Skyline

Our weather has warmed up for the last few days with the return of the damp gray skies. Here's a shot from earlier this week when the sun was shining. This was taken near Songhees Point (that's the rocky point on the left) on New Year's day. Lots of Victorians were out walking around enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Bay Street Bridge III

From beneath the Bay Street Bridge the view above is looking north and slightly west up the Gorge towards the Selkirk Waters. The house on the opposite shore that is visible through the trees is Point Ellice House. The photo on the right is the view looking in the opposite direction, down the Gorge towards the city. On the left is LaFarge Cement and Butler's Concrete. The large blue building is a thrift store called Valu Village.

Bay Street Bridge II

You can walk across the Bay Street Bridge, but only one side has a sidewalk, pictured above. Probably most of the traffic on the bridge is traveling to or from the western communities - Colwood, Langford and Sooke. Residents of Esquimalt or Vic West are just as likely to use the Johnson Street Bridge to cross the Gorge. In this photo, below the bridge on the right can be seen the Galloping Goose Trail for cyclists and pedestrians that leads directly to the Johnson Street Bridge and the city centre.

Bay Street Bridge

Victoria's main environmental characteristic is its coastal location and an extension of the ocean called "The Gorge" is the most significant urban feature. The Gorge is a long inlet that snakes westward through Victoria and Esquimalt from its lower reaches where it is called the Inner Harbour. It is bridged in 5 places along its length. In past posts I have tended to focus on the famed Johnson Street Bridge because of the controversy surrounding its replacement as well as its historical importance. The "Blue Bridge" is also the first bridge to cross the Gorge as it moves inland. The next bridge, which marks the end of the "Upper Harbour", is that pictured above, the Bay Street Bridge. It is also called the Point Ellice Bridge because its eastern side is planted on (or very near) Point Ellice. Point Ellice House can be seen through the trees in the roughly the center of the above photo just to the left of the large, blue-gray Gravel Mart building. Aside from Point Ellice House (a splendid heritage showcase) the area is mostly industrial with ship yards, a large cement works, recycling facilities, print shops and other small industries.

As I noted in an earlier post, "The first bridge over the Gorge at this point collapsed on Victoria Day in 1896 when a streetcar bearing 120 holidaymakers attempted to cross. Fifty-five lives were lost." You can read the original 1896 newspaper article describing this tragedy by clicking HERE. The current bridge was built during the 1950's.

Lines

I originally took this photo from this odd angle in an attempt to show the frost crystals glistening on this handrail on the West Bay Walkway. The frost crystals don't show as much as I hoped but I like the picture anyway because of its strong lines and shapes. We're getting a lot of frost in the mornings now and if it gets cloudy we may even get a little more snow this year.

Glacial Grooves

I've mentioned before that the beaches on the western side of Victoria tend to be rocky rather than sandy. There are also many little rock islets just offshore. Many of them, such as this one, are grooved and rounded due to glacial grinding during the last ice age.

Ducks at Dawn

While the rest of you were still abed attempting to metabolize last night's debauch I was out in the crispy dawn. It's been freezing the last few nights and there's lots of frost on the grass in the early morning. Here's what my part of Victoria looks like on this first day of 2011. I hope you have as nice a day wherever you are.