Well here we are in Victoria, BC, Canada. The ferry trip was uneventful, but the sun was shining. After ‘de-boating’ we had a short drive to Weir’s Beach RV Resort which is a nice campground with our site being on a pond that has many ducks and two swans that have three little babies. The adult swans are protective of their little ones and chase the ducks out of the water. The ducks walk on our site since our next door neighbor feeds them. Since the sun was shining Mike was able to bbq steaks for dinner. After dinner we walked around and picked up a few pieces of driftwood on the campground’s private beach.
Saturday was a full day that started with a visit to The Butchart Gardens, which is a national historic site of Canada and has been over 100 years in bloom. The area covers more than 55 acres of a 130 acre estate. It began from an idea Jennie Butchart had to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry which had supplied her husband Robert’s nearby Portland cement plant. The Gardens, through the skillful mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees and flowers, often collected by the Butcharts during their extensive world travels, continually expanded over the years to become the world famous Sunken, Japanese, Rose, Italian and Mediterranean gardens we saw today. It is still owned and operated by the family and is visited by close to a million visitors annually.
We then drove to China Town where we walked around a little bit and then enjoyed lunch and walked some more.
Our next stop was Craigdarroch Castle which was built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. This Victorian mansion, built on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria (Craigdarroch means ‘rocky, oak place’ in Gaelic) announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada. Unfortunately, Robert died just before construction of the Castle was completed, so he never had the chance to live in it. The castle has one of North America’s finest collections of Victorian residential stained and leaded glass windows, with intricate woodwork throughout. This four floor home with a dance hall, sat on a twenty-eight acre estate but now there are only about 1.75 acres. This home is 25,572 square feet, including the basement. There are 17 fireplaces and 7 chimney stacks. It had gas lighting, as well as electric lighting; hot and cold running water for indoor plumbing; central heating; telephones; and a burglar alarm system. When we returned to the campground we took a short walk on the beach. The wind has really picked up so we’ll spend the rest of the evening relaxing in the trailer after a busy, long, fun day! The sun was shining again today!
Sunday began with a leisurely breakfast that Judy cooked and then off again to downtown Victoria. With jackets on and cameras ready, we walked to The Fairmont Empress Hotel which is larger than life, shaped by marvelous architecture. The Empress is one of Canada’s most beloved hotels. There were many people having afternoon tea in the hotel, being served the secret tea blend of the hotel on fine Royal Doulton china. With the tea they enjoy freshly baked raisin scones served with Devon-style double clotted cream and strawberry preserves and finger sandwiches. We enjoyed our cold water from the very best plastic bottles money can buy.
We then walked across to the Parliament building.
The rest of our time was spent walking along the harbor, watching street performers, and just strolling around downtown.
Our next stop was to have a Father’s Day meal at the 17th Mile Pub that was recommended by Dave, the manager of the campground. We enjoyed their fish chowder and their fish and chips. Then back to the campground for a quiet evening.
Remember : The pictures enlarge when you click on them.
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