Tuesday 17th August we packed up our gear and took off in the car for Port Angeles. This was about a 200km drive in bright sunshine from Seattle towards the imposing Olympic Mountains. From Port Angeles we caught the car ferry M.V.Coho to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The ferry ride was an uneventful 90 mins but the views of the Olympic Mountains on one side and Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands on the other side made the crossing pass quickly.
View image of Olympic Mountains leaving Port Angeles.

A lack of preparation for our arrival in Victoria (i.e. no map) meant for an 'interesting' 1/2 hour of driving through the streets of downtown Victoria trying to get our bearings. Eventually I admitted defeat and pulled into a service station ('gas' station for our northern hemisphere readers!!) and acquired a map only to find I had been on the correct road numerous times in our scenic 'tour'. With the tension in the car lifting ;-) we headed off to our destination of Mill Bay (about 40km NW of Victoria). Accommodation here was much cheaper than Victoria and the two b&b's we stayed at were very nice. Ivycot B&B and Blue Moon B&B/.

On Wednesday 18th August after a slow morning we headed off to Victoria to do some 'touristy' stuff. Our first stop was the visitor info centre to fill our pockets with brochures. Michele was keen to try some whale watching while we were here and ventured off to enquire at one of the tour booths. The result was a mad rush to get back to the car, drive across town to a longer term car park and return to the tour office in less than 1/2 hour to catch the 2pm tour with Great Pacific Adventures. Apparently the 3 resident pods had joined together to form a 'superpod' which had been seen on the morning tour and was still together but there were no guarantees for tomorrow hence Michele's panic to make the tour. And we are glad we did. It was amazing. There were at least 20-30 orca's (killer whales) in the pod. We spent close to an hour in the area and initially could only view from a distance because of the strict regulations governing boat handling near the whales but then our captain manouvered our boat and we had the whole pod swim past us no more than 30-40 metres from the stern of the boat. It was an incredible sight ('breathtaking' - Michele). Well worth the effort (and cost!!). View image of Orca's.

The whole tour took about 3 hours. I wanted to go in one of the 'zodiac' boats but they were full so we went in the 'ocean cruiser' with three big diesels putting out about 600 horses combined - so we were moving along quite nicely... In hindsight the cruiser was a good option because the trip back got a bit rough and those in the zodiacs suffered a bit :-).
Once back on land we spent the next few hours wandering around the area - looking at the Empress hotel, the parliament buildings and numerous shops with the English influence being very evident (except it is warmer!!!)
View image of Victoria's Inner Harbour.
Dinner was a pint and burger at Darcy's pub while waiting for the sun to go down and the lights on the parliament building to take effect. It was a lovely balmy summer evening and with the street artists, musicians (bagpipes, flutes etc) and the lights around the Inner Harbour we didn't want to head back. All in all a superb day. View image of Parliament buildings at night.

Thursday the 19th saw us head back to Victoria again and take a scenic drive around the coast from Victoria, through Oak Bay, Cadboro Bay and onto Cordova Bay. Whilst their beaches are not a patch on ours the suburbs through here are really nice with some fantastic homes and manicured gardens. I could easily live here!! Lunch was another pint and sandwich at Palmer's pub in oak Bay (common theme here? best I keep the walking up). We paid a visit to Government House and took an interesting look at Craigdarroch Castle. It was then time to head up to Butchart Gardens. We arrived late in the day (6pm) and baulked a little at the $21 each to enter but we might only be here once so in we went. It was actually a really good time to visit as all the tourist buses had left for the day and the place was not crowded (pesky tourists!!!). Whilst I have yet to enter the 'garden and flower' stage of life I have to admit this place is pretty impressive - Michele loved it!!. The colours and presentation are amazing. They also have a concert area with a large open space of green lawn. There was a jazz band playing and people dancing on stage on yet another warm evening. The music could be heard throughout the gardens. The only thing missing was a good bottle of wine :-). By the time we left the lights in the gardens were starting to take affect and gave a diferent perspective on the whole gardens. View image of Butchart Gardens.

Friday 20th August saw the day start with a power failure and the owners of the b&b boiling water on the bbq so we could have tea and coffee. We then drove from Mill Bay up to Nanaimo (1.5 hours) to line up for the vehicle ferry to take us to Vancouver. We managed to sneak onto the ferry as the second last vehicle saving us from another 1.5 hour wait for the next ferry. Another 90 min ferry ride with wonderful views of the Coastal mountains and we landed in Horseshoe Bay. It was then a 30-40 min drive through some traffic?? to arrive at Mike and Carolyn's house in Coquitlam. Mike and Carolyn are good friends of my brother Ray and they had graciously offered to put us up for our time in Vancouver. A few beers, a bottle of wine and good conversation made for an enjoyable evening.