Nostalgia in Victoria, BC

Who would have imagined we’d meet up in such a far-flung corner of the planet, 57 years later?

The last time Roger, Ned and l spent time together was in late July, 1968, aged 17. ‘A’ levels were over, school had finished and so we, plus two others, spent 10 days walking from Hawes in Wensleydale to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders along the Pennine Way, a distance of 168 miles. It was both exhilarating and gruelling! I was dating Jane at the time.

She says that afterwards, the Pennine Way featured in my every conversation. (In Roger’s photo, I’m on the left, Ned is next to me).

Roger and his wife Maria have made their home in Victoria, capital of British Columbia, a city that’s been described as ‘more English than England’. They very kindly invited us to stay with them in their beautiful 7^th floor apartment that overlooked the city.

Ned lives 40 miles up country but joined us for half a day. We began by decending a walkway (as in the photo), and ambled along the shore to explore the waterfront and the city centre. We reminisced about our long walks – including the time Roger had to pull me out of a bog early one morning – and about our schooldays.

As we shared our stories, we stopped at intervals as Jane and I admired the elegant buildings. The Provincial Parliament features a prominent Canadian flag, displayed more proudly than ever in these Trumpian times. A large totem pole stands symbolically in front of the gardens.

Each of us is married, has raised a family, has grandchildren (between us, we have 7 in total), and has pursued a career broadly in line with our best subjects whilst at school. Each of us feels wistful that we might have made better choices in hindsight, but on the whole, life has treated us kindly and in many respects we’re grateful. Each of us has family challenges, health issues or both…but that same free spirit that drove us along the Pennine Way, still lives on.

We spent a good half-hour in Puzzle Lab, an extraordinary shop selling jigsaws with their degree of difficulty defined as an Indian restaurant would rate the spiciness of their dishes. One chilli for ‘easy peasy’, e.g., a child’s puzzle, five for ‘not fun’, a gift for someone you don’t like!

Our midday destination was Murchie’s Fine Tea and Coffee – well, it’s a café – where we are pictured eating lunch. What a treat, with luxury sandwiches and cakes of every description. Such a sumptuous, relaxed atmosphere!

Soon afterwards, Ned had to leave. Roger and Maria left us to explore the Royal BC Museum where we treated ourselves to an IMAX film about the desert elephants of Namibia.

Our final pleasant interlude was a walk through Beacon Hill Park, close by.

Victoria is a lovely city, a great place to relax, and proved a superb venue for three old friends to chew the cud, and two wives to form a bond.

-o-O-o-

Butchart Gardens will be featured in a separate post, ‘Beauty from Ashes’.