My Island - Beautiful Sidney by the Sea

This is how I feel about riding! My soul is singing & dancing.

One of the first places you will pass by on the Vancouver Island is the beautiful little town of Sidney by the sea.  It is a lovely quaint little town and is a pretty quiet community.  It is very picturesque and they have really captivated seaside charm with statuary along the waterfront.  It is simply stunning to stroll by the seaside and look towards beautiful Mount Baker.  The town if full of lovely little boutique shops and offer something for everyone.

My Moto Beauty.

This statue is dedicated to veterans

Sidney is also home to one of the best bakeries on the Island and it is there that we make the 25 minute bike trek to get our strudel fix!  The weather is stunning today and it was bright and warm, perfect day for the moto family to take to the road, so off we went down the long twisty roads out West Saanich way and crossed over to Sidney.  There were tonnes of bikes on the road today and it was awesome to see so many out on the roads.  On the way back in I was following a bike & sidecar rig, still love those and who knows maybe one day!

I love this sculpture!

Not quite sure about this one, it looks like an Egytian doggis mummy.

Hmmmmmm

                                       I couldn't resist!  Arrrr Matey!!!

Beautiful Mount Baker

I hope today found you in a sunny spot and you were able to get out on a moto adventure of your own!

My town - Chinatown

Over the coming weeks I am going to do a series on my town and Island. Sightseeing blog style, stay tuned.  We will be starting out in Chinatown, it is such a lovely little tourist destination filled with wonderful little shops and restaurants.  I still have more to explore and snap photos of.  The Chinatown in Victoria is the oldest in Canada and was established around 1858.  It is a vibrant community in Victoria filled with cultural events and shops and lovely people. 

                                    This is the Chinese cultural school and it is a beautiful building.  The cherry blossoms out front were so picturesque and represents what it is like in spring in China

                                          Nice little vespa! 
                                 

These murals a absolutely lovely and I couldn't resist taking a picture of these

Moto Mama's go wandering - To Infinity & Beyond (almost)

Kristen and Liz posing with the ancient sistas  (I made them do it)

Saturday was moto adventure day!  It started out cold and cloudy, but we ventured out despite the threat of rain.  We met up and rode over the  Trans Canada#1 Malahat highway.  We made our first stop at West Coast Roar the best female riding gear store on Vancouver Island (they also carry men's gear).  We chatted with Greer and Joley the owners of Roar.  We drooled over all the lovely jackets and riding apparel.  We had coffee and nibblies at Serious Coffee next door and then we were off.  

Our second stop was in Duncan to pick up my new Shoei (I am still stoked about this).  After that it was approaching lunchtime and we decided to drive to Crofton and have lunch at Lito's Cafe & Galleria.  Kristen and Liz had yummy looking cuban sandwiches and I decided to skip the sandwich and go straight to dessert.  It was homemade to die for carrot cake.  All three of us had a piece.  It seems we are becoming a RTE (ride to eat) group.  The Vancouver Scootering Club RTE crew needs to come visit this little cafe for the carrot cake. 

   The Vancouver Scootering RTE crew needs to come for a 

weekend of riding Vancouver Island with Princess Scooterpie

After our delicious lunch we decided to wander down the highway to Chemainus.  

Chemainus is a picturesque little town that is part of the Stz'uminus First Nation, located in the Cowichan Valley. Chemainus was named after a powerful First Nation's Chief Tsa-meeun-is which translates to Broken Chest. 1858 brought logging to the community and the mills were thriving until the early 1980's and at the point the mill was closed.  The town was dying, but was revived as a tourist destination.  Chemainus is famous for the 39 murals painted on  the buildings around the town. The murals tell the story of the town.  Chemainus is home to a thriving tourist industry with antique shops, eateries, galleries, and theatre.  It is a lovely walk around the town and great fun peeking into the eclectic little shops.  In 2006 a Boeing 737 was sunk off the coast to create an artificial reef, which is home to aquatic plant and marine life.

 Apparently the town was scandalized 
by a gang of biker chics who were wreaking havoc

This lovely young lady was gracious enough to let me 
snap her picture, she is dressed in early 1900 clothing. 

  

After wandering around Chemainus and stopping for some refreshments it was time to hit the road and head home.  We detoured and drove through Cowichan Bay, my old home town for 9 months, that is where we bought our floathome the Resting Cloud and lived aboard for 9 months before towing it to Westbay in Victoria.  

 Our quick stop in Cow Bay *notice on the back
of Liz's bike - carrot cake.

The inaugural run of the new Shoei RF1100 Sylvan helmet.

The graphics remind me of a mardi gras mask. Helmet Nirvana! 

*writer acknowledges wikipedia for facts regarding Chemainus and the Cowichan Valley.