Wednesday, June 24, 2015

2015 Canada West: Victoria (6/24/2015)

Wednesday, June 24, 2015 (continued)
From the Butchart Gardens, we drove into the city of Victoria and were taken through the various neighborhoods.
Deer (real!) in someone's lovely garden
View across the Juan de Fuca Strait
of the Olympic Mountains in the state of Washington
Beacon Hill Park:
Totem (1954) designed by Chief Mungo Martin;
the tallest in the world at 127'7"
Beacon Hill Park:
Mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway 1
Statue of Terry Fox whose right leg was amputated
due to bone cancer; he decided to run across Canada
to raise money in a Marathon of Hope;
made it 2/3 of the way before pain stopped him
and he died before reaching this spot in Victoria
British Columbia Parliament,
Victoria is the capital of BC
Maybe not the biggest, but the fullest Christmas store
Gate of Harmonious Interest (built in Suzhou, PRC)
in Victoria's Chinatown (KSS)
We were dropped off with two hours to explore. We started with the highly recommended Royal British Columbia Museum.
Special Exhibit: Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC,
400-ounce gold bar
Special Exhibit: Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC,
Kent's weight in gold
Miners in a geode
Natural History Gallery:
Nautilus fossils
View from museum across the Inner Harbor,
with the Netherlands Carillon (1967, gift from the Dutch community)
to the right
First Peoples Gallery: Combs made from elk antlers
First Peoples Gallery:
Forest of arrow heads
First Peoples Gallery:
The Man Who Fell from the Sky
replica petroglyph
First Peoples Gallery:
Seed bead vest (1965, St Mary's Band Nation)
We left the museum.
Statue of Emily Carr (2010, by Barbara Paterson),
renowned Canadian artist,
Emily Carr with her Javanese monkey "Woo"and dog "Billie"
The Fairmont Empress (1908,
designed by Francis Rattenbury in Edwardian Victorian style)
The Fairmont Empress Tea Lobby
The Fairmont Empress: The Crystal Ballroom and Palm Court
The Fairmont Empress Reception Lobby
Orca Topiary titled "Surfacing" (2010, by Sandra Bilawich)
After an ice cream break, we returned to the Royal BC Museum.
Wawadit’ła/House of Chief Mungo Martin
Ellicott Square with the Helmcken House (1852 on right),
the oldest house in Victoria standing on its original site,
and statue of Dr John Sebastian Helmcken
Sculpture of Spindle Whorl (2008, by Butch Dick),
used by the Lekwungen Nation
Fannin Building (1967, BC Archives)
and Spirit sculpture (1964, by Elza Mayhew)
Back in the tour bus, we had time to drive around the town of Sidney ("spelled the right way").
The Sidney Opera...
Nil u,o (bas relief mural by IceBear)
Here comes our ferry, the Spirit of Vancouver Island
The Westcoast Sightseeing tour bus
Now for our 90-minute ferry ride, where we had dinner in the cafeteria.
Gulf Islands: Georgina Point Lighthouse (1969) on Mayne Island
BC Ferries Henry the vacuum cleaner
A fairly clear sighting of Mount Baker in the USA
After landing at Tsawwassen Terminal, the bus drove back to Vancouver, crossing the Fraser River.
They still transport logs by floating them down the river
We were dropped off at our hotel.

Next: Sun Yat Sen Garden.

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