Vancouver Day 3

---

Headed out bright and early to catch the float plane to Vancouver Island to spend the day in Victoria. What fun we had speed walking 20 min to the harbour to catch the flight! Flew in a twin Otter for those interested and it was great. Landing on the water was softer than in a normal runway and flying at a lower altitude make the journey interesting in all sorts of ways!

Landed in Victoria harbour and headed into town on foot for breakfast with Jen getting cosy with some sailor, see picture! We had traditional Canadian breakfasts, Jen with a skillet of bacon, egg, cheese potatoes and other assorted vegetables, me with pancakes and double ration of bacon! I chose the healthy meal. Sadly the coffee was not great. Must admit that we find the prices of the food very reasonable.

We then caught the tour bus out to the world famous Butchart Gardens. I must admit I did not initially fancy spending a few hours wondering through some gardens, but it was magnificent. It is a garden that was built by the Butchart family in an old stone quarry back in 1904 and what a stunning place. It has diffent theme areas, Italian garden, Japanese garden, Sunken Garden, Rose garden etc. We finished at the Italian garden and the food police were blindsided when I snuck in a double scoop of Gelato before she had time to react! What a great time we had at the gardens and we then made our way back to Victoria and wondered around the town seeing the sights and stopping for some more beer tasting.

Then proceeded to jump on the ferry to return to the mainland with a 1and half hour crossing to Vancouver. Yes you read correctly, she who does not get on ferries, enjoyed the trip without getting sea sick and even ate some food on board! We had a great crossing on a very flat sea and it was just like going through the Sounds on a great day. We finally arrived back at the hotel at 9:30pm quite tired. We are now preparing for the 4 day adventure of driving through the Rocky Mountains, something that I have dreamt of doing for about 35 years. Looking forward to it!

---