Victoria Summer Week
A fun week at
the end of the summer
We like to do a summer trip such as
Parksville (2025),
Oregon (2024),
Haida Gwaii (2023) and
Banff and Jasper (2022).
This year we didn't want to do a big trip so we stayed with my
parents in Victoria for a week and tried to find some interesting
things to do in the week. I used to Live in Victoria and we
visit my parents at least 6 times a year so we tried to be a bit
out of Victoria.
Thetis Island
A few years ago my parents mentioned the
only Gulf Island they had been to was Salt Spring. I've been
trying to widen out that list -
Saturna (2026,
2025),
Galiano (2024),
Mayne (2023),
Pender Islands (2022) were
new island for them to visit. Thetis is a Gulf Island, but
not accessible from Swartz Bay in Victoria. It's population
is close to Saturna Island (small). Thetis has two large
Marinas and a large summer camp that are important drivers of the
local economy. We left my parents home in Victoria by 8am
with plans to be on the 10am sailing. The ferry ride to
Saturna is over an hour so it's nice that Thetis's ferry is only
half an hour.
The ferry terminal to get to Thetis is in
Chemanius - a small town between Duncan and Nanaimo on the East
coast of Vancouver Island. The ferry terminal is quite
different from the large ones - there is no gate so you can park
in the line up and buy your tickets when the agent is
available. They take your tickets when you are on the ramp
to get onto the ferry. The terminal frontage itself is tiny
- the ferry tucks in between two other industrial waterfront
users.
Most Gulf Islands have a Saturday market. Thetis has a few
farms, but Howling Wolf Farm seams to host a multiple vendor
market. We parked and checked out the perhaps 7 vendors
showing. The farm itself has a fixed building with both
fresh produce and baked goods and then a number of tents are setup
with tables for the other vendors.
We hear a rumor that a parade was coming and sure enough a parade
did arrive! Thetis had just purchased a new fire truck for
the volunteer fire department and they wanted to show it
off. The parade was enthusiastic and some people were giving
out candy.
There are two retail food options on Thetis - a pub at the Thetis
Island Marina and a small cafe at the Telegraph Harbour
Marina. We chose the pub for lunch. The deck has an
amazing view, but it was windy so we decided to stay inside.
Thetis Island is almost 100% privately owned - while there are a
few public access points, there are no actual parks on the
island. The North end of the Island has Pilkey Point Beach
Access which looked like a great place to escape the "big city" of
the south Island. Unlike other Gulf Island, the road to the
North gains some serious elevation and gives some views to
Vancouver island. There was a nice parking area and we got
out to explore the rocky beach.
There was a 3pm sailing and 5pm sailing
back and some interest in shopping for antiques in Chemainus so we
drop back and hopped on the 3pm.
Visiting the Gulf Islands is always a treat but it pays to have a
plan because without actives the islands can get quite boring.
Broadmead Days
My parents live adjacent to Broadmead and
their shopping center had a community appreciation day. This
shopping center really does target grandparents so there was a
balloon animals guy and face painting artist for free.
Rithet's Bog Conservation Society was there with an exhibit about
the bog and Rocky Point Bird Observatory was also there was nice
exhibit about nests.
Island View Beach
The kids have acitivies (shopping) and my
wife has activiies (shopping) so sometimes I get to go out for a
little while. Island View Beach isn't far down the highway
so I went out for an afternoon walk. There were a lot of
people walking the seawall and some swimming in the water so I was
quite surprised to see some little peeps eating bugs at the tide
line.
Given how close it is, I should probably go to Island View Beach
more often!
Salt Spring Food Market
The Saturday Market at Salt Spring is the
famous one that everyone seams to know about. They have a
Tuesday afternoon food only market that I have never been to and
since seniors get ferry trips for free Monday to Thursday, Tuesday
was a good day to go to Salt Spring.
After a walk in Duck Creek Park, we went to the Northern tip of
the Island ironically called Southey Point Beach. There is a
small parking area and the kids went down to the beach to check
out the details.
After the park, we drove back to Ganges for the opening of the
market. Helen was done her appointment so I drove back to
Fulford Harbour and picked her up. The market itself was
food oriented with only a few selling baking.
We didn't want to stay too late so we had
one more stop in mind before we drove back the Victoria - Salt
Spring Island Cheese. I know they have good ice cream.
Between the parking lot and the cash register is a small barn with
chickens. The chickens are fenced in and just outside of the
fence we spotted a small flock of California Quail. I went
back to the car and got out my long lens for some photos.
Outerbridge Park
Outerbridge park is just down the road from
my parents house so if I have an hour or two in the morning or
evening, it's a great place to take a walk. This park is
also quite busy (mostly people walking their dogs, but there are
also birders here) so there aren't a lot of birds that inhabit a
specific tree - what flies through is different every day.
Victoria probably has more than a million hummingbird feeders on
various decks and in windows. Outerbridge is a reliable
place to see hummingbirds if you stand still for more than a
minute.
Today I saw a few Orange Crowned Warbler going from tree to tree
gleening insects. They go all over a tree looking for
insects so you have to be patient until they happen to forage in a
visible place. I wasn't using my tripod so I could move
faster but eventually my arms get tired. I was really happy
to get these photos because they are upgrades to the photos of I
have of this species so far.
Owls are exceptional birds - generally larger than most birds and
generally doesn't move a lot during the day. While I walked
around the inner pond, I could hear the birds squawking and I knew
there was a predator near by. After a few minutes I was
able to find the barred owl perched on a limb with a view of the
pond. The bird yawned a few times and went to sleep.
Mini Golf
Not that far down the Blenkinslop Valley is
a full sized golf course which has a small 18 hole golf course.
Another favorite for us is the evening market in
Sidney. It generally happens during sunset.
Sombio Beach Trip
My kids wanted a low activity day to bake a
cake for Grandma. I wanted to drive out to the West side of
Vancouver Island to explore some beaches. My first stop was
Whiffin Spit in Sooke. This is the start of the fall
migration which is a good time to see shore birds.
Just a short walk from the car I spotted a
flock of turnstones eating bugs at the shore line. You can
literally hear these birds flipping over stones looking for bugs
and you can watch them grabbing their breakfast when they find
something good. I'm pretty sure they were eating small
crabs, but I know there are also isopods down their under the
rocks.
I walked out to the end of the spit looking for more shore birds
but the tide was pretty high at this point so I suspect the birds
were just somewhere else. I've seen ducks and seals here as
well, but not so much luck today.
My next
destination was Sombio Beach. This is quite a rustic
destination but there is a large parking lot (at the end of a gravel
road) and the trail is broad and flat (no tripping on roots
here). You can hear the ocean getting louder and you join the
Juan de Fuca trail. There is a nice infomration center of
posters and a small trail lets you out onto the beach.
This beach is quite rocky and steep
with a lot of washed up kelp. I took only a few steps onto the
beach until I realized there were small sea birds very close to
where I was standing. I got out the tripod and camera and
spent some time taking photos of the tiny birds as they looked for
bugs.
My plan was to visit the slot canyon that is maybe about 800 meters
down the beach. The tide was pretty high so the trail is in
the loose stone high on the beach. Thankfully there are lots
of markers at the mouth of the stream. I forgot that you
basically walk up a stream so I missed my waterproof hiking boots.
The slot canyon was quite busy so I didn't spend a lot of time in
there with my tripod. Last time I visited was with
Helen in on Christmas
Eve, 2016 and even thought it has been a dry summer, the water
was still flowing strongly.
When I was doing my trip planning, I noticed google had a "tourist
attraction" just outside of Port Renfrew. There is a douglas
fir tree growing in the stump of a douglas fir tree off shore in
Fairy Lake.
The kids spent some of the day making cake. We had the cake
after dinner - Happy Birthday Mom!
Saanich Fair
Tags: gulf island(6), bird(6), Saanich Fair(5), Outerbridge Park(5), canyon(3), amusement ride(3)
People: Nara(7), Claira(6), Janet(3), Helen(2), Lloyd(2)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2025 to 2005 > Victoria Summer Week
Last Modified Saturday, September 26th, 2026 at 22:09:14 Edit
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