Day 3

Up early this morning as we had to be in town to catch the Land Sea tour bus from the Holiday Inn. We caught the bus from Main Street (about a half km walk from where we are staying) down to East Broadway Street, then another bus down Broadway to the pickup point. We had about half an hour to spare so had a little wander around the area.

As the Holiday Inn was the last pick up point we did not have a great deal of options for seating on the 24 seater bus. Mike was our friendly tour guide (Uni student and this was his summer job). He had great insights as he was born and raised in Vancouver but is going to Uni in Victoria on Vancouver Island. We had a mixed group on the bus - some from USA, France, Columbia, Ireland and Sri Lanka (now living in Sydney, Australia)

It was around a half an hour drive down to Tsawwassen ferry terminal. The BC Ferry that goes from the main land to Vancouver Island is a large vehicular ferry (size wise the only difference between it and the Spirit of Australia that goes to Tassie is that this was does not have overnight accommodation). It is a 90 minute trip amongst what is known as the Gulf Islands to Schwartz Bay ferry terminal. Unfortunately, there were no Orca or whale sightings on this trip.

Once ashore we travelled down the main road to the capital of British Columbia (BC), Victoria. Mike drove through the main area of the city pointing out places of interest and then dropped us off at the top of Government Road. We then had two and half hours to sightsee, meeting Mike at the other end of Government Rd near the harbour.

Starting at Chinatown we walked through Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in the world. Then we past a variety of shops - some touristy, some clothing and lots of restaurants and cafés. We walked through Bastion Square where a lot of outdoor street market vendors set up. We were glad it was not an arduous walk as at this stage our leg muscles were starting to react to the previous day's exercise and our energy levels were low due to late nights and early mornings.

We had a quick look at both outside and inside (public area only) of the Fairmont Empress Hotel and the Victoria Convention Centre. We then went across the street to tour the Parliament building. It was strange reading another Commonwealth country's description of the relationship with the British Monarchy.

Mike then drove us to Butchart Gardens. This was originally a cement quarry due to the rich limestone deposits (a rare occurrence in BC). Once the limestone was exhausted, the wife of the family realised her dream of creating a magnificent garden. Spread over 55 acres of the 130-acre property the Sunken Garden was the first garden area to be created. To say these gardens are magnificent is an understatement.

In addition to the Sunken Gardens, there is a Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, several fountains (the most impressive is the dancing Ross fountain in the Sunken Gardens), a stage and a concert area where performance are regular scheduled.

The flowers, shrubs and trees are beyond description. The organisation of colours and variety of plants is spectacular. The size of some of the blooms are incredible. Hopefully the photos will do some justice to what we saw.

From the Gardens we travelled back to the ferry only to find it was running late. Another smooth trip across the water and we arrived back on the mainland to a colourful sunset around 9.00pm. Then the morning in reverse- back to the Holiday Inn, then the two buses and walk home. We arrived back at 10.20pm rather tired little vegemites. A few biscuits and cheese (and the remaining BC red) and off to bed.