Blog: I Think It's This Way » Bees at Oak Bay Marina

Bees at Oak Bay Marina

Kris — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:29:45 +0000

I’ve been thinking about trying to take some photos of insects for a while now, but haven’t managed to get any decent ones so far this year. Part of my problem might be the fact that bugs don’t stay still for long, but I think it’s mostly just me needing to develop the skills to track and catch the little buggers. As it turns out sitting on a bench at Oak Bay on a sunny day with flowers in front of you is a good start.

By the way, bees are cool.

Bee and Camas at Oak Bay Marina.

Camas at Oak Bay Marina.

Oak Bay Marina Photos

Kris — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:58:57 +0000

After a pretty good bike ride today, I headed down to Oak Bay Marina to take some photos and unwind. I didn’t really have anything in mind in terms of a theme for the outing, so I was kind of surprised it ended up being about chubby seals, an otter, and some birds.

Kayaker at Oak Bay Marina.

Oak Bay Marina.

One of the Oak Bay feed me seals.

Another of the Oak Bay Marina feed me seals.

Apparently there is a resident otter at the Oak Bay Marina.

Oak Bay Marina.

Scouts Canada sailboats at Oak Bay Marina.

Old rope in an old boat at Oak Bay Marina.

Boats and blue sky at Oak Bay Marina.

Napping otter near Oak Bay Marina.

A goose near Oak Bay Marina.

Sand Piper near Oak Bay Marina?

Winter Oak Bay Morning

Kris — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:43:25 +0000

I did some chauffeuring this morning and stopped to take some photos near the Oak Bay Marina while on my way back to the shack. If the rest of the day is like it is right now it should be good.

Part of the view from the kitchen window this morning.

Some shrubbery out front of the shack at the start of the chauffeuring duties.

Looking southeast over McNeill Bay.

Oak Bay Marina area. Not too much going on, but that's ok.

Some beach pebbles near Oak Bay Marina.

More Oak Bay beach pebbles with a chunk of broken brick.

I'm pretty sure this is a heron trying to sleep.

Run – UVic / Oak Bay – Victoria, BC – I Might Be A Vampire

Kris — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:56:53 +0000

I think I might be part vampire. This afternoon I went for a run in the sun, but felt like the energy was being, or had been, sucked out of me. I came to the logical conclusion that since I have felt better on previous night runs, I must be part vampire and the sun was sucking the life out of me. While I was certainly feeling less energetic today, a review of the numbers following the run didn’t indicate a drastically different performance than earlier in the week on a similar run.

The run route itself involved heading north up the hill to UVic followed by a partial loop of ring road (no sperm route today) and wound up with a gradual downhill run through part of Victoria’s posh Uplands neighbourhood. Despite my whining, it was great to be out in the sun after a bit of an ugly morning with lots of rain and wind.

GPS Data: 8.1km – 42m07s – GPS Route

A run through parts of Oak Bay and UVic near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Run – Victoria, BC – Oak Bay

Kris — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:38:09 +0000

An experimental 10km run of sorts today in Oak Bay. I already know that I can take some decent photos while riding my road bike, but I have been wondering if it’s possible while running. With my camera in pocket I set out on a run around what one might roughly describe as the perimeter of Oak Bay near Victoria, BC. It seems that running and photo taking either takes some practice, or is pretty hard to do. I won’t say that I’ve given up this idea, but things are not looking too promising so far. Only one of the photos included below was taken while moving.

The run itself, or rather the route, was nice. Running is hard, I know it’s good for me, but I just don’t enjoy it that much. I have tried to figure out for myself why this is, but haven’t really nailed it down yet. I suspect it’s a number of things, possibly including: I don’t seem to be efficient (high heart rate at moderate speed); the ‘always on/suffering’ nature of running i.e. no breaks on downhills or with tailwinds as in cycling; and the noises generated by my sloshing stomach juices. Ok, that last one is not really an issue. I’m pretty sure I want to be a better runner though, so I think maybe I should get a bit more serious by doing more than just the once or twice a week thing that I have been doing. Time for a Yoda-esque comment: hmmm, research and planning you will do to run better yes?

Anywho, here is a map and some pictures from my running outing today. You can click on the map to see GPS data on the Garmin website.

The running / photo-taking experiment around Oak Bay in Victoria, BC. Click on the image to see GPS data on the Garmin website.

I stopped four times on the run to take a few pics, this being one of them. This is Willows Beach in Victoria, BC looking north east.

Willows Beach again, this time looking towards the south east. I have recently learned that there is archaeological evidence indicating that humans have occupied this area going back at least 2,500 years.

Looking towards King George Terrace from close to the south end of the Victoria Golf Course.

It's a nice day, I have the camera, and I now feel like keeling over and dying from running up King George Terrace; I guess I will stop and take some photos. This is the view of the Trial Islands from the top of King G. Terrace.

More Trial Islands with a nice little sailboat as a bonus. This is looking southeast from the top of King George Terrace.

Looking south towards Washington and the Olympic Mountains from the top of King George Terrace.

I took this photo while running near the top of King George Terrace. I think with some practice and camera fiddling I might be able to get some ok photos while running.