Rhonda Bracey: At Random

The ferry trip was uneventful and smooth. And the drive up the coast from Nanaimo was equally uneventful, though I can’t tell what the speed is as the car only displays the speed in miles per hour, not kilometres (many US cars have both, but not this one). Canada is metric so all speed signs are in kph.

I arrived around 4pm, and have spent the past two days with Jill and Brian just chiling out, talking a lot, eating wonderful food, drinking great wine, and generally doing very little at a great pace! Yesterday Jill and I went over to Coombes (home of the famous ‘goats on the roof’ and butterfly gardens). We popped in to the market area there and had a look around, then went in to Qualicum Beach and had a look around what was open there too (not a lot was open, as it was Easter Sunday). Then the rain started to pour down so we raced back to the car and back to a nice warm house and some wine.

On Saturday night Jill and I watched the movie, “Mrs Potter” (starring Renee Zellwegger), then last night we watched “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” with three Aussies in it: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Abbie Cornish. Neither movie would make my ‘must see again’ list. I can see why “Elizabeth” only got 2 stars—you really needed to know quite a bit of the history before watching this movie, otherwise you’d have been lost with who everyone was and the intrigues of the royal court. As a result it did poorly at the box office—I just can’t see the general public being interested. “Mrs Potter” was the story of Beatrix Potter, and it was a good filler movie but nothing more.

Today was the neighbourhood Easter Egg Hunt—bunny ears and all! About 30 or so people (mostly adults) met at the next door neighbours’, were formed into groups, and were given their first clues. Then we were off! Each team had to find some 6 eggs. The first egg had a cryptic clue to the location of the next egg, and so on, until you found the final treat for your team. We ended up going up and down the street, down on to the beach, up the very steep climb from the beach to the ridge etc. It was quite energetic and a lot of fun. The Easter Egg Hunt was followed by weiners on the BBQ, and everyone bought a salad or dip or dessert. It was cold, and it rained a little (it even hailed just before we started, though the hail was very light and almost like snowflakes), and there were patches of sunshine.

We were back by 2pm, and it was time to write this blog post, read my book, and generally just have a vacation! (Easter Monday is a holiday in Canada.)

Tomorrow, Jill and I will go looking at fabric stores in Parksville and Qualicum, and then I need to pack as I have to be on the road by 5:30am to catch the 7:15am ferry back to the mainland.