twochai,
A very timely reminder. I'll be going "up island" to visit a friend, so a detour to Sproat Lake would be easy.
However, it won't be until mid-October, since I have to make a business trip to Vietnam first!
I've only seen a Mars once, many years ago. It was working a fire near the coast just west of Victoria and I was on a boat. I initially thought it was a Sunderland and then I saw the "V" float struts and realized it must be a Mars, based on a picture in a WWII recognition book that I pored over during my teenage years!