Cruise day 7 - Victoria

Victoria, the capital of the Province of British Columbia is a very pretty city. We were very fortunate to have Becca come and pick us up so we had a personalised tour for the day.

After a short trip into town and a little wander to see the main sights around the waterfront, Becca picked us up and took us on a tour of the suburbs and places of interest on the Saanich Peninsula where Victoria is located on Vancouver Island. We stopped at Beacon Hill Park to see the tallest totem pole in the world which was pretty impressive at 127’7”. Then after a drive through some beautiful suburbs we went to Sidney, a waterfront suburb, where we had lunch in a pub with views across the water to Washington and Mt Baker in the Cascades.

Fairmont Empress Hotel

Parliament building presided over by Queen Victoria

Tallest Totem Pole in the world

Sidney, BC

Mt Baker, Washington State

Then it was off to Butchart Gardens. These famous gardens have been developed from an old stone quarry at the water’s edge on the western side of the Saanich peninsula. Although the height of summer with tourists abounding, the gardens were still a comfortable place to visit. So many paths, lots of beautiful themed gardens (sunken, Japanese, rose etc.) it was an absolute delight to wander around. Becca knew the place well enough for us to be able to see the main areas in the short space of time we had. It is certainly somewhere you could spend a whole day.

Becca and Anita taking a breather

Peace 1945 rose - one of my favourites

Amazing colours at every turn

The boar scarer

Superb hanging baskets

 A quick drive back to our ship, but still time for a stop in Chinatown. Becca took us around and we viewed the most important landmarks in a very short space of time. It is always valuable having a local guide and we certainly had a lovely day.

A famous alley in Chinatown

Our cruise is over. Short but sweet. Now for a day in Seattle