Blogs from Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America

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Victoria is Canada's second most romantic city. If you have more than three days in Vancouver then Victoria is absolutely worth a visit, but getting there requires about four hours of travel each way; if you can stay overnight in Victoria it will result in a much more relaxed and fulfilling trip but if you only have one day it can still be done. While both Victoria and Vancouver both have harbors the ferry between them is far outside of town on both sides, so you'll find yourself on four long bus rides or expensive (and only slightly shorter) taxi rides, in addition to two lovely ferry crossings between Tsawwassen (Vancouver) and Swartz Bay (Victoria). Book your ferry tickets in advance, especially if you will be bringing a car, and hope for clear skies so that ... read more
Butchart Gardens
Butchart Gardens
Afternoon tea at the Butchart Gardens


Sunday 7thMay 2023 SEATTLE We arrived in Seattle about 7.00am – very easy transfer, by taxi ($20.00 flat fee!!) to our hotel and we started exploring about 8.00am!! Of course, everything was shut, but we did manage to find our way to the Space Needle, which was about 10minute walk, and the Space Needle opened at 9.00am!! We weren’t quite their first customer but after a ‘different’ ride on a lift, on the OUTSIDE of the tower were treated to some wonderful views of Seattle and the Bay in glorious sunshine! Had a very short zoom meeting with Chris family from the top as well!! Looked at then revolving glass floor on the way down- Chris walked on it, I didn’t!! Wandered through the huge Park and then walked down to the waterfront and watch two ... read more
Space Needle
Seattle skyline
The Gum Wall


Today was our last full day on the ship. In the morning, we will leave the ship and transfer directly to the airport. We fly home tomorrow. Today we slept-in… until almost 8am… which is almost 10am Missouri time. We ate breakfast and I packed everything. We did our “tour of the ship” a little late this cruise – it’s where we start at the bottom and go through each floor seeing everything. This is a smaller ship built back when the ports were the entertainment so no bumper cars or 4D theaters exist. It is a lovely ship. I took pictures of a few of the interesting items we saw today. This ship was built in 2004. It is well maintained and this cruise to Alaska is the second cruise out since COVID hit in ... read more
A bird in hand...
This boat was docked next to us in Victoria, BC
Welcome to Canada


Le 17 août 2021, Aujourd'hui, ce sera une journée de route, la plus longue du voyage (500 km)... Et on stresse un peu... L'autoroute que l'on prévoyait emprunter a fermé hier en raison des feux de forêts, et la situation ne s'est pas améliorée ce matin... Il nous reste donc l'option de la route de montagne, plus longue, mais qui est elle aussi menacée de fermeture depuis 3 jours en raison des incendies... Voilà qui est peu rassurant... Il est 8:15 quand nous sommes fin prêts à partir. On veut se laisser une bonne marge de manoeuvre pour parer aux imprévus. On quitte Penticton dans un brouillard de fumée et rapidement, la route devient fort jolie, avec plusieurs vues en hauteur, des fermes, une multitude de kiosques de fruits, etc. La fumée ne nous quitte cependant ... read more
Bridal Veil Falls
Ferry ride
Coucher de soleil sur Fisherman's Wharf

North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver Island » Victoria September 10th 2019

We woke to the sound of steady rain falling, thankfully it had stopped by the time we left for the ferry. It was only a short ride and we got there and on board with plenty of time to spare. The conditions were quite calm and the trip took just over two and a half hours arriving at 10:45am. We then had to collect our luggage and bikes and go through customs (as we had travelled from the US to Canada). At border security we went through as a group. The conversation went something like this . . . . Border Security Officer (BSO): So are you going to leave anything in the country? Tom: No Mark: No Jeff: No Mark: Hey Jeff, what about that present for Edna? Jeff: Oh yeah, I have a present ... read more
Vicoria is the capitol of Vancouver
Fisherman's whaarf
St Andrew's Catholic Church


I have become negligent in my blogging so now must catch up. A few years ago we took Zaya for tea at the Banff Springs Hotel. She loved it so much that we thought it might be fun to have high-tea in Victoria with the 4 grandkids. We love Victoria anyway, so it seemed a good fit. We really wanted to have tea in the Empress, as that is probably the equivalent to the Banff Springs. Alas, there were no reservations available and we were forced to look elsewhere for our high-tea. We found several recommended in Google so, Sunday afternoon, we started out, kids dressed in their camping finest. We went to the highest recommended but it was closed, as was the 2nd. Finally, we found a tea house, in Chinatown, that was open and ... read more
Royal Museum
In the "Old Town"
In the Lobby of the "Grand Hotel"


Sunday 23rd June 2019 Eleven intrepid travellers and one sea captain, set forth for three and a half hours this morning to navigate eighty-eight kilometres of ocean, in search of Killer Whales. The captain was Jimmy, a marine biologist from Victoria and the passengers comprised of five German tourists, four Canadians and John and myself (two brave Brits paying cheaper “Senior” rates). Our craft was a fast twelve-seater Zodiac, the only one on the west coast that has six double seats and a walk around edge, so everyone can stand up (if they really must) and everyone has a “window” seat (well they would if there were windows but the Zodiac is an open inflatable-rib boat); a great craft for close-up views of marine life. One doesn’t just don life jackets to get on board, we ... read more
Female Orca just 2 metres from our Zodiac...
...and her calf


Saturday 22nd June 2019 Our drive from the West Pacific coast to the east of Vancouver Island on Thursday was yet another sensational scenic and memorable journey. On the way we went to a Salvation Army “Thrift store” in a town called Duncan, which has a fair percentage of families in need (sadly a disproportionate number of these are First Nation communities). We spoke to the manager there who was delighted when we donated our tent, inflatable mattress and sleeping bags. She was so delighted with these useful items that it made our day. We arrived at my cousin Kaye and Randy’s beautiful home in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsular in the afternoon and spent a lovely evening with them. A speciality in the region is salmon barbecued on a cedar plank of wood. The ... read more
Butchart Cove
Cruising!
River otter




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