Ferry to Victoria

Wednesday, May 13, 2009--Vancouver to Victoria

The forecast was for a 70% chance of rain today, so we were lucky. It finally rained, but not until later in the day.

We had reserved a rental car from a Thrifty office that was only 2 blocks from our hotel. After breakfast, we checked out and went to there. Fortunately, a woman at the tourist office had marked a map for us related to the route to get to the ferry landing. We followed it and arrived 9 minutes before a scheduled departure. We were the last car allowed on the boat. And the next ferry wasn't until 2 hours later. Thank goodness we didn't have to wait.

There was a large family on the ferry with musical instruments. For an hour of the 1 1/2 hour passage, they played Celtic music to entertain the passengers. I could tell it was not usual, because the staff from the boat kept looking in the room where they were playing and smiling. It was so nice to be entertained on our way across.

The passage among the Gulf Islands was very nice. We were so close to the shores on both sides. We could easily see the homes and imagine the lives of the people living there.

After arriving on Vancouver Island, we took a back scenic road to Buchart Gardens. It is the major tourist site on the island. There still were only a few sprinkles, so we thought we should stop and see the gardens then. Why return that direction only for that? They were gorgeous. This is the time of the year for tulips, daffodils, chestnut trees, rhododendrums, etc. There were so many beautiful colors of flowers, and they were mixed in different combinations. There was even a dogwood tree in bloom. It took almost 2 hours to see the gardens including watching everyone else who was there to see them, too, including the Japanese group that was so happy to see the Japanese section, the old people who were happy to be able to get into the gardens via wheelchairs, etc.

We crossed to the shore and took another scenic route into Victoria. We passed the University of Victoria campus, went through neighborhoods with wonderful homes that had gardens that were a match for those we had just seen, saw the rocky coast, etc. It was a nice drive.

Our hotel is filled with older people. It's one of the older hotels in the city--a historical landmark. It's nice, though. But it cannot compare the luxury we enjoyed in Vancouver. It's only about 2/3 the price of the hotel in Vancouver, too.

We drove through the center of town tonight, but we will wait until tomorrow to really explore it. The weather has now deteriorated, so we will stay inside this evening and hope for better skies tomorrow morning. Also, it is too cold to be outside. We were runnign the heater and the defroster in the car.