This morning we walk several blocks from our hotel through the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament to a park with a bronze statue of author & artist Emily Carr (with her dog ‘Billie’ & her Javanese monkey ‘Woo’). I have no problem walking this morning – I wore my comfortable sneakers!
Bronze statue of author & artist Emily Carr (with her dog Billie & her monkey Woo)
Emily Carr’s statue – her monkey Woo
We catch a bus to The Butchart Gardens, one of Victoria’s most iconic sights. Mike & I enjoy taking public transportation so we can see more of Victoria, including the “non-touristy” areas where people actually live.
The Buchart Gardens
We arrive at The Butchart Gardens at about 11:30 and spend three hours wandering around, drinking in the beauty. These 55 acres of gardens were created in the early 1900s by Jennie Butchard to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry on their property. Today the gardens are still owned by the Butchart family and receive about a million visitors annually!
My favorite garden is the Sunken Garden, an old quarry transformed with a riot of colorful tulips, daffodils, and other spring flowers.
The Sunken Garden in The Buchart Gardens
Ross Fountain in the Sunken Garden
At the end of the Sunken Garden, there’s Ross Fountain that rhythmically shoots the water in different designs, like the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas but without the music.
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- Gorgeous pink tulips in the Sunken Garden
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- Violet fringed tulip in the Sunken Garden
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- Colorful flower beds in the Sunken Garden
Mike on a bridge in the Japanese Garden
We also enjoy the Japanese Garden and the Italian Garden (it’s a bit too early in the season for the Rose Garden).
Japanese maple in the Japanese Garden
The Italian Garden at The Buchart Gardens
After all that walking, we relax in the shade at Butchart Cove Lookout and just gaze at the water.
Looking through the Lookout cut in the trees so we can see Butchart Cove
Greenhouse at The Buchart Gardens
At the greenhouse, we take a moment to ask the question we’ve been wondering about: “How many gardeners are needed to keep Butchart Gardens so beautiful?” The answer is anywhere from 50 (in the off-season) to 70 gardeners! We’re also shocked to find out that when all these beautiful flowers are done blooming, they’re simply pulled up & turned into mulch.
We take the bus back to downtown Victoria and then walk the rest of the way back to our hotel. We take just a minute to freshen up before heading out again, this time walking west (the opposite direction than we usually walk to the Inner Harbour).
The Floating Home Village at Fisherman’s Wharf
We walk along the waterfront trail and see a community of charming houseboats. The houseboats turn out to be a in Floating Home Village that also includes shops, restaurants, & fishing boats in an area known as Fisherman’s Wharf.
The Fish Store – where we bought our dozen oysters for “a buck a shuck”
We get a dozen oysters at The Fish Store (another “Buck a Shuck” special) and eat them at one of the picnic tables by the marina.
RIVER OTTER at Fisherman’s Wharf!
Five harbor seals are gathered there, begging for fish. The Fish Store sells cut up pieces of fish for the tourists to feed the seals! There are also river otters but there are also warnings not to feed them (Mike is told “They’re vicious creatures – they’ll bite your finger right off.”).
Tourists feed the HARBOR SEALS at Fisherman’s Wharf (they buy raw fish at The Fish Store)
HARBOR SEAL at Fisherman’s Wharf splashing to get us to throw him a fish
We don’t buy any fish because we can watch everybody else feeding them. The seals get impatient if they have to go a while without being fed and splash the people.
Barb’s Fish & Chips where we bought our fish & chips – note the huge line!
After we finish our oysters, we share an order of fish & chips from Barb’s Fish & Chips, which we also eat at the picnic table while we watch the antics of the harbor seals.
Then Mike & I walk through the marina looking at the working fishing boats, and stroll around the Floating Home Village. The eclectic houseboats are fascinating!
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- Houseboat in the Floating Village
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- Houseboat in the Floating Village
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- Houseboat in the Floating Village
After dinner we walk back along the Inner Harbour waterfront. The sunset is so pretty and the British Columbia Parliament Building is all lit up.
Sunset at the Victoria Inner Harbour
The British Columbia Paliament Building all lit up at night