Craigdarroch Castle

If you were a wealthy magnate living in turn of the century Victoria and wanted all your children to have such lives of uncomparable luxury that they all drank themselves to death, became lesbians or went insane then this was the house for you.

The family that owned it managed to go from out of control wealth to poverty and foreclosure inside of a few generations and the house ended up in an auction and eventually became a museum and music school.

There aren't too many buildings with approaching castle status in Canada so when we found ourselves within walking distance of the next closest thing we had to go check it out.

Ferry to Gibsons

Early in the spring, Kathryn's capoeira group went to the nearby town of Gibsons for some classes, and one day I tagged along. Its a neat little town on the lower mainland which is only accessible by boat since the mountains are too heavy and the town to small to justify a road.

While the group was having their class I wandered down to the waterfront and had a poke around during low tide, sneaking into old boat repair shops and skulking around the pier. I found it particularly neat that there were groups of mussels growing on a fallen tree which were submerged when the tide was in and airborne when the tide was out.

Some relative of Kathryn's (I forget which) apparently once ran a coffee shop out there, but we were unable to identify any particular buildings having never been there while the shop was in action, though there is a Grandma's Pub.

Aboard the Munin

This summer we went sailing on the viking boat 'The Munin' departing from near the museum area of the city.

After a long and arduous bit of rowing against the wind and the tide to get out of port we were able to raise the sail and coast up and down Stanley Park for a few hours before heading back home.

If anyone wants to try it for themselves, you can book it through HERE. Its by donation and departs each day on the weekend.

Home Base

Just a quick panorama shot from our balcony looking out over the North Shore and Stanley Park. Life is rough ;)