Friday Shoot-Out - Water

This is my first post to the Friday Shoot-Out series, and the topic turns out to be a perfect one for getting my feet wet. As it were.

Yesterday, I had to go to the north end to shop at the Superstore, so on the way home, I stopped to photograph just a few particularly pretty places. The photographs are in the slide show below, which I uploaded onto YouTube. I also added a couple of shots I had taken over the past few weeks - two, I think, of the harbour, and one of a ditch alongside the trail where I take many walks.

Nanaimo is located on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thus, we face the Strait of Georgia. From our shore, we can see the Sunshine Coast on the mainland (That's not far north of Vancouver.) The strait is the biggest piece of water we have, but if I were to photograph all of our watery bits, you would be here all day, looking at pictures, so I'll just offer a sampling.

Brannen Lake is very near the Superstore. It is very popular with boaters. On the shore opposite where I stood to take the photograph, there is a campground, and there is some farmland. There is also the Nanaimo Correctional Centre. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to put a prison alongside the lake, but there you go. If I'm sent to prison, I want a cell with a lake view.

Long Lake is ten minutes south of Brannen Lake, right beside the old highway. It features a canoeing club. A hotel called Inn on Long Lake sits on its northern shore, and to the east is a neighbourhood called Long Lake Heights. Many of the houses there have private docks. They also have nightmarish driveways, but I think I would deal with that, for a chance to live beside the lake. I took a picture of the Canoeing Club with its mural by Jeff King. Mr. King's murals, many of which depict marine wildlife, are a delightful part of our cityscape. Click here for his website.

If you go up Brechin Road from the Departure Bay Ferry Terminal and turn right onto Departure Bay Road, you will see a church on your right, and beside the church, if you look carefully, you will see the entrance to a park/wildflower sanctuary. The park features a long, winding staircase through a cool, damp ravine. In the middle of the descent, you'll come upon the waterfall. I hadn't been down there in years, but when I was working my way home, taking pictures, I remembered the waterfall and stopped by to revisit it. The stairs were much harder to climb than they used to be, but the waterfall was just as charming as ever.

Here is the video. I hope you enjoy it.