Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A Weekend on Mayne Island

May long weekend. A weekend to remember my Mom who passed away a year ago; to spend time with family; to enjoy Island beauty. My sister and BIL have a cabin on Mayne Island - a small island off the BC coast between Vancouver and Victoria. We traveled as foot passengers on the ferry - winding down from the week's busy-ness as we enjoyed the lovely scenery. The sun shone almost all weekend and it was warm enough to need sunscreen.

There was a steady stream of visitors at Janet's birdfeeder - Chestnut Backed Nuthatches, Wrens, Chickadees, Green Backed Warbler, Thrush and Spotted Towhees. (I hope I have all those names right.) We had the bird book out checking their identities as they lined up to feed.

A trip to Mayne Island is not complete without entering the impressive gates of the Japanese Gardens, strolling through and taking note of the seasonal changes. These Gardens are just down the road from Ernie and Janet's cabin and were set up as a memorial to the Japanese families from Mayne Island, many of them vegetable farmers, who had their land seized when they were sent to internment camps by the BC Government during World War II. They are open to the public and are a serene place with a traditional Japanese inspired landscape and a wide variety of both indiginous and rare plants. The Cherry Blossom and Rhododendrons were in full bloom along with many other flowering plants. There were also some of these plants which also grow along the road near the cabin. Some call them Elephant plants but I think they are known as Wild Rhubarb.As you can see they are worth of the "Elephant" name and have gigantic seed cones.The Apple Blossom was also in full bloom in a neighbour's garden.A visit to the Springwater Lodge is another tradition. Sitting on the deck we can watch the BC Ferries go by. This time we saw 4 of them at one time - from the small Inter-Island Ferry to the large Super Ferry bound for Victoria. There's always lots of activity in Village Bay with sea planes, boats of all kinds and seabirds to entertain us. The bay has become home to many sets of the endangered Purple Martin which swoop overhead.We had time to read, watch the deer, who pretty much go where they please, and gaze up at the stars from the hot tub in the evenings.
We played Bocce Ball at the community park and Crokinole (known to Mennonites as "Knipsbrat") with Dad winning all the games until the last round when Ernie took the top honours.

Of course, one of the great pleasures is eating together; good food, good company -a winning combination. After supper we walked down to Dinner Bay and watched the sun set over the water.


Thank you, Janet and Ernie for sharing your special place with us. It is always so good to be together as a family and I think I can speak for all of us that the Island's beauty and each other's company went a long ways to comforting us at this difficult time.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely entry, sis. Thanks for your tribute to this weekend, to dad and to mom. I love you very much! Your sis, Janet

Islandsparrow said...

What a lovely weekend - in such beautiful, peaceful surroundings. I'm sure it was a healing time for you and your family.

Betty said...

What an awesome place to spend family time together.

Judy said...

How beautiful! Now you have me putting another destination on my 'to see' list.

It sounds like a wonderful time with family in such a perfect spot.

Anneliese said...

So good to be with family! Love the shot around the table and then the last photo especially.

Anonymous said...

Spending a weekend with your father and sister was a good way to commemorate one year. It would have been good for the soul. I find that my sisters and I are much closer since we lost our mother. Dairymary

charlotte mgcc said...

oh my that looks like a lovely place. i am so glad you had a good family time.