Sunday June 19, Westbay RV Park, Victoria, British Columbia

It has been a fabulous day, although there were a few hiccups to start with. We were up and away by 9 and found a parking space for Ruakiwi down by the ferry terminals so that we could wait for Witta and Dick who were due off their Ferry from Port Angles soon after 10. Walked around the downtown area for awhile then went to wait at the terminal for their boat to arrive. It seemed to be a bit late getting in, so we waited outside customs..and waited until no one else came through. They weren’t on the boat. As usual I had left my cellphone in the van, so when we checked it there had been a missed call from the hotel they had booked into. Found out that I had gone to the wrong terminal. So an hour later we finally caught up! Had a nice Mexican lunch then it was off to the famous Butchart Gardens, about 40 minutes out of town.

I had heard from many people that they were pretty special, but they were just breathtaking. The 22ha of gardens were formed in a worked out limestone quarry, and they have been developed over 100 years. Every vista and little corner is stunning, with rare and exotic shrubs, trees and flowers. The early summer flowers were in full bloom, and probably the most special for me were the peonies. I have never seen such beautiful colours. Witta and I had a wonderful time with our cameras, Ian and Dick were very patient!

We got together for a meal at a brew pub which was on the walkway into the city, a 25 minute walk for both of us. Such a fun evening, great atmosphere topped off with live jazz style music from a couple of guys. Our legs knew they had done a lot of walking by the time we got back to the RV, but it was a great finish to a great day.