Victoria

It is also a place with a very interesting history - in every sense of the word. It's history is a history of people who lived and died, and those who now live, in "interesting times". The calm peace of the scenery belies the underlying power of nature that may reveal itself at any moment in awesome forms.

Across a narrow strait from the massive metropolis of Vancouver, and sheltering Vancouver from the ferocity of the Pacific, is the long Vancouver Island. Its capital is the quaint, ancient city of Victoria. Named for the British queen, this city is blessed with one of the numerous fabulous natural harbors on Vancouver Island. One brochure claims that Vancouver Island has 20,000 miles of coastline - as much as the circumference of the Earth, if you try walking along the edge of the water, with all the inlets, bays, harbors and tiny coves.

Here is an example: a cove at the end of the stunning Butchartt artificial garden - more on that later. The shallow bottom of the cove is easily visible through the clear, still water, broken only by gentle ripples. It opens north-northeast, to the strait on the Vancouver side of the island.

More later... on the fantastic beauty, and the heart-rending history, of this land.

See what I mean? Imagine yourself the first human to see that place... you would have been an ancestor of what I will call the First Nations of Canada.