The bus boarded the ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. It took about 90 minutes of smooth sailing and even though this passage is known for Orca’s we only managed to spot some dolphins. We drove directly to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Even if you’re not a gardener, this stop is a must. The history, different styles of garden, the colour, the aromas and scents, the greenery, the fountains, the layout and the birdlife make for a thoroughly enjoyable walk. Victoria is known for its gardens, honeymooners and retirees, hence the saying it’s full of flowerbeds, newlyweds and nearly deads!

Fisherman’s Wharf for fish and chips with a couple of our fellow bus travellers was the dinner choice. Then onto the Empress Hotel to sample their purple gin. The Empress is a fine example of “Chateauesque” architecture and the purple gin is what they’re known for. The Gin together with some live music made for a nice way to end the day.

Today, Ruthie opted for a seaplane flight over the city of Victoria. I opted to be the photographer on the ground. Given the smile on her face when she disembarked, I guessed the joy flight had been a success.It’s a beautiful harbour with a lot of activity. Sea planes, ferries, water taxis, fishing boats and cruise ships but it’s all incredibly organised.

Afterwards we went for a walk along the breakwater wall in search of a seal colony but they must have been out fishing. Then over to the Mile Zero monument. The Mile Zero marker is the start of the over 8,000 km Trans-Canada Highway that spans the entire length of Canada. It is also the home of a statue of Terry Fox. If you don’t know the story, Google it. It’s very inspiring.

Victoria, the capital of British Columbia is certainly the garden city. On our way back to the hotel, we cut through Beacon Hill Park. It wasn’t a large park but the flora and fauna within it was astounding. We saw lots of healthy looking ducks and the cutest goose mama with about 8 goslings, a black squirrel and a log covered in turtles. Our wildlife tally is growing.

That evening we walked to Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown which is the narrowest commercial street in North America with a span of .9 metres at it narrowest point. We’ve been so fortunate on this trip with the weather and the ferry back to Vancouver was no exception. On the ferry we had poutine for lunch plus a nanaimo bar, a very sweet treat. Poutine is a combination of cheese curds, chips and gravy. These foods are supposedly a delicacy of Victoria, Canada. Very healthy, not! We thoroughly enjoyed Victoria on Vancouver Island. This part of the island is nothing like the wilderness elsewhere on the island as shown on the TV series Alone.

Our tour finished in Vancouver. We have had the most amazing 10 days on this trip from Calgary to Vancouver and met some wonderful people. Our tour guide and bus driver were exceptional and we are very sad that it is over but the memories will last a lifetime.

We had nearly 2 days before we flew home. So what did we do? We went back into the mountains. Actually, Grouse Mountain is in Vancouver’s backyard so therefore not very far to travel at all. The gondola ride up the mountain was very different to Banff where only 4 people fitted. This gondola had half of the Vancouver population in it. Well actually it takes 95 people.

Grouse mountain was our contingency plan in case we didn’t see any bears. The mountain resort has 2 grizzly bears (Coola and Grinder) living in captivity. Their mother was killed when they were cubs. I didn’t really like the look of the bears behind an electric fence but I’m told they wouldn’t have survived on their own.

We were at a height of 1100 metres and the legs certainly got a great workout when we hiked a little further to the top. Not quite the Grouse Grind which is an endurance climb for the young athletic type but not too bad for a couple of oldies. Great views back to the harbour and to the surrounding mountains.

Not far from Grouse Mountain is the Capilano Suspension Bridge. With a height of 80 metres and a span of 150 metres across the raging waters of the canyon, it’s certainly challenging especially when the stream of people traffic get it swinging. There’s a great walk along the cliff through the temperate rain forest as well.

Across the other side we did a raptor walk where we saw hawks, falcons and owls. Then a great treetop walk before we braved it back across the suspension bridge. Our last stop was at a fish hatchery. If you’re not familiar with the life cycle of a salmon, again Google it. It’s short but very interesting.

The impression I got of the people in Vancouver overall was that they were generally fit and active people. They have all this beautiful nature in their backyard. Hiking, skiing, bike riding, kayaking, hangliding just to name a few. Part of the city has a severe drug problem. They even have an intersection named pill corner. It’s very sad to see. The homeless addicts you see are so out of it and deformed, it’s hard to imagine how they can be helped at all. Apart from that it really is a beautiful city.

Today is our last day before a late flight back to Australia. Not one to sit still, Ruthie soon had us marching to Granville Island Market. I loved the varying choices of foods in the food hall. They seem so healthy compared to what we recently have consumed.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we left Australia for our 9 week long venture into Alaska and the Canadian Rockies. Ruthie was very excited to walk through the duty free store at Vancouver Airport among a throng of travellers as we both realised it’s been a long time since we’ve travelled overseas from an airport. It was nice to see that after the Covid shutdowns, international travel was back. Just the same, we’re excited to get home to hug and greet family and friends. No doubt our holiday adventure will grow into everlasting tales.