Victoria, Vancouver Island

The resort we stayed at was about 90 miles north of Victoria. We spent two separate days visiting Victoria and the surrounding area at the south end of Vancouver Island.

VICTORIA BUTTERFLY GARDENS

An indoor tropical jungle, home to thousands of butterflies.

White Tree Nymph from the Philippines on a Hibiscus

Brown Clipper from South East Asia

"Little E"

BUTCHART GARDENS

No trip to Vancouver Island would be complete without a stop at the spectacular Butchart Gardens. This 130 acre botanical gardens and estate attract close to a million people annually. The Butchart Gardens, in bloom for over 100 years, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Butchart is made up of six separate gardens: Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Sunken Garden, Italian Garden, Piazza and the Mediterranean Garden.

The Butchart Estate Home is now
an award winning Restaurant

Sunken Garden

Originally a quarry, the Sunken Garden was
transformed by the Butcharts.

Star Pond

Dinner at the Blue Poppy Restauant

THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

We always enjoy visiting U.S. state capitals. Canada is no exception. Victoria on Vancouver Island is the capital of British Columbia. This building was completed in 1897 at a cost of just over $2 million. After clearing security, we took a self guided tour of this beautiful building and grounds.

Memorial Rotunda surrounded by four paintings that
depict the primary economic industries of the province:
forestry, fishing, agriculture and mining.

Legislative Chamber
They only have one house, unlike states which have
both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Stain Glass Windows displaying quotations from
17th and 18th Century English writers and thinkers,
here to inspire legislators
and spectators as they enter the Chambers.

THE EMPRESS HOTEL AND MINATURE WORLD

Empress Hotel built in 1904
is home to Miniature World

Miniature World has 80 highly detailed miniature scenes.

This circus scene even had moving rides.

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL

One of Canada's Largest Cathedrals





CRAIGDARROCH CASTLE

This sandstone mansion was built in the late 1880s for Robert Dunsmuir, a self-made Canadian millionaire. He died before the mansion was finished. His wife, Joan, and three of their ten children occupied the house until 1908. Craigdarroch means "rocky, oak place" in Gaelic.

Third Floor Landing

Fourth Floor Tower with 360 degree view.

Craigdarroch Castle, Christ Church and the Parliament
Building contain some of the finest examples of
stained glass in western Canada.

Vancouver Island

On Sunday, August 14th, we left our rig in Ferndale, Washington and drove into Canada for a week. The BC Ferry at Tsawwassen was only 30 miles north. A two hour ferry ride transported us and our car to Duke Point on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We checked into a one bedroom timeshare condo at Pacific Shores Resort in Parksville. We had beautiful weather the entire week. Vancouver Island is about four times the size of Puerto Rico, yet the population is only 750,000 vs. 4 million on Puerto Rico.

Sitting on the Sun Deck, departing from Tsawwassen.

Entrance Island Lighthouse at Duke Point

First Floor Condo

Very Comfortable with Washer/Dryer, too.

McLEAN MILL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

This sawmill has been restored fully to working condition and gives sawing demonstrations weekly. This mill was in operation from 1926 to 1972.

Steam Powered Saw Blades

1928 "Buda" Gas Locomotive used for hauling logs.
Only two "Buda" locatives were built and this is the
only one surviving.

 

Fully Restored 1947 Hayes Logging Truck

PORT ALBERNI

Maritime Lighthouse Museum

Boomer used to manage floating log rafts.

CATHEDRAL GROVE PROVINCIAL PARK

Yup, they have some big trees here, too.

Big Trees but Shallow Roots

PACIFIC RIM NATIONAL PARK PRESERVE

We took Highway 4 over to the west side of the island and visited Pacific Rim National Park as well as the small towns of Ucluelet and Tofino. Most of the west coast of Vancouver Island is an inaccessible wilderness. Only this thirty mile stretch of paved road runs between these two small towns.

KwIstis Visitor Center

End of the Road, Tofino.

End of the Road, Ucluelet.

It was a warm clear day,
with a marine layer just off shore.

MILNER GARDENS

Milner Gardens is 70 acres of natural beauty perched on a bluff overlooking the Strait of Georgia. The historic Milner House served traditional English afternoon tea in the Tea Room. Some of the famous guests included Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, not to mention Kurt and Virginia.

Beautiful front lawn overlooking the Strait.

600 year old Douglas Fir

Tea Room

 ENGLISHMAN FALLS PROVINCAL PARK 

 

Nice trail to the upper and lower falls.

Airplanes, Salmon and the San Juans

FLYING HERITAGE COLLECTION

Monday we drove to Everett for a Boeing Factory Tour. Since our tour time was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. we visited Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) since both are located at Paine Airfield. FHC was established by Paul G Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. The two hangers contain warbirds and tanks from both the US and other countries. An interesting fact about this collection is that all the planes and tanks are in operable condition. In fact, many times each year, the planes and tanks are taken out and operated. Each exhibit tells a story about where that particular item was located and restored.

Flying Heritage Collection

Billy Mitchell B-25

The very rare Messerschmitt ME 163 Fighter Jet
has a short eight minute burn time on the rocket engine.

The Infamous V-1 "Buzzbomb"

Sherman Tank

P-51 Mustang

Huey Bell Helicopter

BOEING FACTORY TOUR

After lunch we visited the Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center.

Future of Flight Aviation Center
All plant tours begin here.

This Boeing Assembly plant is the largest square
foot building on the planet.

We saw the assembly line for the 747, 777 and 787.
This plant operates 24 hours a day, five days a week.

GULF OF GEORGIA CANNERY

The RV resort we are staying at is just 12 miles south of the Washington/Canadian border. We spent a day at Richmond, British Columbia and toured an interesting museum highlighting the fishing/canning industry in the Vancouver area. The 1894 salmon cannery on the waterfront of a historic fishing village has been restored to serve as an interpretive center highlighting salmon canning and herring reduction. During its heyday, this cannery earned the title of the Monster Cannery, a reference to its size in comparison to the other 15 canneries on Steveston's Cannery Row.

Iron Chink, mechanized fish-butchering machine,
used to gut and clean salmon at
a rate of one per second.

The fish go in...the cans come out.

Stilt houses were built close to the canneries for the workers.

W.T. PRESTON - ANACORTES MUSEUM

The Army Corp of Engineers is responsible for keeping the shipping lanes open and free of snags and silt. The W.T. Preston is one of only two sternwheel snagboats remaining in the US.

W. T. Preston Operated from 1930 to 1980.

Steam-winch Used to Pick Up Snags and Debris

Wheel House

For comparison, we took this picture of a modern day
US Army Corp Snagboat in July at the locks in Seattle.

SAN JUAN ISLANDS

On Thursday we decided to take a poor man's cruise to the San Juan Islands. We boarded the Washington State Ferry at Anacortes, Washington and took an hour cruise to Friday Harbor on the island of San Juan. We departed at 9:00 and returned at 4:00.

Virginia is watching for whales, otters and seals.

Approaching Friday Harbor on Thursday.

Overlook of the harbor and our "cruise" ship.

Our ferry made a stop at Lopez Island before returning
to Anacortes.