A quick interlude ashore, just in time to join the 'gang' for a Sunday of tango dancing (yep - tango dancing) at the very western end of Cowichan Lake. It is so far west, that one almost finishes up at Vancouver Island's Pacific West Coast. Or at least at Nitinat, the infamous famous long skinny inlet, which is one of the most coveted locations for 'extreme windsurfing'. Nitinat seems to invite every gale on the west coast to roar through the narrow coastal entrance and then whip the inlet into a broiling hell of standing waves.
Well, Doug's Place, the tango venue of the day, just manages to avoid all that natural uproar, and offers nothing less than unspoiled remote mountain stillness, mirrored in the farthest corner of the crystal clear lake, in a park like setting - monument to the owner's admirable feat of sensitive landscaping on a grand scale, but without sacrificing the feel of untamed nature circling his unique Garden of Eden.
And best of all - no one but us tango chickens around!
Turn left at the end of the world....
down the meticulously groomed 'driveway'...
must be the right place....tango shoes in the wilderness....
to the elegantly sculpted fresh water fountain on the pebbly beach
past Kiki the deaf and blind (but blessed with an unequalled effective sniffer) guard dog
to the tango aficionados cooling off before the steamy Latin tango dancing...
Airing tango feet and everything else before putting on the dancing glad rags
nothing like the seedy, demi-monde, smokey dives in old La Boca, where Tango was born in Buenos Aires...
but definitely not a bad way to mature into 'grown up' Tango without limits in a wild, open but remote corner of Vancouver Island.
Here they are collected at the edge of Cowichan Lake in Doug's paradise, getting into 'the mood'
Aha, it must be time....the shoes come out of car trunks and onto eager feet.
A red plasticized sheet, fixed over a reasonably flat expanse of pebble beach, with only a scattering of divot holes and pebbly bumps to mar the shiny surface and challenge dancer's balance is ready for the onslaught.
Outdoors or Indoors - it's all about the embrace....
And the elegance
and the etiquette
and inimitable Latin style
and exquisite technique and musicality
and defying the ravages of 'old knees'
And enjoying every second between tandas (a set of four tangos until changing partners)
No one on the beach....everyone caressing the dance floor with their lake-side-fashion clad feet in tangos, valses and milongas
A little I-Phone (or something similarly technically advanced) provided nostalgic classic tango music, quietly enough to be inaudible near the water, but just right for the unusual open air dance floor.
One lone flower enjoying it's season in the summer sun on the broad pebble beach
Kiki 'perceiving' tango
Elk and Moose Burgers, compliments of Doug (he misses a few tango lessons during hunting season to stock up his larder with delicious game - no hormones, no preservatives, no feedlots for these quadrupeds, so he assures us) are browning to perfect done-ness on the beach side fire pit.
Cafe Ideal - eat your heart out! This is the Sunderland of the Great White North!
Cool evening over Lake Cowichan....beyond a diminishing camp fire.
Some dancers stayed at the Lake in tents, some brought their RV's and Campers, some just visited for the day - and a delightful day it was!
2x4 tango rhythm in a most unlikely but most pleasant venue....
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