what's up there...

The rest of the place looked a bit like a church... and I don't think they had baseboard heaters in 1860!

And that's our trip to Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse! It was beary educational and best of all it was free this year!!

Oooh... wait... one more thing... I came across this on Fort Rodd Hill's Facebook page...

They had a Teddy Bear Picnic for all of their lost stuffies!!! Love it!!!