I am still engaged in another project but I also realized this morning that I have not fully exploited my sunrise trip to Gonzales Hill Park a few weeks ago. Above is another shot of the observatory that I like and below is a view of Gonzales Bay (directly below) with Clover Point further back. The background mountains (on the left) are the Olympic Peninsula in the USA. This view is almost identical to one I took about 15 months ago.
The old observatory building itself is reason enough to visit Gonzales Hill but the views are also worth seeing. Here we are looking west with Gonzales Bay directly below. Gonzales Bay has a nice little sandy beach. The bay is at the bottom of Foul Bay Road. I think Foul Bay was the former name of this bay but this name is passing out of favour because the current meaning of foul is rotten or smelly. I suspect when the bay was first named it was from the nautical meaning describing a seafloor where it was difficult to anchor. Local historians will please correct me if I'm wrong.
The Gonzales Observatory (see yesterday's photo) always reminds me of the blue and white of Greek village photos we so often see in travel brochures. With its small dome it looks more like a little Orthodox cathedral than an observatory. Its steep stairways and elegant lines always inspire the minimalist in me. And much as I love the Rattenbury Legislative Assembly Buildings that I photograph so often, the classical simplicity of the observatory is a welcome antidote to their elaborate ornamentation.
Early this morning while the rest of you were rioting in swinish slumber I was out capturing both the moral and literal high ground. Spurred by a reminder from commenter Dean Lewis, I re-visited Gonzales Hill, which rises above Foul Bay and is capped by the splendid Gonzales Observatory. This is another of those sites like the Fisgard Lighthouse that looks striking from every angle and in every light. Above it catches the first rays of what promises to be another lovely summer day. Hope you have a good one.
