Vancouver Trip (Day 3)

Monday 9/3: Victoria Day Trip
I got up early to fit in Zumba + yoga before we grabbed breakfast in the Club Lounge and took coffee to-go for our 8:30am pick-up by Pacific Coach, across the street at the Century Plaza Hotel (though the coach was actually right in front of the Sheraton after all due to other tour groups being picked up at the Century this morning!). We were dropped off at the Central Railway Station to meet up with the rest of the group and join our guide for the day, Phil. The drive from the station to the BC Ferries Terminal near Richmond took just under 40 minutes, so we had about half an hour to browse the shops & food stands at the Terminal prior to boarding the ferry on the coach. We disembarked on Level 2 and headed up to the two passenger Levels 5 and 6. Mr. E stationed himself at the stern lookout initially to take photos, while I set off on a recon mission to explore our boat, The Spirit of British Columbia, one of the largest in the fleet and recently upgraded to include a more expansive gift shop and a coffee cafe.

We both spent most of the voyage outside, despite the sunny and windy conditions, in order to appreciate the view and the crossing.

We converged on the coffee cafe for some lunch just in time to snack before our return to the bus at 12:25pm for unloading of the ferry at Swartz's Bay on Vancouver Island. A very efficient & punctual operation, for sure!

The first stop on Vancouver Island was the Butchart Gardens, which began as a private family's "hobby" and remains family-run today. We had two hours to spend here exploring the various types of garden arrangements (Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, etc.) and admire the colorful and diverse flowers and trees.

Mr. E and I noticed early on that the grounds are also host to a number of animal sculptures, including several fountains scattered throughout the property, so part of our adventure was a scavenger hunt to spot and photographs the critters amidst the flowers and plants!

From the Gardens, we drove about 30 minutes to Victoria and had a brief bus tour of the downtown area of the Capitol before disembarking for about 1.5 hours of exploring on our own. It was very bright and sunny -- should have worn a hat and applied sunscreen!!! We strolled over to the Chinatown section, which includes Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest street in the province.

We made a quick stop at Starbucks for a late afternoon snack since our lunch options on the ferry had been so limited. The remainder of our wanderings took us back to the harbor, where we admired the Parliament building, some more public art (and animals), and the Empress Hotel, where we met up with our group at 5:30pm to drive back to the ferry terminal for our return crossing.

Thanks to Mr. E's new purchase of a red Columbia windbreaker, I was able to stay outside for much of the time, and we were thrilled by several orca (?) sightings during the first part of the crossing as  well as by the glowing sunset over the water.

Eventually, I needed to head inside to get warm and out of the wind, so Mr. E and I reconnected a bit later towards the end of the journey, when he shared his yummy fresh-cut fries with me. Then we headed back to the bus again to disembark and return to downtown Vancouver for hotel drop-offs.

We were next to last on the drop-off list and got back to the Sheraton around 9:45pm. I stayed in the room to unwind while Mr. E went to Bar One for some food & drinks and used the two "Make a Green Choice" vouchers we'd received to help fund his meal.