Vancouver Island - part 1, the Butchart Gardens

from the japanese section, there was a lot of decorations and arrangements of gardens but the truest stunning beauty came from the living works of art themselves.

We packed our backpacks (kids too) for our 2 day adventure and lugged our suitcases downstairs for storage, booked out of our hotel and were picked up bright and early. We were told be out the front between 8 and 9 and fortunately were the first picked up so didn't have to wait an hour! Teressa was our guide, she was patient, friendly and talked non-stop, whats not to like? ;) We picked up a US couple, a canadian couple and a french lady.

(bus trip photos, on the way to the ferry) top left- cranberry farms. top right- late season pumpkin farms! (never knew how pumpkins grew lol). bottom left- that big black blog on the tower is actually an eagle nest. bottom right- that was half of the glasshouse, they were just huge!

We learnt all about Vancouver who's official stat padding population count is 2.5 million but the actual city has only 750k. We heard all about the sky rail, the olympics, the logs they're floating in and the surrounding farm lands. Immediately West is swampland but due to its locality its covered in industry and farm land. When the 'big one' (the huge earthquake they're expecting any time now) comes the whole area will become a second Atlantis, but they keep building.

top left- on the ferry we passed a handful of little islands, look how close those houses are! top right- Butchart Gardens map (the place was huge). bottom left- sunken garden n us. bottom right- some xmas baubles. The garden had fir and pine leaves decorating all the fences, paths, even the bins had flowery bouquets on top of them :).

We reached tSwassen and had 20mins to look in the small ocean front mall. The kids did the kid thing - toilet, and then beg for food. I got stuck in a silver shop with the intention of buying a makeshift wedding ring, which I succeed in doing. Back to the bus and onto the ferry we park. Teresa recommended the buffet on the ferry so after $60-70 - ouch - I concede it was very nice! The first french toast I've had, mm, with cinnamon. Their salad bar was a make your own type with all the ingredients laid out (what a good idea), so I made a cos lettuce, mixed lettuce, dried cranberries, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, baby tomatoes, and olive salad. And then there was chocolate mouse cake... best I've ever had! We'd been surviving on 2 meals a day, my poor stomach couldn't eat $20 worth!

top- japanese garden and some Levick flowers. bottom left- what do you know, a round thing. bottom right- and the path goes ever on and on..

When we disembarked we went straight to the Butchard Gardens to make the most of the light but we only had 1.5hrs because it was a 1 day tour and that gave everyone else time in Victoria (the capitol of BC Canada and the big town on Vancouver Island); though we were staying overnight. Another hour in the gardens would not have been too long! After all the gift shop itself takes about half an hour ;) lol, I had to make do with 5 anxious minutes. Last time Mum and Dad were here they spent 2hours in the Japanese section alone.

had some fun with paint.net my photo editing program :). top left is the true image, you may notice the trees look a little familiar..?

We powered through, skipping the sunken garden with 1 token photo and did spend most of the time in the Japanese section. It was sooo green and had so many interesting angles and was the most enjoyable photographic experience I had in Canada. I really wasn't expecting the kids to be much entertained but they actually had a great time; I think they felt our excitement and looked around with an open mind :).

There's a lot of photos of the garden but not too much to say about it, it was a visual feast and a great experience.

totem kids replete with fearsome expressions

After the garden we drove through very picturesque countryside with cute interesting little brick, stone and shingle cottages alternating with ramshackle shacks and caravans. We learnt about the native indians, First Nations People, and how they were mistreated and how a native school was built on the island that teaches the full curriculum but is also steeped in their culture. This is the beginning of recovery for a whole country, having their pride and destiny slowly restored.

top left- the three bears, made by frames and living plants. top right- interesting textures. bottom left- and on and on. bottom right- typical japanese garden scene, green green burbling and twisty trees.

We got dropped off at the Fairmont Empress Hotel, Mum had booked us in there for a very special treat :). We tucked Mum into bed again and there being a great many little museums and sites to see, debated long over our choice and ended up going to see the wax museum. Not a god choice, it was a bit spooky and I spent the whole time trying to explain and tell stories about the depicted wax statues. Try to explain who various Parliament members, inventors, generals, royalty, actors and madmen are to a 5 and 7 year old! We then headed uptown to find 1 of the 8 restaurants that had been recommended and found 1 right at the end lol. We did stop into a chocolate store on the way though, very necessary stop ;). ReBar was a funky little restaurant with mature tastes, I betted on sweet potato 'chips' (they were as thick as fingers and long as a hand) with garlic aoli and wholemeal pita with homos for the kids. A miso with tofu, mushrooms and buckwheat noodles for Mum and a pear, walnut, blue cheese, lime dressing, baby spinach salad for myself.

top right is a sharpened black and white detailed glimpse of branches and roof line. There were so many beautiful buildings at the gardens too. The other two pics make great desktops :).

We all got a looovely sleep in luxurious beds with down matress liners, pillows and donas. We were all looking forward to the Bug Zoo tomorrow (= next blog! :)).