nature

Japanese maple

This elegant Japanese Maple tree is afire with colour. These trees add a splash of colour to any garden. This spectacular tree can be found in Victoria’s Government House gardens. In this image, the sunlight is highlighting the dark red foliage. But what I love… Continue Reading…

natureplaces

local petroglyph

Petroglyph is a word combined from ‘petra’ – stone and ‘glyphein’ – to carve, thus it means a carving in stone.  On the southern coastline of Vancouver Island is a beautiful regional park—East Sooke Park—where, at Alldridge Point, you will find petroglyphs created… Continue Reading…

nature

patterns in nature

Though these trees are the same type, the peeling, cracked texture of their bark and the difference in moss growth on each has created organic patterns in nature.  I am always on the prowl for unique patterns in nature. I like to blend… Continue Reading…

nature

clouds

These clouds started as white and fluffy and grew to dark and stormy, signalling the possibility of a rain storm. Such a sight is common on Long Beach, an expansive sandy beach in Tofino, B.C. Clouds are a fascinating inspiration… Continue Reading…

nature

beach grass

Beach grass dots the landscape of Long Beach along Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, between Tofino and Ucluelet. It’s amazing to see these tufts of grass growing through the sand. Beach grass apparently thrives under conditions of shifting sands and… Continue Reading…

nature

tied up in knots

Even a tree can get tied up in knots! But when a tree lives on the coastline of Ucluelet, it’s not a big surprise. Ucluelet and Tofino are incredible storm watching locations for the western coastline of Vancouver Island. Said… Continue Reading…

nature

rainforest

Welcome to the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest, among the largest wettest, non-tropical areas in the world. It is full of living and decaying material and life—trees, mosses, fungi, lichen, shrubs, soil, vertebrates and invertebrates. It’s an amazing and rare ecosystem, covering less than 1% of… Continue Reading…

nature

detail and texture

Rich fauna, beachfront, forest of Douglas fir, big leaf maple and Garry oak trees, rivers, creeks and lakes…all in one regional park. It is easy to forget you are minutes from a major city when you walk the trails at… Continue Reading…

architecturenatureplaces

mermaid steps

Along Dallas Road, near Ogden Point’s breakwater, is a set of stairs. Actually there is more than one set of stairs. The first level stairs lead to a viewing landing. The second set leads to the ocean. This is the second set leading down from… Continue Reading…

nature

life on the edge

Along the magnificent outer west coast of Vancouver Island lies Ucluelet. The word Ucluelet (pronounced you-KLEW-let) is a local First Nations word meaning “people with a safe place to land”. And at the tip of the peninsula, you can walk… Continue Reading…