Beyond VanGogh & Beyond Monet

This past summer, we cajoled and complained and finally got Mama to get some tickets to Beyond VanGogh! 

It's an "immersive" experience... but we hope that doesn't mean we'll get splattered with paint!

And... bonus... it includes Beyond Monet as well!

Very cool... we have no idea what this experience is going to be like. We have seen photos but... not sure... and reviews have been kind of mixed. Some people love it and some people don't.

Oooohh... waterlilies!

And... Cocoa Beanie got to meet Monet!!!!

How many Beanie mice can say that, eh??

There was also a Creative Station where you could create your own colouring masterpiece.

We didn't have time for any colouring but... we could haven't something funkier than this!

Alright... we are going in!

The first bit was a bunch of huge screens that shared information on Vincent and his life.

It seems he was quite a tortured person.

And a lot of people made fun of Monet and his artwork too. Phft... what did they know?? Nothing!

Then we went by these two screens and...

Took a few selfies!

Cause why not!

Then we entered the main display... so it is a space surrounded by huge screens... 360 degrees around the viewing area...

Where we could sit on little stools and watch the art work move and shift on the screens...

It was like one set would move and drift and become something else... very cool.

Here's a video... cause we can't explain it!

We saw a LOT of different VanGogh paintings go by.

And we thought it was quite cool!

This was kind of nifty too...

We loved the starry nights one... it started off as lines swirling and slowly built up... almost like galaxies being formed...

And then it became starry nights... it was super neat. And... if you are even a bit photo-sensitive or motion sensitive... it could be really wonky! Cause the images are always moving and are on the carpet as well!

Ooooh... now we have Monet!! We learned a lot about him and his love for his estate - Giverny - that he painted over and over again.

And then it was over... It was about an hour and we liked it!

 

Exploring Denman Island

Good morning! The sun is about to rise here on Denman Island and we came down to the beach from our Airbnb to catch it.

Although I think I should have a hot chocolate for this morning viewing thing... but such is not the case.

Ooooh... here it comes!

Gorgeous!!!

Right then... today we are going to explore more of Fillongley Park. It was an old homestead back in the day...

The land for this park was donated by Dr. George David Beadnell way back in 1953. He died a few years later and is buried here on the property. Which is kind of weird... to find a grave in the woods.

Although he gets a lot of oyster shells and painted rocks embellishing his grave.

There are still areas here that look like old meadows.

It must have been a lovely property back in the day.

There's even some hazelnut trees here.

And chestnuts of some sort. 

Well, that was fun... and we then went looking for another trail down to the beach. There are a lot of beaches on Denman Island.

We scampered down this trail and came out here...

Beary pretty...

With... hmmm... an old fixer upper?

Or just a ramshackle shack... which may be used for fishing?

There was a fairly decent little boat nearby sooo... maybe...

We found a lot of seashells here and a beautiful crab carapace!

And of course, the obligatory picture of a stuffie on a rock surrounded by water... this is the moment when balance matters a great deal!

On our way back, we found this old metal garden shed along the side of the road. It's Free Stuff!!

Oh wow... let's see what's in here....

Wow!!! That's a blast from the past!! Remember those phones?? Mama says she had a phone number that ended in 890 when she was a kid which took FOREVER to dial!

We found another beach on this side of the island... a sandy one!

It is a gorgeous view coming down to the beach...

And yes... that is quite the set of stairs we came down... and will have to trudge back up!

It's gorgeous down here. The tide is out a bit so the sand is exposed and we could walk for miles!

Sigh... someone has a sense of humour... How did the Stuffie get on the Rock??

Oooh... sea anemones.

You can see their little tendrils when they are in the water...

But when the die goes out, they suck everything together into the centre.

Cool!! But the tide is coming in now... time to make our way back...

Up those stairs. Sigh.

Help! Need a lift!

We went to "downtown" Denman Island (which doesn't have much) and found some cool sculptures.

And cute little mini houses!

This one almost looks like a Starry Nights attempt from VanGogh.

Is it a stuffie slide or a sculpture??

Well that was fun!!! Good bye Denman Island. FYI... in the summer, they have two ferries running. This one is the electrical cable ferry, and the other one is the old diesel ferry. You can see the cable lines on the right hand side...

And we barely squeaked on this ferry too!!

See... barely squeaked over the yellow line!

But we made it! Denman Island is cute and rustic. It would be a good place to camp. A bit pricey for an Airbnb stay though!