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Sunday - From the cruise ship we head by bus and train to the ferry over to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The sun is shining and the scenery through the outer isles is beautiful. Another bus takes us to Victoria and our new home at Fisher House B&B, a really lovely little 3-bed house. It's Canada Day - the city is buzzing, a sea of red and white, leading up to an amazing firework display in the harbour.
Monday - We awake to a grey and cool morning and, with a bettere forecast ahead, leave the longer trips and have a quiet day - planning, organising and exploring the city. We head to town for a little shopping, a walk through the fabulous Empress Hotel (sister to Banff Springs and Chateau Lake Louise) then a walk through Beacon Hill Park - a mixture of rocky scrubland, woods and formal flower gardens - and down to the coast then back along the shoreline to home. A really nice dinner, with live music, at the local Heron Rock Restaurant ends (luckily for us!) just as the fire alarm goes off. The Fisher House B&B is lovely - just 3 rooms but beautifully fitted out and breakfasts that are both huge and varied, if a little quirky! And we've met some really lovely people here too, including a friend of Pauline's second cousin Doug!
Tuesday - It's sunny! We decide on a 2-day car hire and head first to Craigdarrock Castle - a beautiful and interesting building, though a pretty tragic family saga with it - a $15m (in 1900!) fortune made and dissipated in 3 generations, a lot of early deaths and the family name (Dunsmuir) consigned to obscurity. Then on to Oak Bay on the East side of Victoria - a pretty seafront amid enormous mansions - and finally we drive along the south west coast to Sooke, a very scenic waterfront area with a brilliant little museum. We fail to find the restaurant we're looking for for dinner, so end up in an old bank converted to a Scottish pub - eating fish and chips and bangers and mash!
Wednesday - The weather is set fair now and today we head up the East side of the island towards Nanaimo. Out of the city we stop at a viewpoint near Malahat for a spectacular view across the bay islands; then we drive on to Ladysmith, a quaint and friendly town with an excellent coffee shop and bakery and a lovely beach area. The town was built originally for the Dunsmuir (see yesterday!) coal miners but that is long gone. From here we head south down the coast to Chemainus, most famous for it's many murals adorning the town's buildings; there are beautiful English-style gardens here and incredibly still waters at the front - great for our photographer!! Then Crofton (not much here, but a bit of excitement when we pass Pauline Street) and on to Cowichan Bay, another really lovely resort town with a big marina. We stop for great ice-cream and a sunny vista across the bay. Then home past Shawnigan Lake (no pictures as no public access anywhere) to Shepherds Pie and a bit of jazz music in the local hotel.
Thursday - and it's still sunny, and getting hotter! We return the car and take the bus up to Butchard Gardens. We're a bit worried when we see the number of tour buses in the car park but, apart from the rose garden, it's never hard to lose the crowds. The sunken garden in particular is amazing: created in and from a disused quarry, the structure is stunning, set off by many beautiful trees (the gardens were begun in the early 1900s) and flower Borders set around lakes and bowling-green lawns. Instead of lunch, we share an afternoon tea (getting the hang of portion sizes at last!) which is lovely. Then back home for packing and a lively last night by the harbourside. We're really glad we decided to spend these few days out on the island, and wish we had more time for walking, kayaking in the bays, visiting wineries.......next time maybe!
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