Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Vancouver Island (Day 2)



Today was a crazy day and I've already dozed off a half dozen times as I've been adding photos to this blog after our return back from our Vancouver Island Tour.   We took a 1.5 hour ferry ride to Vancouver Island, arriving in Victoria (capitol of British Columbia) and then went around to various gardens.  We had perfect weather and a great day.  Of course, Butchart Gardens were awesome and we were there early so were able to get some great shots.  Ed L. and I hung out together most of the day and covered a lot of real estate, probably walking 10 miles each.  Butchart was magical, colorful and ultimately crowded when we left.  











We then traveled to The Gardens at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific.  This garden was described as featuring over 10,000 varieties of plants.  They had some great ideas and I barely had enough time to get through it. This gardens was really neat and enjoyed the various thematic areas.   Other sites are listed further below with their images and include the Abkhazi Garden, the Canning home garden and the Government Building where Queen Elizabeth stays when she is in town.  We then went around Victoria which is a neat city with vibrant waterfront.  I included the Parliament Building and famous Empress Hotel as well.


vegetable & herb garden
Japanese garden
heath/heather collection
repurposed tires and gutters for a "layered" planter
roof top garden





Joan & Rob Canning Garden
Joan & Rob Canning Garden
neat planters at Canning Garden
Government House
Interesting sign on Government House grounds
white border at Government House
alpine garden at Government House
lush border in gardens around the Government House

Parliament Building in Victoria
Victoria's inner harbor
neat hanging baskets seen by the hundreds in Victoria
cool killer whales (see mama AND baby?)
Empress Hotel located on inner harbor
shot from Ferry on the return trip back this early evening

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