Port of Sidney

Lochside Drive is even more illogical than most of Victoria's illogical streets. It begins inauspiciously just north of McKenzie Avenue off an orphaned spur of Cedar Hill Cross Road and runs for about a block...if you are driving. If you are walking or riding a bicycle, though, you can keep going because it joins the Lochside Trail. It's a very pleasant stroll or ride, especially as it passes by Blenkinsop Lake, and after about three kilometres it becomes a street again for a few blocks. Then it stops again before picking up again to parallel Cordova Bay Rd. until that street zigs and cuts it off at the junction. Lochside continues to hopscotch until it finally comes into its own as a self-respecting street at Mt. Newton Cross Rd, by which time it has almost arrived in Sidney. However, it ignominiously vanishes, never to be heard of again, just before it reaches downtown Sidney.

When I go to visit Sidney I like to get off the highway at Newton Cross so I can take Lochside the rest of the way. While the rest of the traffic hurtles in lockstep toward wherever its going, I prefer the scenic route. Likewise, when I get off the ferry I like to take the first exit and take it easy through Sidney while the poor highway tries to swallow the herd of fish disgorged by the ferry.

Sidney is a pretty little town, a good place to have a coffee, or browse Tanner's Bookstore or just park somewhere and go for a walk. Much of the part of town around the pier at the foot of Beacon Ave has been redone since I was here last and it looks quite spiffy, even if it's a little upscale for the likes of me. There is a lot of money around the north peninsula, and a lot of it is parked in Sidney's 'dockominium.' I don't have enough money in my bank account to fill the tanks of some of these floating fibreglass palaces. Personally, I'm more drawn to the lower end of the boating scale, to boats built by their owners. Myself, I can't afford a rowboat. Such is life.

One thing I noticed when I walked out on the dock was how quiet it was. I like that.

Today is this blog's first anniversary. I don't know how long I'll keep it up, but I've enjoyed doing it. According to the stats compiled by blogger I have had 756 'hits' in the last year. Not many, but it's strangely affecting to know that people from all over the world have stopped by. I wish a few of them would take a few minutes to jot down a reply.