Wanderlust Traveler: Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island

British Columbia Parliament Buildings

For several years, I had thrown around the idea of going to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I had visited twice before, once when I was five with my family and the second time when I was eleven during a 6th grade field trip. I had lots of great memories from the second trip, and distinctly remembered having fallen in love with the city, its beautiful architecture, and its serene setting next to the harbor. As Victoria was only about a three and a half hour trip from Seattle (one hour drive to Anacortes, a two hour ferry ride from Anacortes to Sidney, and finally a 30 minute drive from Sidney into Victoria) I thought it would be a great weekend destination. As I had an extra day off due to the Fourth of July holiday, I decided to go the first weekend of July to take advantage of the extra day off. Everyone thought I was quite strange for wanting to go up to Canada over an American holiday, but I figured there would be less crowds, and honestly, it didn't bother me in the least bit to be away for the Fourth.

Day 1 (Friday, July 3rd, 2009)

After waking up at the exhaustive hour of 5:00, I finally hit the road around 5:30. I eventually made it up to the ferry terminal in Anacortes around 7:00, which should have been plenty enough time (or so I thought) for my reserved ferry departure time of 8:15. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I was greeted with a several-mile long line that was moving at a snail’s pace. After spending nearly 30 minutes in line and barely moving a mile, I decided to phone Washington State Ferries. Although I had already paid for a reserved spot on the ferry, I was concerned that I wasn't even going to make it to the point in the line where the reserved cars were waiting to board the ferry. The employee on the phone that I spoke to indicated that it was not a problem and not to worry; I would definitely make it on as there was several officials from Washington State Ferries that were making their way up the line of cars to pull out those that had reservations. With several miles of cars in line however, I didn’t quite see how that feat would be possible, but I held my breath.

I eventually approached the booth (at nearly 8:00) where a Washington State Ferry official motioned me to move my car (and a few others who had reservations) off into a separate line. Thankfully, I could finally breath a sign of relief as I knew I would make it! I was so nervous, but what had made the entire situation so incredibly nerve-wracking was the fact that the only other ferry departure that day to Sidney, British Columbia was much later that afternoon. Had I been unable to make it onto the 8:15 departure, I would have had to wait six to seven-plus hours; not my idea of fun nor a good use of my limited time!

Once on the ferry, I fell asleep in the car as I was quite exhausted from having received so little sleep the night before and knew that I had a long two hour ferry journey ahead of me. I eventually woke up and spent a few minutes on the upper decks taking photos of the gorgeous passing scenery of the San Juan Islands.

San Juan Islands

Upon arrival in Sidney, I was one of the last cars off since I was parked up on the second level. I was hoping that the customs procedure would go quickly, but as I pulled our car up behind dozens and dozens of others, I realized that that was not going to be the case. After spending nearly 30 minutes in line, I finally made my way to the front, where I was asked five million ridiculous questions; I actually laughed at a few, which was probably not the best idea, but some were so strange and absurd that I couldn’t help myself. I’ve traveled overseas several times, and had never been asked the extent of questions I was asked in Sidney!

Since I had spent so much time waiting in the customs line, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to make it on time for my 11:45 reservation at the White Heather Tea House. I called the restaurant and informed them that I would probably be arriving about 15 minutes late, which they seemed to appreciate being informed of. I absolutely hate arriving late to reservations, especially at small restaurants, because I know that it can completely screw up their system, but I didn’t want to miss out on the popular and well recommended “high tea” experience. The White Heather Tea House is located outside of the normal tourist range of downtown Victoria in the Oak Bay neighborhood. Surprisingly enough, the small restaurant is located within a strip-mall. However, all of the reviews on the White Heather Team House explained not to allow its strange location detour guests from visiting as its lack of old-time atmosphere was more than made up by its quality of food and the friendly staff.

While planning my trip to Victoria, I decided that I wanted to experience some sort of “high tea” during my stay. There were a ton of options within the city, and although many tourists tend to chose the most well-known places (example: the Fairmont Empress Hotel) I wanted to go with a restaurant that had the best reviews for food, as that is always most important to me. In addition, I wanted to find a place that wouldn’t break the bank (ahem, the Empress) so after conferring with Trip Advisor, the White Heather Tea House seemed to be the place to go!

The interior of the small but cozy restaurant was decorated in a very feminine fashion that seemed to create the perfect environment for a high tea experience. After looking through the menu, I decided to go with the “Not So Wee Tea” for $17.95 CAD per person. The selection obviously came with tea, but since I don’t like it, I opted to stick with water. When the food came out about ten minutes later, I was blown away by the massive quantity. My tray included a selection of the following: a variety of tea sandwiches, freshly baked scones with fruit preserves and Devon cream, mini cheese scones with a chicken salad filling, mini quiches, shortbread, cake, and lemon tarts. It was a TON of food, and all of it was incredibly delicious. My personal favorite was the scones, which were warm, tender, and incredibly soft and served with a raspberry fruit preserve, lemon butter cream, and the yummy Devon cream. I also liked the mini cheese scones with a chicken salad filling and the lemon tarts. The excellent food, combined with the jovial atmosphere of the restaurant, made the "high tea" a very fun and enjoyable experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat! I left feeling very full, and even had leftovers to boot!

White Heather Tea House

Accompaniments for the scones at the White Heather Tea House.

My delicious trays of goodies from the White Heather Tea House.

White Heather Tea House

Mini quiche from the White Heather Tea House.

Amazing scones from the White Heather Tea House.

White Heather Tea House

Mini cheese scone with chicken salad filling at the White Heather Tea House.

White Heather Tea House

Delicious treat from the White Heather Tea House.

From the White Heather Tea House, I headed towards my hotel. Based on decent reviews it had received on Trip Advisor, the fact that it had free parking and wifi, and because it was less than $100 USD per night, I decided to stay at the Blue Ridge Inn. The hotel wasn't located in the heart of downtown, but it was only about a seven minute ride away. In addition, because I was only spending two of my four days in the city, I figured it was wiser to save money and stay at a cheaper place outside of downtown versus the convenience of a downtown locale.

My simple but functional room at the Blue Ridge Inn

Exterior of the Blue Ridge Inn.

After checking into the hotel and dropping off my things, I headed straight into downtown Victoria. The first sight I planned to tackle was the Emily Carr House, which was located a few blocks behind the Parliament Buildings. As I drove towards the house, I passed the busy streets of Victoria, and the well recognized sights that I had seen so many years before. The streets were jam-packed with people, so my prior thoughts of visiting the city on a non-crowded weekend proved to be a very incorrect estimate.

The Emily Carr House was the childhood home of the famous Canadian painter Emily Carr. The house was originally built in 1863 for Emily's father and is listed as a National Historic Site of Canada. To be honest, I had never heard of Emily Carr, nor had I seen her paintings, but being the history buff that I am, I can never pass up the opportunity to tour a beautiful Victorian home. The house was painted a soft yellow and was just one of many gorgeous Victorian homes on the street. The front yard was landscaped with colorful flowers which complemented the house perfectly. The tour of the house was self-guided, but an informational pamphlet was provided that gave detailed information on each of the rooms. I was unable to tour any of the rooms on the second story as the house apparently was still lived in...strange. In one of the sitting rooms downstairs, there was a biographical video playing on Emily Carr. It was good to learn some facts and information regarding the artist since I knew nothing about her prior.

Exterior of the Emily Carr House.

Interior room in the Emily Carr House.

Garden at the Emily Carr House.

After touring all of the rooms, I left the house and headed back into downtown. I was able to find a parking garage north of the inner harbor and then walked to the Fairmont Empress Hotel, where I took photos of its famous exterior. I also snapped a few photos of the area surrounding the Empress Hotel.

Fairmont Empress Hotel

Pretty yellow building in Victoria.

Street art in Victoria.

Wall mural in Victoria.

Architecture in Victoria.

Inner harbor of Victoria.

From there, I walked over to the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, where I waited for about 15 minutes for the next guided tour. Anyone can walk into the Parliament Buildings for free and complete a self-guided tour, but when I found out that the guided tours of the buildings were offered for free, it was obvious which choice I was going to go with. During the busy tourists season, the guided tours depart regularly from the front of the building. During my visit, it appeared as though tours were scheduled every 15 minutes. My guide provided an in-depth history of the building, including its construction, which took several years and whose budget nearly doubled the original estimate. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the best photos of the exterior of the beautiful building due to positioning of the sun. I figured the best light to photograph the building in was probably the morning, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it out early enough on one of my other three days. After explaining the significance of some of the artistic details of the Neo-Baroque exterior, the guide took the group inside the building, which was lofty, grand, and in amazing condition. Parts of the interior were decorated quite simply without much ornamentation. Other areas, such as the rotunda and stained glass found near many of the stairwells, were quite impressive and fancy. The informative tour lasted about 30 minutes and is an easy recommendation for anyone visiting the city.

British Columbia Parliament Buildings

Window on the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

British Columbia Parliament Buildings

Interior of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

View from the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

Detail of a light post outside the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

View from the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

From the Parliament Buildings, I walked over to Thunderbird Park, which is located next to the Royal British Columbia Museum. The small park (which is free to enter) is home to several elaborately carved totem poles, St. Anne's Schoolhouse (built 1844), Helmcken House (built in 1852 by Dr. John Helmcken), and Mungo Martin House (Wawadit'la), a traditional Kwakwaka'wakw "big house" built in 1953. Unfortunately, just as with the Parliament Buildings, the positioning of the sun did not allow for the best light to photograph the totem poles, but I was able to take a few decent ones. I figured I would go back another day to get better photos.

Thunderbird Park

View of the Royal BC Museum from Thunderbird Park.

Thunderbird Park

From Thunderbird Park, I walked several blocks up Douglas Street. During my walk, I was able to take lots of great architectural photos as the sun was shining brightly on all of the buildings across from me.

Douglas Street

Church along Douglas Street.

Douglas Street

Streets of Victoria.

Architecture in Victoria.

I eventually made my way to Chinatown, which is located at the north end of the historic old town area of downtown, in the 500-block of Fisgard Street. Victoria's Chinatown was the first Chinatown in Canada, and the second in North America after San Francisco. Compared to New York's or San Francisco's Chinatown, Victoria's was obviously much smaller. However, it was also much more kept up and actually quite clean.

Victoria's Chinatown.

I was beginning to feel hungry by this point, so I figured I could find some cheap Chinese food in the area. After consulting my guidebooks, I settled on a restaurant called Wah Lai Yuen Restaurant, which was noted for having great wonton soup. Based on this recommendation, I ordered a bowl of the wonton soup and an order of pork chow mein. When the food came out, I quickly realized that I had ordered way too much. The "bowls" of soup were huge and could have filled me up on their own. In addition to that, I also had the massive plate of chow mein. The wonton soup was awesome, tasting as though the wontons were a mixture of both ground pork and ground beef. The chow mein was also delicious with a very light sauce, which was refreshing for Chinese food. At the end of the meal, I had almost managed to finish my soup, but had a lot of chow mein left over, so I decided to take that back to the hotel and keep in the fridge in case I got hungry later.

Exterior of Wah Lai Yuen Restaurant in Victoria's Chinatown.

Chow Mein at Wah Lai Yuen Restaurant in Victoria's Chinatown.

Wonton Soup at Wah Lai Yuen Restaurant in Victoria's Chinatown.

After dropping off my leftovers, I drove back downtown and found a parking lot near the Royal British Columbia Museum. The museum is normally open 9:00-17:00, but during the summer months the museum stays open until 22:00 on Friday and Saturday night. Since I had so many things I wanted to see in Victoria, I figured I would save the museum for the evening hours as most other things close by 17:00 or 18:00. The Royal British Columbia Museum was founded in 1886 and is currently the most visited museum in all of Canada. The museum has three permanent galleries (Natural History, Modern History, and First Peoples) along with a featured exhibition (Treasures: The World's Cultures from the British Museum) and a National Geographic IMAX Theatre. Given that I only had two or three hours to tour the museum, and given the fact that the museum itself was exceptionally expensive ($27.50 CAD per person) I opted not to view an IMAX film, as that would have raised the ticket price by another $7.50 CAD.

Exterior of the Royal British Columbia Museum.

Bell tower outside the Royal British Columbia Museum.

I started my tour in the Natural History Gallery, which featured information and detailed displays on the coastal flora, fauna, and geography from the Ice Age to the present time. I saw the famous Woolly Mammoth and massive dioramas depicting scenes from the coast and rain forest. There was also a very interesting display on climate change, where I spent a lot of time reading all of the information.

Wolly Mammoth display in the Royal British Columbia Museum.

Next I went to the featured exhibition, which during my visit was Treasures: The World's Cultures from the British Museum. The British Museum had been kind enough to loan several hundred artifacts from their collections to the Royal BC Museum for a period of five months. The artifacts were from all over the world and from many different times periods. Personally, with the exception of a few artifacts from Europe, I didn't find the exhibit to be of much interest. But then again, I am much more interested in historical clothing, furniture, and other such objects when visiting museums.

Afterward, I headed upstairs to the Modern History Gallery, which began with a display of collections of artifacts from the 20th century in "Century Hall". Next, I walked through a replica of Victoria's downtown and Chinatown from the early 20th century. This is the portion of my visit to Victoria from when I was 11 that I remember the most. At the time, I was absolutely fascinated by the recreated buildings and the attention to detail that had been given to the historically accurate street scenes.

Royal British Columbia Museum.

Finally, my last stop of the evening was the First Peoples Gallery, which I unfortunately only had about 15 minutes to spend in. This exhibit displays collections of masks, totem poles, a Kwakwaka'wakw longhouse, and other rare artifacts from First Nations tribes located throughout British Columbia. It was very dark inside this gallery, so I had a difficult time obtaining good photographs of some of the exhibits.

First Peoples Gallery in the Royal British Columbia Museum.

After finishing at the Royal BC Museum, I walked back to the Parliament Buildings as I had hoped to possibly take some great sunset photos. Much to my disappointment, the positioning of the sun was once again not as I had assumed or envisioned it would be. I finally realized that early morning would be the best light to photograph the building in.

British Columbia Parliament Buildings

At this point, I was quite hungry, so I decided to find a place to eat. Initially, I had wanted to eat at an Italian restaurant called Zambri's, but after calling for a price point, I decided to find something a little more affordable for dinner. Between the Royal BC Museum, the ferry ride, and the other places I had visited that day, I had spent a lot of money. Instead, I chose another Italian place called Il Terrazzo Ristorante, which specialized in Northern Italian fare. I was somewhat reluctant to eat at the restaurant, as it only had a so-so rating on Zagat. When I walked in, they were able to seat me immediately in the large lofty and noisy interior. For dinner, I chose the Risotto con Asparagi e Gamberi (arborio rice with asparagus, chopped black tiger prawns, prosciutto and cherry tomatoes). When my plate arrived, I was surprised to see what appeared to look like massive amounts of pepper in the risotto. The taste of my first bite was all pepper, and none of the creamy goodness that risotto should taste like. The pepper was so incredibly overpowering that I had a difficult time eating each bite without immediately washing it down with a large gulp of water. I left feeling disappointed with my restaurant selection that night and hoped that my next dinner in Victoria would be a lot more enjoyable.

A terrible photo of my risotto; this photo was taken before I learned how to shoot in low-lighting situations.

Beautiful architecture located near Il Terrazzo Restaurant in Victoria.

Day 2 (Saturday, July 4th, 2009)

Although I had planned on waking up around 9:00 on my second day, I didn’t wake up until 11:30. I had accidentally forgotten to set the alarm. Needless to say, I woke up much later than planned. After getting ready as quickly as I could, my first stop of the day was a nearby grocery store, where I loaded up on some snacks and bread for the next few days.

Afterward, I drove south of the city, where I drove along the “scenic route” through Dallas Road in Oak Bay. This route, which was recommended by Moon Handbook, started south of the Inner Harbor and followed the coastline all the way until the University of Victoria. Along my drive, I saw countless gorgeous Victorian era homes in immaculate condition. I ended up stopping at several points along the drive, including Finlayson Point and Clover Point to take some photos, and also at Oak Bay, which was a quiet but picturesque small harbor filled with lots of boats.

View from Finlayson Point in Victoria.

View from Clover Point in Victoria.

Oak Bay

Cute homes in Oak Bay.

After spending about one hour in the area, I headed north out of the city along highway 14. There were several sights I wanted to see along the way, but I figured I should get the largest chunk of driving out of the way in order to visit the most northern sight first. About ¾ of the way into the drive, I saw a black bear on the side of the road! Since the bear was far enough off of the main road, I felt relatively safe to get out and join the small crowd of people that had also parked their cars on the side of the road. Some of the people were standing directly in front of their car, and when one of the men saw me walking towards the crowd, he said something along the lines of "well, I guess it will be every man for himself if the bear starts to approach us!" His comment brought me back into reality, realizing that I was only a couple dozen feet away from a wild bear, and that theoretically, he could at any point come running towards me. A scary thought, but I was still too excited to dwell on it for very long! Unfortunately, as I did not have my larger lens on me, I was unable to get any up-close shots of the bear. However, I thought it was quite cool to say that I had seen a bear with my own eyes in a natural setting.

Black bear I saw on the side of the road during the drive to Port Renfrew.

It took nearly two hours to finally reach the city of Port Renfew, which is located at the end of highway 14. Within the small city I wanted to visit Botanical Beach, which is located within Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. Botanical Beach is well known for its tide pools, which includes many forms of sea life such as red, purple, and orange starfish and sea urchins, white gooseneck barnacles, blue mussels and green sea anemones and sea cucumbers.

After parking my car, I saw that I had to walk down a one mile hike in order to access the beach. Much to my disappointment, the blazing sun somehow disappeared beneath a blanket of heavy fog, which had so much moisture that it was creating rain! As a result, when I reached the beach, there was not a speck of blue in the sky. The tide pools were located between the massive craggy rocks that were very difficult and sometimes slippery to navigate. I was wearing sandals, so I was very nervous about walking around, especially since I had the camera around my neck and didn’t want a repeat of the beach falling incident that had occurred two months prior in California. To be totally honest, I didn’t see too much marine life in the tide pools, and the lack of sunshine and over abundance of fog didn’t make my experience especially enjoyable, so I left after about 20 minutes. In hindsight, I later realized that there was a very high tide during my visit (about seven feet) and that a low tide of four feet or less is actually best for viewing the tide pools, so make sure to check the tide tables prior to your visit.

Trail leading down to Botanical Beach.

Moss covered stump on the trail leading down to Botanical Beach.

Trail leading down to Botanical Beach.

Foggy Botanical Beach.

Botanical Beach

Tide pool at Botanical Beach.

Botanical Beach

Tide pools at Botanical Beach.

Botanical Beach

From Botanical Beach, I began the long drive back to Victoria, first stopping in China Beach, which is also part of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. After parking my car at the trail head, I had a relatively easy 20 minute downhill walk to the beach. Along the hike I saw, amongst numerous other things, an abandoned car alongside the narrow trail. This car seemed oddly out of place, especially given the steep terrain, so I wondered how in the heck it had managed to land where it did.

Hiking down to China Beach.

Abandoned car on the hike down to China Beach.

Approaching China Beach.

I eventually made it down to the beach, which was much longer and wider than I had anticipated it would be. It stretched along the coast for quite a distance, but I probably walked only about ½ mile down the beach. The sun was setting, so the trees and the ocean water were lit up beautifully and I was able to get quite a lot of good photos of the surrounding scenery. To my great surprise, the sand was very soft, much like what I had encountered down on the Oregon Coast two years prior and nothing like the rocky beaches of the Washington Coast. Shockingly, along the walk, I saw two women in bikinis whom were swimming in the water! While it had obviously been sunny out that day, I didn't think it was anywhere near warm enough to be wearing just a bikini, let alone swimming in the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean. Those girls had to have either been out of their minds or must have been from the north of Canada and thought that the weather that day was exceptionally warm. On the walk back up towards the hiking trail, I saw some sand sculptures that had obviously recently been completed by a child. There was a long row of turtles that were placed in front of a very large one; it was quite cute and I made sure not to step on the baby turtles as I walked by!

China Beach

Two crazy girls swimming in the freezing-cold Pacific Ocean at China Beach.

China Beach

Sand turtles at China Beach.

After leaving China Beach, I had one more stop to mke along the way before I headed back to Victoria. French Beach, like the two aforementioned beaches, is also a part of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park. Unlike the other two beaches however, this one is extremely accessible for all of the public as it is just a two minute walk from the parking lot. Another difference of this park was the fact that there wasn’t really any sand; the beach itself was covered in rocks and pebbles of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. After playing around for 20 minutes or so, I decided to head back into the city as I had dinner reservations at 21:00.

French Beach

Pretty flowers at French Beach.

I stopped back in at the hotel in order to freshen up and then drove into downtown where I had reservations at a French restaurant called Brassiere L’Ecole. After referring to Zagat, this was the restaurant I was most looking forward to eating at while in Victoria. It had received not only excellent reviews from Zagat, but also from Trip Advisor, and was mentioned in several of the Victoria guidebooks I had checked out from the library.

When I walked into the small but cozy restaurant, I was greeted by an extremely friendly waiter who walked me through the narrow restaurant to my seat, which was located in the back corner. The interior was decorated in an "oh so chic" Parisian way with deep red walls and many photographs of Paris and French inspired paintings. My waiter, who like the host was also very kind, promptly greeted me and handed me the menu. I was immediately drawn to the chicken dish, but since I tend to always order chicken dishes in French restaurants, I decided to go with one of their steak options, which is one of the items the restaurant is known for. I also ordered the Soupe de la Maison (French Onion) for an appetizer. While ordering my steak, the waiter informed me that it came with a blue goat cheese butter on top, a shallot-red wine glaze, and fries that were coated with parmesan shavings, truffle oil, and parsley. At the time, I made a mental note that I should ask that the steak come without the butter as I am not a fan of any goat cheese product. However, I somehow forgot to do so, and did not realize my mistake until the steak later came out.

Interior of Brasserie L'Ecole

In the meantime, I was first brought my soup. The soup was cooked with a Belgian beer base making the soup have much more depth and flavor. Many times, French onion soup turns out to be slightly sweet, so it was refreshing to eat one that was not at all sweet. Next, my entree came out. Of course I saw the butter right away, but tried to psyche myself out and convinced myself that I wouldn’t be able to taste any remnant of goat cheese.

Onto my steak…the first few bites I took did not have any butter on top, and therefore, tasted spectacular. The fillet was perfectly cooked and the red wine and shallot sauce paired wonderfully with the rich flavor of the beef. I kept looking at the butter, but continued to tell myself that it was mostly butter and just a little blue cheese and that it would all taste great and compliment the steak wonderfully. Eventually, I took a bite that had a little bit of the blue cheese butter on it. Unfortunately, the very strong and earthy flavor of goat flooded my taste buds; NOT GOOD! I tried to scrape off the butter, but when I went to go take another bite of steak, the butter had already melted enough into the steak that all I could taste was GOAT. I was so pissed off and extremely disappointed, but there was nothing else I could do at that point. I choked my way through the steak, feeling absolutely revolted by every bite. I finished my dish and hoped that dessert would be a much more pleasant experience.

Soup da la Maison (French Onion) at Brasserie L'Ecole.

Steak from Brasserie L'Ecole.

For dessert, I ended up ordering the cherry clafoutis (layer of cherries that are covered with a pancake-like batter). I had never had cherry clafoutis before, but being an avid lover of cherries, I figured it would be delicious! As I predicted, the dish was excellent; the rich cherries were surrounded by a soft and moist cake that was strongly infused with the taste of vanilla. Even with my goat cheese debacle, the entire meal at Brassiere A l’Ecole was phenomenal and a place I would return to in a heartbeat.

Delicious Cherry Clafoutis from Brasserie L'Ecole.

Day 3 (Sunday, July 5th, 2009)

On my third day of the trip, I drove north out of Victoria and headed to the Cowichan Valley, which is home to many wineries, different types of farming and artists galleries. The area is renowned for its natural beauty and plethora of outdoor activities to choose from. Having just had a great time visiting lots of wineries a few weeks before in Napa Valley and Sonoma County, I thought it would be fun to visit some local wineries on Vancouver Island.

Views from the drive up to Cowichan Valley.

My first stop of the day was at Merridale Cidery. No, not a winery but a cidery instead! Merridale is home to a massive apple orchard where several varieties of apples are grown. Several products are created from their apples, including different types of hard apple cider and cider brandies, all of which have a reputation of high quality. When I pulled into the driveway for this small family run operation, I was greeted with quaint red buildings and row after row of apple trees. I first walked into the tasting rooms of the cider house and asked if they offered guided tours. Instead of guided tours they offered pamphlets for visitors to complete their own self-guided tours. Although the short self-guided tour was somewhat interesting, I would have much more preferred a personal guided tour in order to learn more information about the processing of the apples.

Merridale Cidery

Pretty flowers at Merridale Cidery.

Merridale Cidery

Apple trees at Merridale Cidery.

Merridale Cidery

Friendly dog at Merridale Cidery.

Merridale Cidery

Apple trees at Merridale Cidery.

Merridale Cidery

Pretty flower at Merridale Cidery.

After completing the self-guided tour, I walked back inside the tasting room in order to participate in a tasting. I sampled five to six different kinds of cider, including Traditional Cider, House Cider, Scrumpy, (which tasted watered-down, hard, and whose flavor did not resemble apples whatsoever), and Merri Berri (a very sweet and smooth cider that most would probably consider dangerous to drink!) The tasting was completely free, but I opted to purchase a bottle of the Merri Berri for $9 CAD.

Tasting room at Merridale Cidery.

Items for sale inside the tasting room at Merridale Cidery.

From Merridale Cidery, I headed to a nearby winery called Cherry Point Vineyards. This winery was originally created back in 1990 and after several trials of planting different types of grapes, Cherry Point later became one of the first licensed wineries on Vancouver Island in 1994. Cherry Point Vineyards is known for its blackberry wine (notably, one called Solera Blackberry) so I was quite excited to try some as I was hoping it would be very sweet. When I arrived at the winery, the tasting room was packed with lots of people; in fact, there were so many people within the small space that I had a hard time getting up to the front of the counter to ask someone about a guided tour. Eventually, a representative from the winery came out and loudly announced over all of the noise that a tour was about to start.

Cherry Point Vineyards.

Tour guide at Cherry Point Vineyards.

Cherry Point Vineyards.

The tour itself was very informal, just lasting about 20 minutes. The tour guide gave everyone a brief history about the winery and explained how much more difficult it was to grow grapes on Vancouver Island versus other areas (such as Northern California) due to the infrequent days of sunshine and lack of consistent heat. I thought that it was very interesting to see that the formation of the grapes on the vines were tiny in comparison to the grapes I had seen two months prior in California. I had been hoping to attain some shots of grape clumps, but that obviously didn't happen!

After the quick tour, I walked inside to complete a tasting. I tried a ton of different kinds of wine, most of them red, eventually ending with the Solera Blackberry. Unfortunately, I was unimpressed with everything I tried, as were most other people in the tour. In all honesty, it has to be extremely difficult to compete with other wines from the nearby United States, specifically the more well-known ones from California, Oregon, and Washington. Being located so far north of those other locations definitely has its disadvantages, and I personally think that those differences can be tasted in the quality of the wine.

After finishing my wine tasting at Cherry Point, I headed north to the city of Duncan. This small little town has been made famous by its plethora of totem poles that can be found sprinkled throughout its streets. It is now known by many as "The City of Totems". Once I arrived in the town, I was able to quickly find a parking spot and then jumped out of the car in order to get some pictures. Unfortunately, it wasn't sunny out that day, so while some of the pictures of the totem poles themselves are good, I'm not happy with the overall composition due to the lack of blue skies. Oh well though; you can't win them all!

Totem poles of Duncan.

From Duncan, I headed just slightly north to Chemainus, which is a yet another small city, but this one made famous by its dozens of outdoor murals, which are painted on buildings all over the city. Chemainus was founded back in 1858 as a logging town. The logging industry was able to support the city for a very long time until 1982, when one of the larger mills in Chemainus shut down, only to be replaced by a new one that needed much fewer people to operate it. As a result of this change, locals were worried that they would lose many of their residents and that the town would eventually die out. To prevent these things from happening, a few of the residents decided to try and bring tourism in by hiring local artists to paint many of the town's exterior walls with massive murals depicting the history of Chemainus. Luckily for the locals, their plan paid off as Chemainus was soon hit with lots of tourists and hasn't stopped since. My visit occurred during the late afternoon, and the streets were still filled with tons of visitors. The range of murals was quite surprising; everything from western scenes to coastal scenes to beautiful paintings of tribal members of the Chemainus First Nation. There was a walking tour that one could follow (distinguished by yellow footprints on the sidewalk) but I opted to wander myself for about 20 minutes before heading back to the car.

Mural in Chemainus.

Church in Chemainus.

Mural in Chemainus.

Next, I drove to Cowichan Bay. After consulting my guidebooks, I decided upon a restaurant called the Rock Cod Cafe for a late lunch. As I approached the restaurant, it didn't appear to be anything too special, but without knowing the area, I didn't want to waste any time looking for another place. The menu had familiar options such as fish and chips, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, etc. I opted for the Two Piece Cod. I also ordered the Blazin’ Buffalo Popcorn Shrimp as an appetizer as it sounded appealing at the time. The shrimp were okay; slightly too spicy for my sensitive mouth. In terms of the fish and chips, it was good but nothing out of this world. Although the food wouldn't make me going running back to the place, the prices were quite decent and I would say the restaurant would be a good value for families.

Cowichan Bay

The Rock Cod Cafe.

Fish and Chips from Rock Cod Cafe.

My final stop of the day was at Goldstream Provincial Park where I planned to hike to Goldstream Falls. This short hike (.7 miles long) began at the south end of the park, but took me much longer to complete due to the constant stops for photo ops. I had a very difficult time restraining myself from snapping away on my camera as the passing scenery was beyond gorgeous. It appeared as though nearly every tree and bush was draped by soft, green moss that silhouetted everything so beautifully.

While the size of the falls was relatively small, their setting within the thick wall of trees and small pool of water that settled beneath them was quite impressive. All in all, visiting Goldstream Provincial Park and its waterfall is a very easy day-trip from Victoria and one that I recommend to anyone wanting to get in a good dose of nature.

Goldstream Provincial Park

A view of Goldstream Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park.

Staircase down to Goldstream Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park.

Goldstream Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park.

Goldstream Provincial Park

Goldstream Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park.

After my hour-long excursion at Goldstream Provincial Park, I drove back to the hotel to rest as I was completely exhausted. Upon my arrival, I had planned to pick a restaurant for dinner. However, I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep and taking a several hour nap.

When I finally awoke, it was dark out. I had really wanted to be able to take photographs of the Parliament Buildings lit-up at night, so I drove straight to the inner harbor. The building looked incredibly beautiful with the thousands of small lights that lit-up its silhouette. Surprisingly enough, there weren't too many tourists admiring the pretty lights; instead, I saw about a half-dozen photographers with their tripods attempting to capture the perfect shot. As soon as I saw those tripods, I wanted to hit myself in the head as I had completely forgotten to grab it from the hotel room in my rush to get out the door. Luckily, my pictures still turned out decent, as I was able to take a few shots by bracing myself up against some statues.

British Columbia Parliament Buildings lit-up at night.

Across the street, the inner harbor and the Empress Hotel were also dramatically lit-up. I had wanted to get a closer shot of the hotel, but I didn't want to wander off too far since I was by myself.

Empress Hotel lit-up at night.

Victoria's Inner Harbor.

Day 4 (Monday, July 6th, 2009)

On my last day in Victoria, I awoke to cloudy skies; a first for this very sunny trip. I was slightly agitated by this news as I was planning to visit Butchart Gardens later that day and had really wanted clear skies for those photos.

My first stop of the day was to take photos of the totem poles at Thunderbird Park since the morning light seemed to be the most ideal time to do so. Although I had the right light, I didn't have the blue sky backdrop, so I was only somewhat happy with my second attempt at photographing the gorgeous totem poles.

Thunderbird Park

Next, I drove slightly out of downtown Victoria in order to reach Craigdarroch Castle. The massive house is not really a castle, but actually a gigantic mansion covering 20,000 square feet and containing 30 rooms. It was originally constructed during the 1890's for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his family. Unfortunately, Robert died one year prior to the completion of the castle, as did the original architect of the building, so neither were able to see their visions come to fruition; very sad. The Dunsmuir family only ended up living in the house for less than 20 years. Throughout its history, Craigdarroch Castle has been owned and used for numerous things, including a Military Hospital (1919-1921), Victoria College (1921-1946), Victoria School Board (1946-1968), and the Victoria Conservatory of Music Era (1969-1979), before finally being saved by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society and turned into a Museum in 1979.

Exterior of Craigdarroch Castle.

I paid $12 CAD to enter the house and was given several brochures and self-guided tour pamphlets that provided a very thorough history of the house. I entered the house through the main hall, which had gorgeous and ornate paneling made of white oak. The most impressive aspect of the entrance however was the staircase, which when looking straight up from the entrance door appeared to go on forever. I spent about one hour touring the interior of the house and listened to a few of the volunteers (whom were spread throughout the house) give detailed historical information on the furnishings and decorations of the home.

Looking up at the staircase in Craigdarroch Castle.

Interior of Craigdarroch Castle.

Interior detail of Craigdarroch Castle.

Interior of Craigdarroch Castle.

From Craigdarroch Castle, I headed one last time back over to the Parliament Buildings, where I had been planing to eat lunch within the Legislative Dining Room. I had read positive accolades about the small restaurant from Lonely Planet ("One of Victoria's best-kept dining secrets") and also from my sister Kimberly who had recently eaten there a few weeks prior when she had visited Victoria. Normally, the restaurant is frequented by government officials who work in the Parliament, but it is also open to all visitors. In order to gain access to the restaurant, I had to drop-off my ID and was given a security pass which enabled me to get into the halls and corridors that only government officials are allowed to go into.

Exterior of the Parliament Buildings.

When I finally reached the restaurant, I was surprised to see that its interior was just a tad out of style. I got wind from someone at the front counter that a huge tour group was coming in, so I made a mental note to place my order quickly given my experience at eating restaurants that tour groups frequent. Otherwise, I knew I would be waiting quite awhile for my food if I did not order pronto. Considering that the menu is subsidized from the government, I was surprised at the lack of creativity for the lunch choices; for the most part, there were burgers, salads, and sandwiches. I ended up choosing the chicken focaccia sandwich.

Legislative Dining Room.

Luckily, my food arrived just as the tour group of 15 sat down, so I was able to breath a big sigh of relief! Unfortunately, the big sigh of relief was then followed by a big letdown as the food was highly disappointing, especially with all of the hype it had received. The food was certainly edible, but nothing near as spectacular as I had imaged it would be. I also decided to spring for dessert, which was a mistake as it was obvious that my lemon meringue pie had a store-bought crust; yuck. I definitely wouldn't classify this as "One of Victoria's best-kept dining secrets" nor would I actually even recommend it at all to anyone.

Chicken Focaccia Sandwich from the Legislative Dining Room.

From the Parliament Buildings, I drove out of Victoria to Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site. This area is comprised of Fort Rodd, which was built in 1898 as a coastal artillery fort and another site called Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, which was built in 1860 and was the first lighthouse on the west coast of Canada. Fort Rodd was originally built to defend Victoria and the Esquimalt Naval Base and remained a military base until 1962, when Parks Canada took over its operation. The entire site is now listed as a National Historic Site of Canada.

When I arrived at the ticket office, I was sadly informed that the lighthouse was closed to visitors due to renovations that were taking place. At the time, it didn't bother me too much as I had no expectations of the place. I started my visit by exploring its massive grounds, including the Upper Battery and Lower Battery. There wasn't many people visiting the site, so walking into some of the empty barracks was quite eerie and uneasy feeling. Eventually, I made my way to the southeastern area of the site, where I was rewarded with a great view of the Fisgard Lighthouse. It was at this point when I began to feel very disappointed that I was unable to go up inside the lighthouse or its keeper's residence as the lighthouse was absolutely gorgeous from a distance.

Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site

Fisgard Lighthouse at Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site.

Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site

Afterward, I headed to the famous Butchart Gardens. These massive gardens were built upon the former cement quarries of Robert and Jennie Butchart. Initially, the Butcharts had a mansion built in 1904 near the quarries. Just a few years later the quarries were all abandoned and Jennie decided to do something with the ugly pits. She was able to purchase top soil from nearby farms and used it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. This area would later become the well-known Sunken Gardens. The couple soon also had a Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, and Rose Garden created. By the 1920's, word of Jennie's gardens had spread to the public and 50,000 people per year were visiting the gardens. Throughout the decades, the gardens became world-renowned, and now host over one million visitors each year. Unfortunately, visiting these famous gardens came with the steep price tag of $28 CAD per person! I about had a heart attack with the cost, but being Victoria's most well-known attraction, I hoped it would be money well spent.

I started my tour in Rose Gardens, which were filled with both thousands of roses and hundreds of people. The variety and vibrancy of colors was astounding; it was difficult to focus your attention on any one rose as so many others were calling out for your attention! After spending some time in the crowded rose garden, I made my way to the Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, and lastly, the Sunken Garden. The sun couldn't make up its mind during my visit as I saw glimpses of it while I was in the Italian Garden. Out of all of the gardens, my personal favorites were the Rose Garden and Sunken Garden. Every single square inch of Butchart Gardens was impeccably designed and well-cared for; it was obvious that its staff of 200 gardeners were always on their toes. I'm sure many of the gardeners go out at night or in the morning before visitors arrive in order to cut off any of the dead flowers. I literally did not see one wilted or dead flower petal anywhere in that garden; it was almost incomprehensible! Overall, even with its steep price tag, a visit to these gardens is a must for anyone who enjoys flowers and for all photographers as it is truly a photographer's paradise.

Entrance to Butchart Gardens.

Butchart Gardens

From Butchart Gardens, I headed towards the ferry terminal in Sidney. Before getting in line however, I decided to stop off in downtown Sidney to look around for a bit. I didn't have a lot of time, but I managed to visit a large bookstore called Tanner's, which had an extensive travel section. It was too bad that I did not have more time to explore Sidney as it looked like it was a very cute and pleasant city to wander around in.

On the ferry ride back to Anacortes, there was surprisingly very few cars. The ride took a little longer than expected as it stopped at San Juan Island to pick-up additional cars and passengers. I eventually made it back home about three and a half hours after leaving Sidney.

Overall, I had a great four day weekend in Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island. I was truly lucky in the weather department, experiencing only one partially cloudy day. It was so enjoyable to be able to visit a city I had been to once before; I was amazed how much of it I remembered, albeit on a smaller scale. With its underlying quaint English charm, Victoria is a very special and unique destination within North America. I can't honestly think of any other city on this continent which is anything quite like it. Aside from its plethora of high tea options and Tudor style architecture, the city is vibrant and has a buzzing energy, with lots of young people and modern architecture that somehow blend together so seamlessly with the old. In some ways, the city and its outlaying areas reminded me very much of Seattle as there are limitless opportunities for outdoor excursions and activities. In addition to the countless parks which fill the city streets, there are several Provincial Parks located within less than a 30 minute drive from downtown.

Even though Victoria is situated on an island, I think one might find it difficult to catch the so-called "island fever" as there are so many different things to do and see for people of all ages and of different interests. Someday, I will visit the island again, although I would like to devote at least a week so that I am able to see many of the sights and other cities in the highly recommended northern part of Vancouver Island.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island

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