Western Wanders - Chemainus

With the wake of Barbara behind us it was time for Lisa and Christos to explore Vancouver island, something Barbara had always encouraged us to do. So we hopped in our rental car and headed off to Chemainus on the east coast for the next two nights. 

Along the way we stopped off at the Raptor Center in Duncan for an hour and a half of wonderful and informative fun visiting various birds in their aviaries and watching flight demonstrations for four birds of prey, the Bald Eagle, the Harris Hawk, the Peregrine Falcon and the (absolutely adorable miniature) Screech Owl pictured here.

Our diversion complete it was back on the road, with a pit stop for lunch subs, to arrive at the Eagle Cove B&B in the late afternoon.  

Our B&B was run by a lovely couple who kept a very clean and tidy, as well as comfortable, establishment within their home just meters from a park on the water. 

Dinner was at the local craft beer restaurant where a simple but hearty meal was served with several tasters of Vancouver Island craft beers. After dinner on the walk back to the B&B we spotted several wild bunnies and encouraged them to be careful given our knowledge of the local birds of prey! We then spent some quiet time down on the waterfront looking out over a calm bay from the comfort of a park bench. What a lovely view to have from one's home!

The next day, after four days of glorious sun and heat, the weather returned to the norm for the Island. After a hearty breakfast we drove up top Nanaimo to check the town out. The weather was a bit inclement and managed to cut our trip short but we did visit the local museum (complete with new addition on First Nations relations) as well as a photo op at "The Bastion" and the ibligatory Nanaimo Bar purchase.

Then it was back to the B&B for a quick refresh before heading back to north Nanaimo for dinner with a work colleague of Christos' at an amazing sushi place. Christos' colleague ordered everything and it was all fresh and delicious. Dinner included scallop sashimi (wonderful), amazing tuna and salmon sashimi, sunomono (totally new for us) with a soft shelled crab for dessert all accompanied by copious amounts of sake. Lisa sadly had to keep it relatively tight for the early drive back to our B&B (dinner started at 4:30pm as it was the only reservation available and went to 7:30pm). Back at the B&B it was time for a quick trip to the water's edge (with wine) before retiring for the evening.