Estevan Avenue is a just a short walk to Willows
Beach & Willows Park.
The Estevan Village is a quiet, tree-lined block of specialty boutiques and includes a bank, hair salon, jewellry store, post office, grocery store, video store, fine restaurant, café, and a Fish & Chip shop.
If you are travelling from downtown via BC Transit take the No.1 (Richardson/Willows) bus which makes its turnaround area Estevan Avenue.
Head down Estevan Avenue towards Willows Beach to begin your scenic walking tour. Willows Beach has a tea room run by the Kiwanis club.
They sell fries, hot dogs, burgers, and beverages, all overlooking the most popular beach in Victoria. Please note that they are only open seasonally.
Here is Willows Beach, home of the body beautifuls! If you are looking to people watch, play volleyball, or relax on the white sandy beach, this is THE place. Great for families, young and older folks alike, you can't go wrong with a trip to Willows Beach.
If you are visiting from out of town or a resident of Victoria, be sure to catch the 39th annual (2001) Oak Bay Tea Party. The midway is set up at Willows Beach and Park and occurs the first weekend of June. The celebration kicks off with a Saturday morning parade.
Entertainment includes canoe rides, pancake breakfast, baron of beef, fairground rides like the Zipper and the Tilt a Whirl, games of chance, cotton candy, corn on the cob, bathtub races, BIG BANDS, AIRSHOW, and FIREWORKS at 10:00pm on Saturday night!
Continue walking down Willows Beach towards Cattle Point. The road is called Esplanade. You will come to a path with a staircase leading upwards. This path leads to Cattle Point and Uplands Park.
Another point of entrance to Cattle Point and wheelchair accessible is where
Uplands Park and Cattle Point meet at Dorset Road and Beach Drive.
Once at Cattle Point you will find picnic areas, boat launch ramps and scenic views. Also a great place for bird-watching.
For more on Birding in Victoria
Cattle Point is not only a good place to launch your boat, canoe or kayak, it is also a place that EXPERT windsurfers enjoy.
The Cattle Point boat launch area welcomes boaters. The notice reads, "To ensure efficient use of the boat ramp please prepare your boat for launching completely in the trailer parking area. During periods of heavy congestion please take your turn and let your motto be: ONE BOAT IN ONE BOAT OUT. Happy Boating!"
Last stop on the walk is the Oak Bay Cenotaph. It was constructed in 1948 on behalf of the 97 young men and one woman from
Oak Bay, who died in WWII. On Rememberance Day, November 11th, 1948, the Cenotaph was unveiled.
A wall of concrete with granite finish frames a nine-foot tall statue of a woman looking down upon the
97 names of Oak Bay's war dead. The inscription reads: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends."
