Centre of the Universe and The Hive

Our full bus of Let's Do It Day Trippers arrived at the Centre of the Universe to appreciate the spectacular views and the rather chilling wind reminding us that it's not quite spring yet!

We toured the 1.8 metre Plaskett Telescope first. It was amazing to learn that this telescope was completed in 1918, and was supplied with its 1.8 metre mirror from  Belgium just before the outbreak of WW1.  At getting on for 100 years old, this is an impressive facility - still being used to carry out research today, but with the addition of computer controls to orientate the telescope and digital output for photography. The telescope is named after John Stanley Plaskett, as you can just make out on the plaque.

The skeletal model was built at the same time as the telescope and shows the giant concrete archway supporting the telescope. The dome rotates, and the shutters open to make observations.  The telescope itself is about 1.8 metres wide, and it was one of the largest in the world at the time.  Today, the observatory's large telescopes in Hawaii are 8 metres wide!

In the main building we had a planetarium show in the small domed planetarium that holds about 20 people.  There we learned about the night sky, galaxies, and star clusters, as well as nebula which are the nurseries of stars.  Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable .  For example she, informed us that there are approximately 100 billion to 400 billion stars like our sun in our galaxy alone and that "shooting stars" are actually meteorites falling to earth and burning up in the atmosphere.

After an excellent lunch at Romeo's in Broadmead, we headed off to the Hive for a quick stop on the way back to the centre. The coordinator gave a brief presentation indicating that the Hive was a combination of information resource centre for business, residents, and consumers, an historical archive, and a location for display and sale of locally produced craft items.

A couple of our day tippers were particularly interested in the old telephone exchange having had personal experience in operating similar equipment in the past! These things have much more substance than cell phones!!

Check the web page for information on upcoming trips, and join the Let's Do It Day Trippers!!

Sidney Trip Was Fun

We arrived at the Shaw Discovery Centre in the rain, but the weather cleared while we were visiting the denizens of the Salish Sea.
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The jelly fish were dramatic - part of the Sex in the Salish Sea exhibition (a family friendly theme)

And Chris had to stick her head in the kids' view tank to give this weird science fiction-like effect.

Lunch at Mary's Bleue Moon Cafe was great, although one or two of us felt a little guilty eating seafood after the aquarium visit!

The British Columbia Aviation Museum was just across the street..

The guided tour was really interesting.  We saw the new hangar area as well as the restoration shops.  Several of the planes were restored to airworthiness, while others were for display only.

The Vickers Viscount (1948 to 1963) is being restored by a group of ex-airline pilots and seemed more spacious than some current airliners inside.

And, of course the Spitfire (1938-1948) is always a favourite. This one is a 3/4 scale replica model featuring the Invasion Stripes used in the WW2 Normandy landings to avoid attack by friendly forces.

A quick visit to the Red Barn on the drive home ended an excellent Let's Do It Day Trip.  Get your tickets at the office now for upcoming trips in March and April.

Tickets available for March 9 Sidney Trip

Tickets are still available at the office for our fantastic March 9 trip to Sidney

At only $7, plus Shaw entry and lunch, this is a great value trip.  Greatly reduced group entry to the Aviation Museum is included in the $7 ticket price. 

Choose to browse Sidney and/or take a coffee break if you've recently visited the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre.

Let us know if you need assistance to access these attractions. Willing volunteers are ready to help you!

March 9: Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, Sidney / British Columbia Aviation Museum
Depart: 9:30               Cost: $7 plus Ocean Discovery Centre admission plus lunch

The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is an aquarium and marine education centre focused on the amazing ecosystem of the Salish Sea. The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is an aquarium and marine education centre focused on the amazing ecosystem of the Salish Sea.They’re back! The enormous skulls and skeletons from Sidney’s former Marine Mammal Museum have returned to the waterfront and are on display in a special exhibit at the Centre. Skulls, teeth, vertebrae and baleen adorn the revived exhibit. A full scale killer whale skeleton is suspended overhead. The display showcases the biology of Salish Sea cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoise — and pinnipeds — fin-footed mammals. Discover the differences and striking similarities between humans and marine mammals!

The British Columbia Aviation Museum is a major attraction on Vancouver Island. There are many interesting aircraft, engines, pictures, models and artifacts. The Memorial Room contains artifacts from the wars that Canadians fought, either as members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Flying Corps, or Royal Air Force. There is a historical display of the Pat Bay Airport as it was during its time as a Commonwealth Air Training Centre, complete with models of all the aircraft that were stationed here during those years. We will have a guided tour of the facility and visit the gift shop.

Still one ticket available for 39 Steps

ONE TICKET STILL AVAILABLE - CHECK THE OFFICE

March 30:  Chemainus Theatre - "The Thirty-Nine Steps"

Depart:  10:30 a.m.  Cost:  $65.00 (incl. transportation, theatre, buffet, HST & gratuity)

NO REFUNDS AFTER 12:00 NOON 16 MARCH

Re-booking the gallery trip for May 11

It's a pity that the weather didn't allow us to do our trip to Oak Bay on Feb 23.  However, we have been able to rebook the galleries and restaurant for May 11. This will be a great trip and great value! Stay tuned for more details.

Wednesday February 23, Oak Bay Shop and Gallery Browse

23 February – Oak Bay Shop and Browse

plus visit three galleries

Depart: 10:00am      Cost: $5 + lunch

    The Avenue Gallery

       A showcase for contemporary BC art

   

Eclectic Gallery –

    

Original contemporary fine art - special private tour of the gallery by the owner.

Side Street Studio

Collection of local artists’ work. Side Street Studio offers 10% discount    

Lunch will reserved be at the Penny Farthing  Pub

       

About Our Food

Our menu can best be described asmodern British “comfort food.” Our goal is to source out the finest ingredients from land and sea, to present a dining experience you will want to come back for soon.

Our menu features a variety of traditional starters perfect for sharing and main dishes such as Fish & Chips, Bangers & Mash and a selection of pots and pies.

Tickets available at office

*Chris and Tom Walton (778) 433-2546*

Check out the blog http://lets-do-it-trips.blogspot.com Contact us at waltonjt1@gmail.com with questions or comments and to get on the email list with information about future Let’s do it Trips. No email? – phone is fine.

A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline

Our Chemainus trip was as good as usual.  We started with a scenic drive to the theatre in our newly decorated magic bus.

Thanks again to John for organizing the body work fix, for fitting the three new seats personally, and for getting the new decals installed in time for yesterday's trip.

The theatre was looking good in the sunshine, and we had about half an hour to hit the Chemainus shops before taking our seats for the lunch buffet.  One word describes the buffet for me - succulent ribs - well I suppose that's two words, but they were finger lickin' good. Oh - and the desserts - they describe it as well!

The show was fantastic, and Sara-Jeanne Hosie really has the pipes to sing the Patsy Cline repertoire.  Talk about absolute torch and twang (as k.d.lang calls it)! The band was note perfect, and Sara-Jeanne chatted with some of us after the performance.

If you liked this show, you'll love the two musical shows we have planned for April.  Songs of Spring is a  sweet bouquet of melodies such as Voices of Spring, Easter Parade, April in Paris, plus other music devoted to spring, and Two Pianos Four Hands is one of Canada's most successful theatre productions ever, having toured five continents and over 150 cities. It is a fantastic musical treat.  Check out the day trippers' web page and the upcoming Expressions for more details and get ready to buy tickets on Tuesday, March 8th. 

And don't forget the next Chemainus trip on Wednesday, March 30th to see the Thirty Nine Steps - Broadway's longest running comedy..  There are still a couple of tickets available at the office.