Victoria, Vancouver Island

August 18, Sunday

 

 

 

.          We took the 815AM M.V. Coho ferry across from Port Angeles to Victoria (90 minutes).  We left our car in Port Angeles and traveled across.  Upon arriving in Victoria, we were able to see the Dragon Races, the Empress Hotel, the Government building.  It is quite a busy harbor and very different from Port Angeles.   We dropped our bags at the Marriott and went to get a quick bite to eat.  Next, we boarded our  double-decker bus for the Butchart’s gardens (12 miles out of Victoria or ½ hour drive).  The Butchart’s gardens were spectacular and we snapped numerous pictures to try to capture the scenery as best we could.  We learned the Butchart’s owned a cement business and quarried for limestone.  As they finished quarrying out the limestone, it left a big hole and Mrs. Butchart decided to fill the holes in with flowers because she thought it was too ugly the way it was.   The gardens are still owned and run by the Butchart family.

 

 

Things we learned about Victoria/Vancouver Island:

1)      The largest island in North/South America (350 miles long, 60 miles wide with 4,000 miles of shoreline

2)      Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and has a population of 350,000 (750,000 on the whole island, majority in the southern half.

3)      Victoria is the retirement capital of Canada – moderate winters/temperate summers

4)      1,800 flower baskets (1,200 sunny, 600 shady) that are scattered around Victoria and are watered nightly

5)      In each basket, 27 plants, 9 varieties (3 of each)

6)      We also saw the narrowest alley in the world (Fan Tan Alley), which is famous and used in movies frequently (.9 meters at the narrowest point

7)      Victoria is actually south of the 49^th parallel (which divides US/Canada)

8)      Over 700 islands

 

We had a wonderful dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, back to the Marriott for a dip in the pool/hot tub and back out in the evening to capture some evening photos.

 

 

August 19, Monday

 

 

 

 

 

           At 900AM, we rented biked from The Peddler.  We toured Victoria around the harbor front and into various neighborhoods.  We stopped for pictures at the Craigdarroch Castle.      After completing our 2 hour bike ride, we headed back to the Marriott to check-out and then grabbed a quick bite to eat at the local pub. 

 Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the pier for our 300PM ferry back to Port Angeles.  We headed out for  Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, arriving by 700PM with plenty of time to hit the hot springs.  They had a kiddie hot spring and 2 adult hot springs - one warmer than the other)  and a large swimming pool.  Our accommodations were cabins and they were really quite nice and roomy.