2009-08-08 48 -123

Location

Looks like it's in some bushes right off Benvenuto Avenue, the road to Butchart Gardens. Might turn into an Ambassador Geohash.

Participants

Wenslayer: This is less than 12km from my home; therefore, I must go.

Plans

Wenslayer

Wenslayer: I plan to be there at 4pm, either alone, with the whole family, or with some subset of my kids, depending on what's going on tomorrow.

Will retreat to nearby Gore Park for games.

Note for any bicyclists coming from the ferry terminal:

I'd like to suggest this path from the Schwartz Bay ferry terminal to avoid steep hills:

Get on the Lochside Trail
Take a right at McTavish Road, and cross the Pat Bay Hwy
Take a left at East Saanich Road
As you get close to Saanichton, take a right onto Wallace Drive.
Cross West Saanich Road, going through Brentwood Bay, and then take a left at Benvenuto Drive.

These roads are quiet and you'll get a chance to see some of the lovely Saanich peninsula (one of my favorite places to ride through).

BTW, here's a Google Map Directions link. Just ignore the portion from the ferry to 5th St and Ocean Ave in Sidney, since the Lochside trail isn't on the map.

Expedition

Due to events beyond my control, I was unsure as to when I'd be able to set off and under what mode of transportation I could use for this expedition. I had thought I would have plenty of time to ride out there, perhaps even with my son in tow in a trailer. However, with an impromptu trip to the pool with my girls while my son napped, combined with a pending family dinner, I realized I wouldn't have as much time as I had hoped.

I packed up my camera, printouts of the location, including the Diplomatic Letter, grabbed my son and off we went in our "Rocket" (as my 5-year old likes to call our vehicle, a reference to the Little Einsteins primary mode of transportation). I paused to start my GPS tracklog and away we went.

We drove easily enough out to the location, only taking us less than 10 minutes. I turned into the entrance to the Benvenuto B&B, where there was a rather open-air shed with an interesting carved statue out front. I hunted down the Geohash coordinate, snapped a picture, and then investigated the shed. I took a few more pics with my son, and then we headed off for Gore Park.

On the way there, we encountered a deer loping along between the road and fence along a property. I got a few pics of the majestic creature before it scampered off. We reached Gore Park, got out and briefly hiked around before returning to the car and back home via an alternate route.