Getting to know the 'locals'

Saturday was again a quiet day, which meant that I could do some catching up and I am even working on my family tree now and then.  The catching up was a handful though, because with our change of heart (staying here in Lantzville) I had to arrange and re-arrange quite a number of things.  And to top it all off, I got notified that the company where I have bought my camper doesn't seem to be all that bona fide, so there was a lot of extra work for Stephen to supply me with the necessary information and for me to supply somebody else with it, so that research and check-ups could be done.  All I can do now is waiting for the outcome.

We did some groceries shopping later in the afternoon and filled up the car with petrol.  Again we have to get used to the different way of filling up, but we're fine now.  It's roughly the same system as what they use in the States, which I described when we were in Hamburg.

Anyway, that was Saturday.  Sunday is a different story.

Sunday 5 March

When I woke up in the middle of the night the sky had this eerie light, a light I remember from way back when there is snow in the air or when it is actually snowing.  I poked my head out of the window, and yes, snowflakes were fluttering down and the grass was already turning quite white.  By the time I got up everything was covered again, but it didn't last long, because the temperature goes up and the snow disappears.

We had a quiet morning and chatted a bit and by 1pm two lovely ladies, friends of Lorana, stopped by and picked us up to show us around.  Donna and Susan had initially invited us to come to a Zumba class, but since I didn't bring an excercise outfit that didn't seem such a good idea.  Instead they took Dianne and me to Coombs' Market where we had lunch at the Cuckoo Trattoria & Pizzeria.

Cuckoo restaurant (picture pinched from the internet as you can see)

Afterwards we went for a short walk over the market, where we were told that in summer the goats walk on top of the grass-covered roofs, and visited a shop-cum-delicatessen that sells a large variety of exotic produce.

The goats in their shed 

One of the grass-covered roofs

The shop with Donna and Susan in front

These pies really 'fly' as you can see through the glass ;-)

The ambience of the shop

Next Donna took us to Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, Parksville Beach, and Rathtrevor Beach in that order.  At each place we went for a short walk and for Dianne and me it was a real photo opportunity.  Just a shame I'd left my camera at home and had to make do with the camera on my phone...

Parksville Beach

Rathtrevor Beach

We had a nice walk at both beaches and at the last one we even found a few sand dollars.  If I won't forget I will take a picture of the one that survived the trip home!  We also heard and saw plenty of seals in the bay, but they were too far out to get a picture.  All we could see was their heads bobbing in the water.

And what else do you think we found at Rathtrevor Beach?  You guessed it!  A cache of course... ;-)

Enjoy the View!