The Rowes Attack Vancouver Island!

The Rowe family swung out to Victoria in August for a whirlwind tour of the island. We made stops in Chemainus, Nanimo, Tofino and Port Alberni and had a fun and exhausting time. Here's how it went down . . .

Mom and Dad flew in Saturday around noon and we headed downtown to check out Aunt Marianne in the Victoria Dragonboat Festival. Uncle Bill and James joined us and made up a very vocal cheering section.

Marianne and her boat.

Sunday morning we went to the Oak Bay Marina, this time not to feed seals, but to gorge ourselves at their famous brunch. The food there was delicious and the service was exceptional, it definitely beat our usual breakfast routine of toast. Not to say that toast isn't great, toast is awesome, but brunch with bacons and shrimps and other tasty things is also good.

Brunch at the marina.

A skinny little seal at the marina.

Monday morning Brenda went to work while the rest of us went out to breakfast with Josh and Sophia. We took in an IMAX film in the afternoon, and Mom and Dad wandered around the Antique Row on Fort Street.

Jessie flew in late Monday night, and Tuesday morning we packed up the Loonmobile and headed up to Nanaimo. On our way up Highway 1 we swung through Chemainus to check out their famous murals.

Easily the funniest mural in town (read the caption).

Cam and Jess in Chemainus.

After lunch in Nanaimo we took a boat charter to Snake Island for some snorkelling near a seal habitat.

Getting into gear.

Creepy crawler.

A seal!

Purple starfishes.

It was a long day, and we crashed with Dave and Jill in Port Alberni. We didn't get to stay long because in the morning we were on the road again, this time to Tofino for some whale watching, and we saw a shark too!

Out on the sea.

Stellar sea lions.

Our best whale shot. (A humpback.)

After a stroll down the strip in Tofino, and a quick jump in the Pacific for Jess at Long Beach, we were back on the road. We stopped in Cathedral Grove to check out the big trees.

Anybody know what these are?

Mom and Dad in the woods.

Thursday was much quieter, Brenda was back at work and Jessie had to fly into Vancouver for meeting. The three remaining headed out to East Sooke Park to do some hiking by the sea.

Mom checks out some boats off the south coast.

Ewww.

Thursday night was our last time all together. We had something of a family reunion at our place with Bill, Marianne, James, Marie-France, and Josh joining us for a crab dinner. James also was our guest chef and did an awesome job. It was a lot of fun for us to see everyone and James and Jessie got to see each other for the first time in about 20 years!

James proudly displays his pressure cooker.

Who invited this guy?

Euchre and booze, a Carter tradition.