Butchart Gardens

An early start today as we were picked up by a tour guide for our day trip to Vancouver Island. The coach ride down to the ferry port was really interesting as we had a full commentary. We have, again, been blessed by beautiful weather so the crossing was fabulous, with the ferry weaving through the Gulf Islands in the Straits of Georgia. We then headed to Butchard Gardens, 55 acres of privately owned gardens on the south of Vancouver Island. The close proximity to the mountains in north USA means the south of Vancouver Island has a Mediterranean micro-climate and therefore the gardens are able to grow a wide range of plants. We really enjoyed walking round the gardens including the sunken garden, the Japanese garden and the Italian garden, all beautifully maintained by over 70 gardeners. We found a quiet bench with a view to have a picnic lunch.

In the afternoon we were taken to the state capital Victoria. With a beautiful inland harbour it had an exclusive air, with lots of big yachts. We walked over to see the Legislature, their impressive parliament building. Then had a walk around the harbour and down the main shopping street. The harbour is dominated by the enormous Fairmont Empress Hotel, so a cocktail on the terrace seemed in order…….. it would have been rude not to!
Our ferry back was sadly mainly in the dark and arriving back at our hotel at 9.30pm made it a 13 hour day but it has definitely been worth it. You mention Vancouver to anyone who has been here and they always say you must visit Vancouver Island….. they were right!