The Basilico Ristorante & Lounge

If you happen to be locating for a meal in the Victoria CRD area why not try making the trip to Westshore where there is lots to choose from especially in Langford.

Langford is now home to a number of good choices including a few favourites like Smoken Bones Cookshack just off Veterans Memorial Parkway on Station Road, Milestones in the Millstream Village and the Basilico Ristorante & Lounge on Goldstream Avenue.

The other night was no exception at the Basilico Ristorante & Lounge where the stuffed chicken special and Caesar salad proved to be both outstanding, especially if you enjoy bacon in your Caesar and lots of freshly ground Parmesan cheese. For those who like a fresh bun you won’t be disappointed especially with the herbed butter to go along with it.

The hostess, the rest of the staff and the owner were very friendly. If you can do it the Sunday brunch that goes from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm has a number of appetizing selections to choose from is rumoured to perhaps one of the best in Victoria .

The Basilico Ristorante & Lounge is located right across the Tim Hortons at 832 Goldstream Avenue right in the heart of newly formed Langford Village, telephone 250-391-5589 for reservations . The Basilico Ristorante & Lounge has lots of parking available and is close to and within walking distance to a number of shops and services.

• The Basilico Ristorante & Lounge

Recyclistas - Community Bicycle Shop

Today was the day to get rid of a couple of bicycles that were collecting dust in the garage for probably the last 15 years. One bike a Raleigh Criterium road bike bought in the early 1980’s, the other a bike was a Nishiki Bushwacker Mountain Bike from the early 1990’s, one of the first mountain bikes to come out, 18 speed, chro-moly, all rigid suspension.

Both bikes were bought through the years at the original Caps Bicycle Shop at 434 East Columbia Street in New Westminster. The bikes had new tires put on recently but had got in the way, been move about 10 times or so and not seen any use for a long time. The Nishiki was looking a little tired having survived many sections of the KVR (Trans-Canada Trail).

The bikes were well past their prime but still had lots of life left in them for someone who did not mind older technology and wanted away to get around without the high cost of a new bicycle. Both needed some maintenance especially the Nishiki, as Wayne from Performance Bicycles put it the drive train was held together by grit, grease and dirt. The problem was where to get rid of them and who could find the people who would want to take the effort and clean them up.

Then a solution to the problem came up, why not the odd looking bike shop decorated by bicycle art located next where the Lochside and Galloping Goose Trail meet called Recyclistas. Situated close to the new Uptown Development near Douglas Street in Saanich, right near the beginning of the east side of the Switch Bridge at 25 Crease Ave. The community bike shop recycles and reconditions bikes plus offers bike repair lessons at a reasonable cost to the public totally geared for people who want to fix their own bikes.

It turns out that Recyclistas accepts bicycles in any condition plus any type of bicycle part. Recyclistas also has lessons available for those of you who would love to learn the terminology, cleaning and regular maintenance for your cycle.

The two bikes now have a new home and hopefully will find themselves in the future hands of someone who could really use a bicycle with thanks to a local business called Recyclistas.

• Recyclistas

• The Bike Lab Society

• Performance Bicycles

• Caps Bicycle Shop

Old Baldy Mountain

We went with a hiking group called Club Mud up Old Baldy Mountain which is located near Shawnigan Lake on southern Vancouver Island.

To get to the start of the unmarked trailhead we had to travel along Shawnigan Lake Road to McKernan Road, then on Galland Road to Baldy Mountain Road, turn on Strathcona Heights Road to Hawking Road. Travel to just near the end of Hawking Road and look for the closed yellow gate across a old forestry road on the left. This is the start of the trail up the peak of Old Baldy Mountain.

The trail at the beginning follows a steep gravel road up to a radio tower perched above a beautiful western view of Shawnigan Lake. From here you follow an unmarked trail that meanders through and along a slippery rock face into a slight forested area to the top of Baldy Mountain. At the top there is now a view towards the west of the Gulf Islands and the Gulf of Georgia (Salish Sea), unfortunately for us it was raining and quite foggy with very little visibility.

The hike down was very fast compared with the fairly steep climb going up. After the walk the Club Mud group celebrated the trip up Old Baldy Mountain with a visit to the Village of Shawnigan Lake and lunch at a small cafe called the Village Chippery. The group mainly ordered fish and chips and to the enjoyment of everyone the meal was very good.

• Shawnigan Lake Map - Google
• Village Chippery

Labour Day Weekend 2010 Sooke Potholes

The end of summer 2010 and camping seemed to have come this last weekend at the Sooke Potholes Regional Park. Not only was Labour Day weekend the closing date for camping at the Sooke Potholes it also seemed like the end of the summer weather as well.

Saturday started off with sunshine, but as we made the Seventeen Mile Pub on Hwy 14 the weather was starting to cloud over. Still in good spirits the campground was alive and well with campers and only 6 or so campsites left available around 2pm.

The night was very enjoyable especially with the company of two members of Club Mud coming over and sharing a fire along with a hot dog and refreshments complete with the tranquil sounds of the Sooke River flowing in the background.

During the next morning though things started to change with a number of campsites being vacated for that night and the temperature cooling off. This was very peculiar as in order to stay for the Labour Day long weekend payment for Saturday and Sunday night is required. So much for the recession.

Sunday was very enjoyable but starting to get quite cold especially felt during a swim in the local swimming hole. That night the campground seemed to be vacated with only a third full and yet everything was pleasant, especially with fires allowed.

That all changed this morning, with rain starting about 2 am and poring continuously all morning. The Sooke Potholes transformed instantly now looking like a typical fall day, dark, wet and miserable . As the scene changed dramatically the look on a number campers packing up was where did the summer of 2010 go.

Muchalat Lake Recreation Site

Going back to work after a summer vacation is always interesting especially if you experienced a number of discoveries along the way. For the people where I work a topic of camping came up and it seems like a number of other people found a few good spots to stay as well.

For one person he experienced the west side of Slocan Lake and found a hidden gem with a spot right on the lake and very little people. Another fellow still swears by Nanaimo Lakes with it's large slightly treed camping sites with a lot of privacy and close to the lake. Then during a large power outage at the corner of Blanshard Street and Bay Street the foreman talked about some Recreation Sites in the Okanagan where he could relax and take his dog for a walk.

For me the top spot on the list had to be at Muchalat Lake Recreation Site just 13 km (8 miles) north of Gold River It is located on the Nimpkish Main a forestry road that continues north eventually coming out at the Mount Cain turnoff on Hwy 19 just south of Woss.

Located in a large valley that runs north and south Muchalat Lake has the hot sun that you can experience in Gold River making for some great swimming in the lake, fishing for a good size fish has nice large semi private campsites in a quite atmosphere and very little bugs because of a slight breeze that comes up in the night.

If you do go here expect to see very large logging trucks taking up most of the road and a road that is made up some of the largest crush rocks seen in British Columbia.

Scarlet Iris Pub

Just got back from a short motorcycle trip into Winter Harbour. Along the way got a chance to stop for a short visit in Holberg outside the Scarlet Iris Pub.

The Scarlet Iris brought back great memories from a few years ago as a place to celebrate with Club Mud on a recent hike that was completed into Cape Scott Provincial Park. The thoughts of hamburgers, french fries and a cold berverage made my mouth water for a quick fix from campground food.

Once leaving Holberg and the Scarlet Iris the travel into Winter Harbour seemed a bit sluggish and little on the unnerving side with large gravel rocks making up a lot of the road base. The 21 km (13 miles) or so distance took around an hour to complete with a total of four sightings of Black Bears, either climbing a tree or scrambling into the bush.

Winter Harbour was a pleasant sight after driving in. We were able to find the local store called the Outpost for a quick chocolate bar, unfortunately the thought of the Scarlet Iris and the celebration kept coming back in my mind.

Yalakom River Fire

On the way from Gold Bridge to Lillooet today we had a chance to watch to witness the fire suppression helicopters load and transport fire retardant to help stop the large wildfire ragging on the mountain side up the Yalakom Valley.

The wildfire which has been going for a number of days now had made the sky around Gold Bridge and Bralorne very hazy making the mountains barely visible.

On the north side of Carpenter Lake along Hwy 40 the sky was full of air traffic noise in the background. Once pass the bridge over the Yalakom River the road winds up to the where the Yalakom Road starts. This was the staging area for the tanker trucks loading Phos-Chek Fire Retardant, Class A Foam & Gel for the helicopters.

From this vantage point the 7 square km fire could now be scene ragging on the side of the mountains towards the north-west. The loading site was amazing with helicopters landing and taking off in a matter of minutes and other crews arriving and getting mobilized to head in and fights it head on with 31 degrees Celsius temperatures present.