Alaska Adventures: Day 17--July 5

Mon. July 5: Our last day in Vancouver! So we spent it in the best way possible—we took the ferry to Vancouver Island. We got up early, got on our way and caught the 8:00 ferry to have a good long day of it. On our way through the narrows of the islands we were thrilled to see a pod of orcas swimming along, breaching and diving. (A naturalist on the afternoon told us she only sees them about a quarter of the time!) That helped to make the 1½ hour trip go more quickly. The GPS took us straight to our first destination—Butchart Gardens. In 1888, near his birthplace, Owen Sound, Ontario, the former dry goods merchant, Robert Pim Butchart, began manufacturing Portland cement. By the turn of the century he had become a highly successful pioneer in this burgeoning North American industry. Attracted to the West Coast of Canada by rich limestone deposits vital for cement production, he built a factory at Tod Inlet, on Vancouver Island. There, in 1904, he and his family established their home. When Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, his enterprising wife, Jennie, conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit. From farmland nearby she requisitioned tons of top soil, had it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart, and used it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under Jennie Butchart's supervision, the abandoned quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken Garden. Added onto in subsequent years it is now a spectacular area where we happily wandered for 4 hours. We saw about half of the gardens before taking a break to eat our picnic lunch. Then we walked through the other half. Sometime during the afternoon the clouds began to disperse and it became a stunningly sunny afternoon. I can’t decide if it inspires me to go home and do great things in my gardens, or discourages me from trying anything at all! My favorites were probably the massive beds of towering flocks, the Italian garden beds of many colors that reminded me of a patchwork quilt, and the extensive rose garden. And of course, the sunken garden made from the emptied limestone pit was magical!

From there we drove to Victoria. Marv found a parking place right on the harbor, which we walked around first at the dock level and then above, taking pictures of the European-type street crowds with vendors, living statues, a “circus”, and various and sundry characters. We bought ice cream and made our way back to the car. Then we found the house near Beacon Hill that a group of Robertsons rented about 8 years ago and walked through part of the Beacon Hill Park, overlooking the water at the southern tip of Vancouver Island. We made our way back to catch the 5:00 ferry and spent about half the trip out on the deck, enjoying the sunshine. When Ann and I headed to the aft deck to hear a naturalist give a short talk, we were lucky enough to have a gentleman who pointed out a large group of harbor seals sunning themselves on a small spit of land revealed by the low tide around a lighthouse in the water. Several of them were swimming hear the ferry and a tiny one came quite close, watching us float by while she gently beat her back flippers. The naturalist pointed out that we could see Mount Baker and other snow covered peaks of the Cascades in the state of Washington from the middle of the Georgian Bay. Back on the mainland we found a restaurant for a quick dinner before we returned to pack up and ready ourselves to fly home tomorrow.