In mid-2024 I travelled to Canada with my two daughters, Hannah and Lucy. We went primarily to visit family on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. I had been there before, but for Lucy, it was an introduction to a good few members of the Canadian family. Hannah has lived and worked in Canada, and for her, it was a revisit.

We stayed with family in Glen Lake on the western edge of Victoria. As well as visiting relatives in and around the city, we travelled up-Island to see a cousin and his family outside Nanaimo, and as far north as Courtaney, about halfway up the eastern side of Vancouver Island, to visit an uncle.

We were in Canada for about three and a half weeks. It was a short stay, but assisted by the hospitality of a brilliant family, we packed it in. I took a lot of photographs. Those here are some that I liked and provide a glimpse as to why Vancouver Island is a brilliant place to visit. If you have the chance, go there.

Goldstream Provincial Park, just outside Victoria.

Glen Lake

Where my mother grew up from the age of about seven years after moving there with her family from Broadview, Saskatchewan in 1933. Family members still live near and on the lake.

Esquimalt coastline in Victoria

The racoon on the post is made of driftwood.

Beacon Hill Park in Victoria

Looking south across the Strait of Juan de Fuca into Washington State.

View into the United States from near Victoria.

There are brilliant views of the Olympic Mountains and some of the volcanic mountains in Washington State from the southern end of the island across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.