Vancouver Island

We arrived in Vancouver only momentarily after the Alaskan cruise and joined a coach to be transported to Vancouver Island via the ferry at Tsawwassen Terminal. The Island, we were informed, and in particular the city of Victoria, was Canada's retirement "capital" as well as the provincial capital of British Columbia.
Very expensive living with large immaculately kept dwellings, beautiful gardens and lawns, and an amazing variety of architectural styles.

Our hotel in Victoria was near the harbour and right next to parliament house for the provincial government. One of the pictures shows a night view of parliament house. Attached are 3,333 light bulbs reflecting the number of jewels in Queen Elizabeth's crown. Interesting! The Empress hotel is a magnificent old world, very expensive hotel, similar to a number in the area.

The Harbour was quite beautiful, as well as its normal use for shipping, It is an official airport for the many seaplanes that ply the Islands and ferry tourists around. It is quite busy with a high traffic density - approx one aircraft movement every 10 minutes. It has a large number of fishing and other vessels as well. Looking south in the distance the Olympic Mountains loom large and beautiful from the state of Washington in the USA.

While we were in Victoria they were having record temperatures for September - 26 Celsius. This made it perfect for a night walk around the Harbour markets to enjoy the atmosphere and some superb busking. All in all a great experience.