My goals for this year were to; 1) walk without a limp 2) get a lot stronger so that I could hit the golf ball further and 3) be able to walk our home course, when we are back in April. Hiring a strength coach is really helping me to achieve me goals! But in the meantime, its starting to get a lot harder and he is killing me to reach my goals!
My strength coach and I work out of a tiny little gym in Tin town in Courtenay. It is just him and me and all Covid protocols like hand sanitizer before and after the workout, temperature check when I arrive, and both of us wear masks at all times in the gym while working out.
Tin town, Courtenay. All of the buildings are covered in tin. It’s a neat spot.
Today my strength coach upped the weights and the reps and I was still able to do the workout! He said he can’t believe how much I’ve improved from the first time we worked out together and how much mobility I’ve gained. I also work out in Newman at least 3 times a week following a similar routine and improvising with stretchy bands and with light hand weights. It’s nice to see the progress I’m making! I wouldn’t know though if I’ve gained more yardage off the tee since the golf courses are always wet here!
We saw the sunshine today in Courtenay! It was lovely to see, even if it was only a brief few moments of sunshine!
Despite the lack of sun on many days here, the locals still have a good sense of humour about the weather.
Ignore the rain....look for the rainbow. Sign on a pub in Royston.
I have a habit of picking up the local tourist magazines to read, even if they are out of season. I happened to pick up a Parksville Qualicum Beach 2020 Discovery Guide last week - which covers Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, French Creek, Lighthouse Country and Arrowsmith Coombs Country. I finally got around to reading the Discovery Guide last evening when Richard went to bed. (I’m a night owl and he isn’t!). I discovered another golf course we haven’t checked out! And I also found a photographer featured in the magazine from the Parksville/Qualicum Beach area, who specializes in bird photography. Her instagram handle is @Oomsangie. She mentions all of the local places she goes to find inspiration for her photography. So guess where we will be going this week?!! Exactly!! New places to discover recommended by a local photographer! She also mentions that she likes ‘geocaching’ so I’ve downloaded that app to give it a try as well. You can teach an old dog new tricks!!
We stopped in Courtenay for takeout sushi again after my workout. . Sushi is such a quick and easy meal before a hike and we were both ready for a nice hike today. With rain coming later today, we had to get out while we could!
Spicy California roll for Richard.
Veggie sushi for me.
Our hike today was to be to Trent River Falls which was 16 minutes south of Tin Town, in Courtenay, right off the main Highway 19.
Gravel parking area off the main Highway 19 where we parked Jerry and went for our hike. We think it is the coolest thing to be able to pull over off the highway and go for a hike. That would never happen back home!
The hike today took us north and south of the Highway. There were no other hikers out today at Trent River Falls. A balmy +8C.
We headed down the trail and immediately we could hear the rushing water from the river. All Trails rates this as an easy 2.1km out and back trail. It’s only now that I’m looking at the All Trail’s app and the map and photos of the Falls, that we realized we never made it to the actual Trent River Falls, all we saw were the rapids. Oh well. Another day we will go and finish the hike to the Falls. It was a great hike regardless and we climbed about 5 stories as it was quite hilly getting down to the river and back up again..
Trail by the Trent River.
Shooting down the river leaning on a rock.
Shooting from above the Trent River.
Working on freezing the water using a slower shutter speed, to give the effect of the water in motion, or blur.
We were fascinated to watch the water flowing through the holes that have been worn in this boulder.
Hiking up the south side of Highway 19. We realize now we should have continued along this trail to get to the falls.
The many layers of sediment on the river wall.
We saw this caution tape and decided to go around it. Good thing we did as it got very steep going down to the river.
While we didn’t get to the Trent River Falls this time, we will get there another day. It’s supposed to rain again. What else is new? Storms tonight are supposed to be worse than last evening, but at +8C it was nice and warm today for hiking, and its not snow as I’m being reminded by my friends back home!
We’re managing on our two ceramic electric heaters as well to ration our propane consumption. Richard texted Matt, the RV park owner, today and the gas fitter has not returned Matt’s calls or emails. Apparently its hard to get trades that are in demand to come quickly. It’s “Island time” as Matt calls it!
With the propane truck coming Saturday, we are really being miserly with the propane until it arrives. If we do get the gas fitter to come, we would lose all of our propane anyway, so it’s probably a good idea he comes later in the week. I don‘t relish not showering in very hot water heated by electric, until we can get another fill up!
We arrived back in Fanny Bay around 3:15pm and we see progress in our daylight hours! We’ve gained probably 30 minutes since we arrived in December, at the end of the day. It’s still not quite dark out by 5pm, which gives us hope that we are plowing through winter here on the Island and still staying sane, despite the Covid situation. Looking for those rainbows in every day!
I think tomorrow we will have to check out some of the new photography spots from our Parksville Qualicum Beach Discovery Guide. There are also a few little “spoons” we’ve been eyeing that we need to check out for lunch. We are also almost out of baked goods! The hiking allows us to eat the goodies, so now we have to go and buy some more!
MMMMM!!!! YUM!!!!
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