Hilary
There's always something new to learn!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
- Messages
- 6,483
Victoria
Sunday, August 3rd
We packed up at Greendale and filled in the Guest Book (they have Guest Books here dating back over 70 years) in a suitably appreciative manner, then drove a few miles down Highway 1 to Duncan and the Quwutsun Cultural Centre to view the exhibits of First Nations art and culture. We had a guided tour of the totems and exhibits (very interesting), watched a short film about the Cowichan people and then went to sample some traditional Cowichan dishes in the restaurant.
After our excellent lunch we drove on to Victoria, hoping to make it to our hotel before the road closures for tonights Inner Harbour event Symphony Splash were set up. Doh! We were just too late and had to make a slight detour. By the time wed checked in we were now running late for our meeting with Sharon (from the Canadian DIS boards) who lives in Victoria
. Fortunately Sharon was still waiting for us and we enjoyed a stroll along from the Breakwater and back for a coffee, and one of the infamous Nanaimo bars which Id been hoping to find. We made tentative arrangements to meet up later in the week before we left Victoria, and then said our temporary goodbyes.
We stopped off at the hotel for some warmer clothes to see us through the evenings outdoor viewing of Symphony Splash, and then found a place on the lawns in front of the Legislature Buildings to sit and watch and listen. Symphony Splash is along the same lines as Proms in the Park, but the orchestra are out on a floating barge in the Inner Harbour and the audience are anywhere and everywhere else, both on dry land and on boats in the harbour around the performers. By the end of the evening wed found a niche on a windowsill of one of the ground floor windows, and managed to tuck ourselves out of the cooler night air. It would be equivalent to sitting on a windowsill of the Houses of Parliament if the event was being held in London and I cant see that being allowed somehow! It was a wonderfully casual evening of great entertainment, with music ranging from tunes from Harry Potter and Star Wars to the finale of the 1812 Overture complete with fireworks! It was certainly a memorable introduction to the city of Victoria.
Monday, 4th August
DH had a fishing trip booked this morning and was out of the room by 5:30am to meet the skipper down at the harbour. The girls and I spent a quiet morning catching up on the laundry (me) and some sleep (the girls!). DH was back before midday, declaring the trip successful, but not outstanding.
We spent the rest of the day pottering about around the Inner Harbour area (our hotel was in a great location within walking distance of practically everything) and then drove out to Oak Bay later to check out all the fabulous houses looking out over the ocean towards the US.
Tuesday, 5th August
Sharon had recommended visiting the British Columbia Museum if we had time, so we went this morning and were so glad had. It was a fantastic museum, and we only regretted that we didnt have more time to spend here. I especially enjoyed the re-created street scenes from the Pioneer era, and the salmon cannery, logging industry and gold rush displays. We had to leave shortly after lunch to check in for our last pre-booked adventure of the holiday a whale-watching boat trip.
After a false start when the pre-arranged bus didnt come to collect us, we were soon stepping aboard King Salmon, only to be told by our guide that none of the boats had seen any whales at all so far that day. I know that nothing relying on nature can be guaranteed, but I was so disappointed we really wanted to see the whales and it was one of the truly Canadian experiences we had been looking forward to when we were planning the trip. I wasnt going to be defeated that easily, however, and I was determined to try to spot some.
Now, when Id booked this trip, Id had a choice between an inflatable zodiac boat or a covered boat with washroom facilities. I imagined we might have had our fill of excitement with zip-lining and white water rafting and thought a gentle cruise along in a comfortable craft would be the best option for us (also recommended by Shirleys DH!). When the King Salmon got out past the harbour and opened the throttle, I thought perhaps we were on a float plane by mistake and were about to take off!
It was certainly exhilarating, although some passengers began to look a little green around the gills.
We stopped at a cove and saw an osprey nest and then, further on, found a lot of Harbour seals, Californian sea-lions and an Elephant seal all off Race Rocks Lighthouse (www.racerocks.com). The crew were trying really hard to show us as much of interest that they could find, and they were constantly in radio contact with the other boats in the hope that someone would find some whales and be able to lead the other boats to them. But we made it back to harbour without seeing even a glimpse of a whale and I felt sorry for the crew, as some of the other passengers were making it clear they held the crew personally responsible for the whales being 'shy' today!
Back on dry land we went to the IMAX cinema to watch T Rex and it was awful! The IMAX experience was great, but the actual film was terrible and definitely not one to be recommended.
Wednesday, 6th August
We drove out to Sooke today, getting slightly lost, but benefiting from the scenic route (or at least thats what I told them). The Visitor Information Centre was very helpful and we stopped at a very quaint tea-room for lunch before heading down to watch the locals fishing for crab off the dock.
On the drive back to Victoria, DD1 suddenly shouted out WalMart! and DH made a good job of neatly swerving between the traffic to find the parking lot without causing any major accidents. Since my very first e-mail from Sharon had been in response to my enquiry about Canadian WalMarts, I knew that they were not in the same league as the superstores in Orlando and Florida, so we were not expecting too much from this one. We were not at all disappointed not as big as some, but plenty big enough to happily occupy us for an hour or so
. Opposite WalMart was another store called The Real Canadian Superstore which we just had to visit as well, but that was disappointing and we didnt stay long.
This evening we met up with Sharon for dinner and chatted some more, and also managed to take a couple of photos when we went for a walk out to Laurel Point, before saying our goodbyes.
Sunday, August 3rd
We packed up at Greendale and filled in the Guest Book (they have Guest Books here dating back over 70 years) in a suitably appreciative manner, then drove a few miles down Highway 1 to Duncan and the Quwutsun Cultural Centre to view the exhibits of First Nations art and culture. We had a guided tour of the totems and exhibits (very interesting), watched a short film about the Cowichan people and then went to sample some traditional Cowichan dishes in the restaurant.
After our excellent lunch we drove on to Victoria, hoping to make it to our hotel before the road closures for tonights Inner Harbour event Symphony Splash were set up. Doh! We were just too late and had to make a slight detour. By the time wed checked in we were now running late for our meeting with Sharon (from the Canadian DIS boards) who lives in Victoria
. Fortunately Sharon was still waiting for us and we enjoyed a stroll along from the Breakwater and back for a coffee, and one of the infamous Nanaimo bars which Id been hoping to find. We made tentative arrangements to meet up later in the week before we left Victoria, and then said our temporary goodbyes. We stopped off at the hotel for some warmer clothes to see us through the evenings outdoor viewing of Symphony Splash, and then found a place on the lawns in front of the Legislature Buildings to sit and watch and listen. Symphony Splash is along the same lines as Proms in the Park, but the orchestra are out on a floating barge in the Inner Harbour and the audience are anywhere and everywhere else, both on dry land and on boats in the harbour around the performers. By the end of the evening wed found a niche on a windowsill of one of the ground floor windows, and managed to tuck ourselves out of the cooler night air. It would be equivalent to sitting on a windowsill of the Houses of Parliament if the event was being held in London and I cant see that being allowed somehow! It was a wonderfully casual evening of great entertainment, with music ranging from tunes from Harry Potter and Star Wars to the finale of the 1812 Overture complete with fireworks! It was certainly a memorable introduction to the city of Victoria.
Monday, 4th August
DH had a fishing trip booked this morning and was out of the room by 5:30am to meet the skipper down at the harbour. The girls and I spent a quiet morning catching up on the laundry (me) and some sleep (the girls!). DH was back before midday, declaring the trip successful, but not outstanding.
We spent the rest of the day pottering about around the Inner Harbour area (our hotel was in a great location within walking distance of practically everything) and then drove out to Oak Bay later to check out all the fabulous houses
looking out over the ocean towards the US.Tuesday, 5th August
Sharon had recommended visiting the British Columbia Museum if we had time, so we went this morning and were so glad had. It was a fantastic museum, and we only regretted that we didnt have more time to spend here. I especially enjoyed the re-created street scenes from the Pioneer era, and the salmon cannery, logging industry and gold rush displays. We had to leave shortly after lunch to check in for our last pre-booked adventure of the holiday a whale-watching boat trip.
After a false start when the pre-arranged bus didnt come to collect us, we were soon stepping aboard King Salmon, only to be told by our guide that none of the boats had seen any whales at all so far that day. I know that nothing relying on nature can be guaranteed, but I was so disappointed we really wanted to see the whales and it was one of the truly Canadian experiences we had been looking forward to when we were planning the trip. I wasnt going to be defeated that easily, however, and I was determined to try to spot some.
Now, when Id booked this trip, Id had a choice between an inflatable zodiac boat or a covered boat with washroom facilities. I imagined we might have had our fill of excitement with zip-lining and white water rafting and thought a gentle cruise along in a comfortable craft would be the best option for us (also recommended by Shirleys DH!). When the King Salmon got out past the harbour and opened the throttle, I thought perhaps we were on a float plane by mistake and were about to take off!
It was certainly exhilarating, although some passengers began to look a little green around the gills.We stopped at a cove and saw an osprey nest and then, further on, found a lot of Harbour seals, Californian sea-lions and an Elephant seal all off Race Rocks Lighthouse (www.racerocks.com). The crew were trying really hard to show us as much of interest that they could find, and they were constantly in radio contact with the other boats in the hope that someone would find some whales and be able to lead the other boats to them. But we made it back to harbour without seeing even a glimpse of a whale and I felt sorry for the crew, as some of the other passengers were making it clear they held the crew personally responsible for the whales being 'shy' today!
Back on dry land we went to the IMAX cinema to watch T Rex and it was awful! The IMAX experience was great, but the actual film was terrible and definitely not one to be recommended.
Wednesday, 6th August
We drove out to Sooke today, getting slightly lost, but benefiting from the scenic route (or at least thats what I told them). The Visitor Information Centre was very helpful and we stopped at a very quaint tea-room for lunch before heading down to watch the locals fishing for crab off the dock.
On the drive back to Victoria, DD1 suddenly shouted out WalMart! and DH made a good job of neatly swerving between the traffic to find the parking lot without causing any major accidents. Since my very first e-mail from Sharon had been in response to my enquiry about Canadian WalMarts, I knew that they were not in the same league as the superstores in Orlando and Florida, so we were not expecting too much from this one. We were not at all disappointed not as big as some, but plenty big enough to happily occupy us for an hour or so
. Opposite WalMart was another store called The Real Canadian Superstore which we just had to visit as well, but that was disappointing and we didnt stay long.This evening we met up with Sharon for dinner
and chatted some more, and also managed to take a couple of photos when we went for a walk out to Laurel Point, before saying our goodbyes.
