Day 31 Victoria

A lazy, hazy day of summer, this may actually be my first. Cliff and I both slept in until 7:00 for heaven sake so we should have realized that today may have been a little slower-paced than we’ve been accustomed to! Sitting around outside in the sunshine, dragging breakfast out for a couple of hours, Cliff finally got started on his Kobo birthday present. I think really it’s just because David, Liz and I all have Netbooks that mesmerize us and he feels left out not plugged in!

Cliff has the cool kid toys now too!

Finally we got ourselves together and headed to The Butchart Gardens, a local tourist attraction. Mr. Butchart made his money in concrete, and Mrs. Butchart, wanting to rehabilitate an abandoned limestone quarry, began to establish the now famous gardens in 1904. We meandered through 55 acres of gardens that have been growing for over 100 years. The property has been divided into rose gardens, Japanese gardens, bog gardens, sunken gardens… you name it, and they have it! The riot of colour is overwhelming, the variety impressive and to realize the amount of work involved in the maintenance, let alone the establishment is unbelievable.

Hedges three stories high! Don't know who trims those babies??

Sunken gardens

Formal Italian Garden

Fountains everywhere.

A Monkey Puzzle tree that is as sharp and prickly as it looks!

Dancing Ross Fountian

A huge Sequoia planted as a seedling in 1934 ... just a baby!

Tacca - a bronze replica of a marble statue in Florence that was cast in 1620. This little pig is almost 400 years old!!! Rubbing his snout is supposed to bring luck. As you can see from the shine, loads of people have tested that claim in the last 400 years.

These are Gunnera leaves. They grow wild out here and we have seen roadside clusters taller than any of us. They are related to rhubarb but have massive leaves. They are believed to have gotten here on shipments from China when the leaves were used as packaging. Largest plants I've ever seen,

It was funny though, toward the end of our time as we wandered down, just outside the actual gardens, to the beach and dock site they used to offer boat tours to their visitors, I paused to rest on a bench in the woods. Away from the visual distraction of the vividly coloured flowers, I realized I felt much more serene than I had felt all day. I thought that I was relaxed as I wandered through the beautiful flowers. Sitting in a simple wood with nothing but the naturally occurring tress and undergrowth around me I realized a couple of things. Just like there can be sound and light pollution, there maybe can also be “visual pollution”. The riot of colour, while stunning, can also require energy to appreciate. I also suspect that while some folks may be garden people and derive energy from the beauty in the garden, some folks like me, are fed by the raw and natural beauty of a plain forest or expanse of sea. Probably way too much thought for a simple walk in a garden but my thoughts nonetheless as I sat on the bench and realized the exit of a tension I hadn’t even realized I felt!

My view from my bench in the woods.

We went back downtown during the early evening. We considered several other eating stops but knowing we had a winner in the Bard and the Banker we went back there as everyone wanted to try something else on the menu. We wanted to be downtown late in the evening since we have been told several times that we really shouldn’t miss the Victoria Symphony Splash happening tonight in the inner harbor. As a celebration of the civic holiday the Symphony, situated on a barge in the inner harbor played as dusk approached. I mentioned that several people had told us about it … my favourite was the young lady in the gift shop at The Empress. She told us that it was really cool. “The orchestra would play the 18 ½ music in time to the fireworks display.” It took me a minute to realize that she was referring to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture!!

Parliament building at night where the crowds sat to watch Victoria Symphony Splash.

All kidding aside though, everyone here has been very friendly and helpful. Waiting in the throngs of people for the show to begin we chatted with the people all around us and met folks from as far away as Texas and native British Columbians. Everyone is very friendly and the exchanges have been a very pleasant part of our days here. After a splendid evening appreciating life on the waterfront we headed back to the trailer to introduce Cliff and Liz to Bananahammock, and end the day with a little healthy competition.