Canada: British Columbia

July 22, 2022 Sally

June 2022

The Coho Ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria on Vancouver Island, drops you right in the center of town. We arrived late afternoon. From the docks, we drove along the inner harbor, past the elegant Hotel Fairmont Empress and Government Plaza, to Douglas Street – the main street through town.

Urns and hanging baskets of flowers, rose gardens, and landscaped parks with green lawns line the harbor walk.

Immediately, we were impressed with the old world charm and elegance of this, really very modern, city. It feels like Europe, but everyone speaks English.

We continued on, making our way through Langford to Goldstream, where we would be staying at the Goldstream Provincial Park. We were tired after a long day, so opted to stop for a pizza and salad before settling into our campsite. We found a restaurant called 900 Degrees, and had a terrific first meal in Canada.

The Goldstream Park was first class, if you can use that term to describe a campground.

Spacious, clean and well-managed. Our site was ringed with Douglas fir trees.

Where Douglas firs are plentiful, you can do this!

A short walk to a steep staircase took us down to the Goldstream Falls, where some hardy souls were enjoying a dip.

The water was too cold for us, but we now understand that there are Canadians who swim year-round, enjoying an icy plunge.

Butchart Gardens

The next day, we drove about a half hour out of the city to visit Butchart Gardens. This 55-acre garden is situated in a former limestone quarry.

Jennie Butchart decided to create this garden, after the quarry that had supplied her husband’s Portland cement plant had played out.

The Butchart’s international travels provided the inspiration for their themed gardens, including a sunken garden, Japanese garden, rose garden and Mediterranean garden.

Jennie Butchart was one of the first in North America to grow Himalayan blue poppies, and they are featured with primroses in the dappled light of the Japanese garden.

Most of the other floral displays are formal mass plantings, which were how most gardens were arranged in the early 1900s.

New Guinea impatiens near the Dragon fountain

Dragon fountain, a gift from a sister city in China

On the day of our visit, the sidewalks were lined with fragrant stocks. The plantings are changed often, to keep things interesting all year long.

The garden has a charming working carousel, which still thrills riders of all ages.

A peek through “window” on the nearby harbor

There are fountains that “perform” and ponds with water lilies.

I understand that there are fireworks shows on Saturdays in July and August, although our June visit was too early for these. It bears similarities to Longwood Gardens, especially since it was started about the same time. There’s even an Aeolian pipe organ, which is played after Fireworks shows.

I had heard about this garden for years, and it really is quite the place. And to imagine that it started as a limestone quarry is mind boggling.

Before you leave, rub his snout for good luck!

J and J Roadhouse

Through Harvest Hosts, we made plans to stay at J and J Roadhouse just outside Victoria. J and J is a young winery, that’s not yet producing wine.

This property sits on a rise above the waterfront near Metchosin and can only be described as stunning.

The lawn and vineyard swoop down to the water’s edge, where’s there’s a rocky beach.

John, the owner, enjoys having overnight guests, especially ones traveling in small class Bs, like ours. We squeezed our van in underneath the ancient Garry Oaks near the entrance.

After our supper, we walked the beach and enjoyed the view of the snow capped mountains of Washington state’s Olympic National Park in the distance.

In the morning, John brought us homemade croissants, filled with melty chocolate, still warm from the oven. We sat on his front porch and chatted with him while we ate our treat. We found that we had lots in common: motorcycles, conversion vans, music, travel…and chocolate.

John and John, with a camera-shy Solo pup

Besides this gracious hospitality, John also offered some tips for our visit to downtown Victoria. We hope to taste some of J and J’s wine next time around!

Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Victoria’s Chinatown dates from the mid-1800s. It’s small – only a few square blocks – but it’s charming.

We wandered down Fan Tan Alley, Victoria’s smallest street, and poked in and out of small, interesting shops selling teas, spices, dumplings, clothes, and collectibles.

We also liked seeing the interpretive displays and historic photos telling the story of Chinatown.

At John Kelly’s suggestion we had lunch in the Legislative Dining Room in the Parliamentary Building.

John had said it was a secret, but we discovered that it’s certainly no longer a secret. On arrival, we were told that the lunch hour was fully booked. A kindly officer at the security entrance took pity on us, and helped us gain entry without a reservation.

We walked through the lower level’s maze of corridors, and finally found the dining room. It’s an old-time dining experience with white tablecloths, shiny silverware, and servers in tuxedos.

The food was delicious. We felt very special indeed to dine where the government representatives (and apparently a great number of plan-ahead tourists) do.

How civilized. Lawn bowling near the Parliament building.

Across town, but still within walking distance, we strolled through Beacon Hill Park. I especially wanted to see Dale Doebert’s Moss Lady sculpture, which had been inspired by sculpture at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall.

It was so much larger than I imagined! And so lovely. A giant lady sleeping contentedly in the shade among the ferns. The park is lovely, with lots of places to stroll and relax.

We took some road trips to see more of Vancouver Island, including a jaunt to Sidney, where we walked the town and had Happy Hour brews and half-price oysters at a waterside hotel.

On our last night in Victoria, we stayed at Pedders Bay Marina.

Hanging baskets at Pedders Bay – a cheerful jumble of color

The next day, we were up and out early to catch a ferry to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Our ferry arrived in Vancouver early in the afternoon, so we decided to tour a bit before heading to our campground. We drove the entire perimeter of Stanley Park, and then parked and explored the interior on foot.

Sculpture at the Aquarium, inside the park

Point Roberts

We’d had a tough time finding a campground in or close to Vancouver. One of our searches had turned up the Lighthouse Marina Park in Point Roberts. So, we booked several days there, planning to make sightseeing day trips into Vancouver.

Point Roberts is a postage stamp size community (4.9 square miles) that is technically part of the US, but not connected to it.

In 1846, when the UK and US signed the Oregon Treaty, the 49th parallel, which was used to separate Cananda from the US, sliced off Point Roberts. To reach Point Roberts, you either have to come in by boat or come through Canada.

It has an interesting history, but today it seems to be a vacation spot, almost a gated community, for Canadians. We were the only Americans at this American campground.

Until Covid, Canadians treated the border crossing casually. After Covid, when the borders were closed, Point Roberts languished, and almost crashed. The population plunged, marina business dropped 70%, and tourism shut down. The town is on its way back, but it’s an uphill climb.

What we didn’t fully comprehend early on, was that every time we planned to go into Vancouver for the day, we would have to go through customs to enter Canada, and at the end of the day, return through US customs to get back to our campsite.

We quickly got used to the routine of filing daily travel plans with ArriveCan, and we managed quite well. But we could easily see how this could still impact tourism.

Very few businesses were open in Point Roberts. One grocery, a few gas stations, only a couple of places to eat. We stumbled upon a restaurant called Kiniski’s Reef, which turned out to be a fun find.

The owner, Nick Kiniski, is a retired professional wrestler. He’s still a big guy, but these days only wrestles with running the business. His Dad was Gene Kiniski, once called Canada’s Greatest Athlete. There’s a pictorial tribute to him in the tavern.

The restaurant has a large back lawn that’s on the water. It’s the neighborhood hangout on weekends.

We met so many nice people in Point Roberts, including fellow campers at the marina. Meeting Nick was a great treat. John took Nick aside and asked if he’d pose for a photo with us, and he did!

He even gave me an autographed photo. Even though the photo is inscribed to Shirley, I’ll still treasure it. (Do I look like a Shirley?)

We left Point Roberts feeling good about the little US exclave.

Vancouver, British Columbia

We drove and walked (and walked and walked) around Vancouver, seeing historic neighborhoods and enjoying the sights.

We explored a few neighborhoods near Vancouver. One day, we went to Steveston. We were told that this is the place to get fresh fish. We strolled the open air fish markets on the pier where fishermen put out a shade tarp and sell right off their boats. It looked overwhelming, so we opted to dine at the Blue Canoe, a popular open air deck restaurant.

Fresh? Yes. But maybe just a little too fresh for me.

Van Deusen Gardens

We spent an afternoon at Van Deusen Gardens and just loved it. A few highlight photos are below. This garden impressed us with its educational perspective and horticulture techniques. This was one of my favorite gardens to date.

Display of what’s in bloom and where to find it. Smart!

This is how to stake delphinium, with a horizontal grid.

Then you get a view without stakes showing. Smart again!

Themed gardens – this one is sub continent plants

Totem poles honoring indigenous peoples who were here first.

Pink Kousa dogwoods. So striking against a blue sky.

From Vancouver, we headed to Whistler, working our way north. Next up: Alberta and Canadian National Parks.