Victoria

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We were in Victoria BC, this year for Kate's annual KBS conference. Victoria is famous for the "newly wed and the nearly dead" -- a honeymoon and retirement capital.

We flew Westjet out of London, with stops in Winnipeg and Calgary. Our European friends who flew over the pole had shorter flights than ours! Our return flight was quicker with a single stop in Calgary and then directly home to London.

It's good that we have Westjet flying out of London. We'd rather fly out of London than deal with Toronto and the traffic to get there. Besides, parking in London is pretty cheap by comparison.

We stayed at the conference hotel, the Harbour Towers on Quebec Street, which is only a couple of blocks from Fisherman's Wharf (to the west), the Inner Harbor (due north), the Legislature and the Empress hotel (to the east). It's a modern high rise hotel and the conference events were held on the lower floors. We had a suite with kitchenette that our friends Arlinda and Keith had reserved. We have some nice pictures from the hotel of the harbor to the north and the mountains of Washington State to the south. The neighborhood is called "James Bay". The James Bay area has a lot of lovely old homes.

Next door to our hotel there's a quaint Victoria clapboard restaurant we visited for lunch several times --the Gatsby (now called the Pendray Inn and Tea Garden/Huntingdon Manor Hotel -- Victorian bric-a-brac wooden). It was just out our door, across the street, and towards harbor.

One day, when Kate as at the conference, she went outside for a bit during the break and bumped into our friend Scott talking to a weirdly dressed fellow. Kate approached, and recognizing who it was, she says "Valdy!" (he's a popular folk singer we've seen many times over the years -- he lives in the area). Valdy looks at her and says, "Kate!" (he read her conference name tag).

We had a National Car rental for duration. This meant we were able to see some sites beyond the immediate area. We also brought our fold up bikes with us, that made visting in the area easier. We were able to get out of the city to visit with Cai & Natasha, Jeananne & Jim. We drove out of the city to the west and up the coast of the island to Port Renfrew with Deborah and Jerry one rainy misty day.  It is a real rain forest area with lot of ferns and thick moss on hanging on the trees. We bumped into some of the huge slugs Kate had warned me about. They are huge!

Mostly, however, we were hanging around the city center which is quite scenic. The harbor, of course, is quite a tourist draw.  The picture above shows some of the Victoria Harbor Ferrys. They shuttle around the harbor on a back and forth tour to the West Bay with several stops along the way. They do a daily synchronized performance in the Inner Harbor to music. Over at the West Bay there are more house boats tied up. There was also this very weird house at the West Bay. I saw a bunch of sea otters frolicking on the docks. On Wednesday afternoon we (i.e. the conference group) took a whale watching cruise from inner harbor out to North West channel. We did see some seals sun bathing but we didn't see any whales and, while it was sunny, it was very cold and windy. We were quite chilled. There were other cruises on small open rubber dinghy's that went out to the same spot looking for whales -- they must have been very cold, and very wet. I'd not recommend doing that.

From the inner harbor there are sea planes that come and go. We had taken a sea plan from Vancouver a few years ago that landed here. It's expensive but a quick way to get from downtown to downtown. The car ferry to Port Angeles, WA docks in the inner harbor. The huge cruise ships land at a special cruise ship dock on the outer edge of the Victoria Harbor. It's in James Bay, the far south westerly corner.

British Columbia is famous for totem poles carved by the coastal natives. There's a stand of them in a park by the parliament building, there's another along the water front when we biked over to Fisherman's Wharf which is just a little to the north west of our hotel (walking distance really). The wharf is a scenic area that I returned to again and again. There are a lot of house boats anchored there, some commercial ships, sail boats and even some square riggers. Very scenic. An added bonus is the friendly harbor seals who patrol the area. And to top that there's the playful sea otters. There's also a very good fish and chip shop at the wharf.

On the ocean side of James Bay (due south of our hotel) and I wandered along Holland Point Park and Findlayson Point. There's a long breakwater extending out with a lighthouse and cruise boat wharf to the west. You would sometimes sea big cruise boats on the horizon as well as the car ferry which goes to Port Angeles in Washington State.

Kate and I visited Craigdarroch Castle which is very near the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to the west a bit in the Rockland area. Both are interesting Victorian structures (there's a lot of that in the city). As for famous artists, the Emily Carr house is near our hotel in the James Bay area near Beacon Hill Park (more totem poles there) -- I visited her home one day. Another day there was an open air market in a nearby park.

We visited the Victoria Butterfly House a couple of times. There are lots of stunning butterflys and moths in a pretty glassed green house setting and it's not too far from the city center. I visited Goldstream Provincial Park with a friend's daughter to see more rainforest and moss covered trees. We took the Brentwood Bay Ferry back across Saanich Inlet to land near Butterfly house.

Finally there are some wineries near Victoria. We visited one.

IST/Security

I left Information Systems and Technology at the University of Waterloo in May of 2008 and retired then to become a house husband. I was at UW/IST for 10 years as the "Senior Technologist Security" and worked under Roger Watt (as my immediate superior) later under Martin Timmerman when Roger retired.  Jay Black and later Allan George where heads of the IST department during my tenure. Much of my work has been archived on the Way Back Machine.

See the IST/Security site as archived on May 8, 2008. See my home page ist.uwaterloo.ca/~reggers archived April 22, 2008.

My history at Western predates the Way Back Machine so much of my writing there has been lost to history. 

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This note posted January 2026.

St Lucia

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We spent a week in St Lucia during March of 2008. In recent years we had traveled to all inclusive resorts in Cuba and Mexico and had met up with Paul and Judy, my brother and his wife, who flew in from Halifax. This year they weren't keen or able to travel. So we went alone, to an island further south (hoping for even warmer waters) and stayed at a small hotel rather than an all inclusive.

The Inn on the Bay, on high land overlooking Marigot Bay, is on the west side of the island. They had a driver waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. The place was owned by some Norman and Louise from Montreal. We later discovered that it was listed for sale as the "Villa Margot". It wasn't very busy (perhaps that's why they were selling) but the rooms were comfortable, the views over the bay and out to sea were great and there was a pool as well. There was also a small lending library where I found "The Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle". That was an interesting read!

There was a steep and rough trail directly down to the bay, alternatively you could walk down the road into the small village at the bay. In the village there's a short ferry service to get you to other side of the bay where there's a small beach and a hillside resort. At this narrow point you could almost throw a ball across the bay -- it's that narrow.

The picture above is Kate on board one of the water taxis. The roads in St Lucia are winding and very hilly. From our bay it was often easier to take a water taxi. Although one day we did take a local bus to Castries just north of us to explore the town and find a bank which would accept our bank card.

The large cruise ships would land at Castries or at Soufriere further south. Our bay was way too tiny for them.

We took the "Jean Water Taxi" south along the coast one day to the Ti Kaye Resort & Spa on Anse Cochon Beach. Over the course of our stay we dealt with Jean a lot, he was friendly and helpful ... very helpful. Several boat loads from cruise ships arrived during the day to enjoy the beach at Anse Cochon. We had heard there was good snorkeling there. It's a lovely beach, there's a restaurant open to visitors, and the water is warm. However, it's not a great place to snorkel. We never found any place for snorkeling on the island that we were really excited by. One day we took a very long snorkel/swim out of our bay and along the shore. The island is volcanic and the coast drops off quickly. There's some coral but nothing terribly exciting. Kate was pushing me out well beyond my comfort zone.

More about how helpful Jean of the "Jean Water Taxi" was. There was an ATM in Marigot Bay but it wouldn't work for us. We did get some money out of an ATM when we were in Castries. One day we were running low on cash and had Jean take us to Soufriere -- we were going to visit the Pitons, the Botanic Garden and the Volcanic area. Jean had arranged a guide for us (a cousin or some such family/friend). Soufriere is perhaps the largest city, bigger even than Castries, and we were going to hit an ATM to pay Jean and the local guide. When we got there the banks were closed and we couldn't get any cash! Jean's cousin, the local guide, said not to worry he would take us around and we could pay Jean later and Jean would pay him. And that's what we did. We ended up getting some cash from the Inn and had it added to our bill which we payed by our credit card. We were very grateful for the kindness and trust these locals had shown us.

Another interesting story along the same lines. Marigot Bay has sheltered area where small boats can safely dock. One day we were down by the water when this huge black private luxury cruiser came into the bay. It was the biggest ever and could barely navigate in the narrow confines of the bay but it got turned around and safely docked. At that time Prince Charles was visiting St Lucia so we thought this might be his ship but of course it wasn't. Anyway, the waiter at the restaurant where we were watching this unfold says to me, "Do you have a boat like that?". I said, "Oh no, I'm just an ordinary guy like you". He replies, "No you're not. You're a tourist from far away, I'm a poor server and he never left St Lucia".

We took a taxi one night to the Fish Fry at Anse la Raye a little south from us.

Here's a photo album of our adventures.

Washington

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In February of 2008 we were in Washington DC for a few days. We flew into Dulles -- the airport in the center of the city.

I had some time to tramp around the mall and see the monuments -- Lincoln at left, Jefferson, Washington, FDR, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, etc. Kate was busy with her conference.

February is winter even in Washington so the weather is cool, the trees are bare and the grass is grown. Spring is better when the trees bud.

Here's a photo album of some of the things I saw.

Rizdales Christmas

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The Rizdales are a favorite country music band from London led by husband and wife team Tom and Tara Dunphy.

Every year they have a Saturday afternoon Christmas gig at the Richmond Tavern in London, Ontario where they have friends perform and they close the show. It's usually from 4pm until 7pm so it's not too late for older folks like us who have to drive in from out of town (St Marys is maybe 45minutes from the Richmond).

I'm often surprised by the sound quality at the Richmond. Today all the music was crystal clear and very danceable. All this in a seedy old time tavern.

There's quite a crazy crowd of loyal fans at their shows. People who love country music, beer and dancing. What could go wrong? Perhaps their oldest fan, Kaye, got me up dancing! That's what can go wrong!

Their latest CD, Radio Country, is well worth a listen with lots of tunes they've penned. The tune "I Could Tell You Lies" is bound to be a hit -- it has a great story and Tara has the voice. You can get order their latest CD (and earlier CD's) from their web site or check around for places like CD-Baby, Itunes and Spotify for streaming or MP3 versions.

We like the Rizdales, we like the hurtin' tunes they've written.

Austin

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We spent a week in Austin Texas. The intention was to investigate the housing market. We were thinking about investing in a property that we could use as our winter vacation get away. The Canadian dollar was doing pretty well so we thought we'd check it out. We've been to Austin many times since first visiting back in 1990.

We were interested in the South Congress area -- anything south of Town Lake and north of Oltorf (the Zilker, Bouldin and Travis Heights neighborhoods). We had connected with a real estate agent who showed us around to several places in those areas. Everything was either too small, too tacky, too dark or under construction and all were out of our price range. We ended up looking further afield -- south of Oltorf but north of Ben White -- still to no avail. Suffice to say we did not buy (we should have done so 20 years earlier when prices were within reach). I'm somewhat relieved as owning and managing property out of country can be a pain. The carrying costs would be enough to pay for holidays elsewhere and we can do that instead.

So anyways, enough said about that.

We were in Austin for a week, we flew in, had a rented car and had a room at the Historic Stephen Austin hotel. We got our car and room by bidding on Priceline -- I've had some great deals through them. You don't get to pick the hotel, but you do pick the quality and area. It's always worked out well for us. The hotel is very much upscale and on Congress just a block or so north of Pecan/6th Street and a few blocks from the state capitol.

December in Austin is an interesting destination for many reasons. It's still quite warm (at least by our standards), the trees are still green and it's the holiday season -- Christmas lights everywhere. There was an event where they turned on the lights of a huge Christmas tree at our hotel.

At Barton Springs the entry is free during the "winter season" and the warm weather we had makes the water all the more inviting. It's always cool in Barton Springs as the waters are spring fed. We went swimming a couple of times. In Zilker park, where Barton Springs is found, there are a lot of pecan trees (actually there are lots all over the city). At this time of year the pecans are falling from the trees and ready for munching. You need only collect them as they fall.

We visited Gruene on the first Saturday. It's a small town about an hour south of Austin and this weekend there's a Christmas market and event. We ate at the Gristmill and saw Jimmie LaFave play at Gruene Hall with a full band. Jimmie tends to favor early Bob Dylan folkie music but has many tunes of his own. John Inmon, who toured with Jerry Jeff, played electric guitar in his band today.

We had bumped into this cop a while ago on our travels who had encouraged us to try Artz Rib House on South Lamar -- best ribs in town. We did one Monday night and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell was playing. She's quite good and I bought one of her CD's, she encouraged me to take another (for free) but I declined. She wears glasses and when I was taking pictures she took them off and laughed. We all have our vanities, I guess she felt she'd look better without the glasses. Oh yes, the ribs very good. The place is pretty rough and ready but the ribs were great.

While stumbling around South Lamar we bumped into this very weird taco place -- Maria's Taco Express. It's quite an odd place and appears to have been thrown together with an eclectic mix of bric-a-brac. We'll have to investigate it another time -- it was closed when we were there. Perhaps it's only open in the summer.

On Wednesday we returned to San Antonio (you remember the Alamo!). We shopped at the Old Spanish Market for a taste of Mexico, had a bit of lunch on the River Walk and took one of the boat tours that goes around through the canal system. We stopped again in a Gruene on the way back. There was music at Gruene Hall but this time it wasn't on the stage. Instead it's on the dance floor area near the bar at the other end of the hall. Younger guys were playing more of a rock 'n roll influenced music. Still with Texas roots though.

On Thursday we went out to the Oasis on Lake Travis. The Oasis is this huge restaurant on a high bluff overlooking the lake. The lake is a dammed river (the Colorado) that supplies water to Austin. There are some very posh homes overlooking the lake - it would be a very desirable area to live. There's lots of expensive bronze sculptures at the Oasis. There's an interesting one of a diver caught in mid dive -- it looks like she's diving into Lake Travis. I've taken out the supporting beam which holds her in mid air in my photo.

Downriver from Lake Travis there's the scenic Pennebacker Arch Bridge on the Loop 360 that crosses Lake Austin (Town Lake is in the city, Lake Austin above that and Lake Travis above that). We stopped so I could take a picture -- it's an iconic picture. It's odd that there isn't a proper scenic look out here.

Back in the city we say Cornell Hurd and his band at Jovita's on South Lamar. We had been to Jovita's years before and saw Cornell Hurd with a band in an intimate but crowded front room of the restaurant. These days they've expanded with a big dance hall area attached at the back.

On Friday we went out to Luckenbach stopping at Pedernales Falls State Park along the way -- the Pedernales was pretty dry so there wasn't much of a "falls". Luckenbach still has people who drop in to swap songs under the live oaks. There's still stereo chickens wandering about and beer is still beer. It's more crowded with tourists but still an interesting place to visit.

That evening we're back in Austin and catch Gary P. Nunn playing at the Broken Spoke -- a rustic (dare I say shabby) honky tonk on South Lamar. Not as old as Gruene Hall but similar in spirit. Gary P. Nunn has some really great tunes -- "Home with the Armadillo" and "You Ask Me What I Like About Texas" are two standouts.

On Saturday we go canoeing on Town Lake -- there's a rental place on Barton Creek just below the dam that forms Barton Springs. There's quite a bit of life around the lake: birds, turtles, dog parks and even fish.

We explored South Congress -- I especially like Tesaro's gift store -- and ate at Gueros'. We closed the day by seeing Lee Edwards at the Waterloo Ice House next door to Waterloo Records.

While we didn't find a property to buy as a vacation home, we did pack in a lot of adventures in one week. Austin is a fun place to visit. We'll be back.

New York City

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Kate and I made a quick trip to New York City for our friend (Kate's KBS colleague) Nancy's 50th birthday party held with a few friends in a luxury suite on Park Avenue. 

Staying in the city is atrociously expensive and you'd be a darn fool to take your car into the city so we made other plans.

We drove our car to Albany; touring some of the Finger Lakes wineries on the way. We stayed overnight in Albany, the state capitol, which is up river on the Hudson, and the next morning took a quick train into the city. 

In NYC we stayed overnight at the Jumeirah Essex House at the south end of Central Park (a posh hotel for sure) and attended Nancy's party a short walk away on Park Avenue. She and Jeff had rented a large suite for the party; Gillian, a mutual friend from Australia, had come to the party as well.

We made a CD for Nancy, I can't recall what was on it other than "I Wanna Go to New York City" by the Demics.

We had lunch overlooking Columbus Circle and took a carriage ride around Central Park before the party. The next morning we went to the top of the Empire State Building before returning to Albany and touring more of the Finger Lakes Winery on our way home — we found one that made it's own grappa!

It was a brief visit to the "Big Apple" and nice to celebrate with Nancy.

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Ps. this brief note was composed 2026/01/05. Kate was writing with Nancy wrt. the recent passing of a mutual friend and mentor Sharon. We remembered this adventure from years before and our wild times at the KBS.