Victoria, Vancouver Island

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It was a long 30 hours, having departed on Thursday, 24 September from Brisbane at 6.00am into Sydney from where we flew to Vancouver, boarded another flight into Victoria, arriving at 11.30am on the SAME day! A little recovery time and a shower later on what was a very showery and grey day, we walked for about 5 hours taking in some of the local area and just doing our best to stay awake until evening. The British Columbia Parliament building is spectacular and grand in every detail! We were speechless at the beauty of its interior. Our hotel is well appointed, overlooking the picturesque Victoria Harbour, with large car and passenger ferries docking out in front of us, along with many other large and small water vessels. Everywhere in every bar and hotel "happy hour" is enjoyed from 3 until 6 pm. A couple of these, together with delicious platters of fresh fish etc, and we were ready to collapse.

Friday, and we've over-slept! Oh well, feeling much more refreshed and alert, a quick granola and hot cup of tea, and we are able to make it to catch the bus to the Butchard Gardens, an hour away. It's another showery grey day, but the gardens are spectacular. There just aren't enough superlatives to describe these gardens. Mid-afternoon we indulged in the "high tea" overlooking a small part of the gardens on the verandah of the dining room. On our return to Victoria at 5pm we walked through the magnificent Empress Hotel before enjoying happy hour at another of the waterfront bars. A walk through a nearby mall was perfect before settling in to enjoy a very light meal and more wine, back at a popular waterfront bar.

Tomorrow we take another hour long bus journey to the ferry port to cross to Vancouver.

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Comments

[denise]

What a journey to get here! Happy hours sound fantastic and the but hard gardens look so spectacular. Beautiful night time shots! xdenise