aussielozzie18

I am not great with heights either but this was ok for me.

I am going to miss your daily updates. Thanks for taking us along with you. Safe flight home.

After a very enjoyable stay in Victoria, it was time to hit the road. First stop was Tim Hortons where I made the mistake of ordered a large coffee. Completely forgot sizing is different overseas to Aus and it was weird not getting cocoa/choc sprinkled on top of the cappuccino froth. Next stop was The Malahat Skywalk. My family saw the entry prices and wanted to get back in the car…but I wanted to see/experience it. Beautiful driftwood sculptures on display along the elevated pathway to the viewing structure. Once you reach the structure itself, you slowly climb in circles until you reach the very top. The views from the top were very nice & it was lovely to see the raptors & other birds floating above the treetops way down below. At the top is a meshed square that none of us were brave enough to stand on but it was popular with the Insta crowd. There is also a slide that you can whizz down to save you the return spiral walk. One of us was very happy to do that. There were seats, a swing and an open fire and a trail walk to return to the car park. The entry was very price but I was glad we stopped here and experienced it.

I would love you to post photos! The woodwork was very special. I recall the cabinet showcasing the silverware as the silverware was specifically designed with the Dunmuir crest on it and I was amazed at that detail so I spent quite a bit of time looking at it. The cabinet was beautifully done. Please do share photos when you get the opportunity of the work he did there.

Yes, I definitely need a power bank!

I am very so sorry for the loss of your friend and that I am unable to share with you photos of the work he did especially as I saw the excellent work done in the restored kitchen.

After Butchart Gardens, we headed to the Victoria Butterfly Garden nearby. The lady at reception “warned” us of the “flirty” parrot which made us laugh. As expected, lots of butterflies, a flamingo, an iguana and parrots. I sat down on a stone benchto check my photos and out of the foliage behind me, appeared the “flirty” parrot.he gently nudged then climbed onto my arm before snuggling into me. Very cute. Entry fee was a little high but we enjoyed our visit. From there, apparently a visit to Tim Hortons was in order. Whilst the other two got their sugar fix, I wandered around the small group of shops and found myself a second hand bookstore. I am currently enjoying reading one of the books I purchased there. On our way back to Inner Harbour, we passed the signs to Craigdorrach Castle. I decided I had time to explore as it was only 2pm and from my research prior to the trip, I knew I could walk back to Inner Harbour. So, I waved goodbye to my family and spent a very pleasant 1 1/2hrs exploring all 5 floors of this beautifully restored 1890s family mansion that later became a hospital for Canadian servicemen and later still a College. There was no guided tour but a map and enough info was provided to make for a very interesting visit. Reading about the lives of wealthy Dunmuir family for whom the mansion was built was fascinating and there was lots to see in each room. I was particularly taken with the library, billiards room and the large dance floor - complete with framed dance cards. After exploring the adjacent castle gift shop, I confirmed with one of the staff on site that my planned return walk back to the Inner Harbour was heading in right direction. I walked down the hill to the service station, purchased a bottle of water and had a very pleasant walk all the way down to the end of Yates St and back to our accommodation. Whilst, we may no longer need to print out our photos, one of the issues with modern phones, is that your battery can die…So, no photos from inside Craigdorrach Castle but I highly recommend a visit if you are in Victoria. Our final night dinner, we returned to the Flying Otter Grill without a reservation. Being later this time, we were told it would be a 40min wait. We were happy to wait outside and within 15mins they called us and advised our table was ready. Had another delicious dinner. Forgot to mention, we had an enjoyable casual meal one night at the Sticky Wicket Pub & Restaurant.

Yes, the sheep & deer were on Spieden island which we cruised past. The birds were nesting on another island that we cruised past as well. The birds were migratory. The whale watching cruise was Eagle Winds Whale Watching. With the exception of the close up tulip photos & the sheep (they were taken with a canon camera) all the photos are taken by me on my little XS iPhone camera 🙂 Craigdorrach Castle ✅

April is tulip time in Butchart Gardens…some lovely close up photos

Last day in Victoria and what a great day it was. Visiting Butchart Gardens first thing in the morning on a weekday with no tour groups on site meant no queues and no groups of people in the photos.

I like finding a single duck on board - it’s a nice memento of the cruise. Some people are very passionate about duck hiding - they take 100+ ducks on board of all different sizes and designs. Now Princess Cruises are getting in on the craze, they are releasing their own branded rubber duckies. It was announced by our Cruise Director 2 weeks ago in Alaska.

Grand Princess had the crab shack on for a couple of nights - Deck 14 aft Portside. Additional charge - didn’t go so can’t quote the per head cost.

The weather was so calm & sunny, I made an impulse decision the night before to book a whale watching cruise. Booked a semi-covered boat with heated interior and we had a very pleasant couple of hours out on the water, seeing marine, bird & land animals. It departed and returned from Fisherman’s Wharf and our ticket gave us 10% off food on the wharf. So we had an early dinner after the cruise of fish & chips from Barbs on the wharf.

I knew you were Canadian but wasn’t aware Victoria was/is your home city. We definitely would have walked through Rainbow Park. Such a lovely part of the city. This was the first visit for the three of us to Victoria so we didn’t do anything this visit that you wouldn’t know about. Butchart Gardens ✅

Yes, that was the first of several 😋

View from Mt Douglas - it was a 360 degree view. Photo from one side. Dinner was a short walk from where we staying, on the harbourfront at Flying Otter Grill. I enjoyed my special of the day, seafood chowder. After dinner, we wandered over to see the Parliament buildings lit up.

That afternoon, we decided to take a scenic drive along the coast to Mt Douglas. About half way along near Oak Bay, I noticed a small group of people looking down from the pathway next to the beach. We pulled over. You may have heard of Neil the (Elephant) seal in Tassie, well meet his Canadian counterpart - Emerson, the (Elephant) seal. 3 days prior, the authorities had moved him from Oak Bay, 120km away to a remote location on the other side of Vancouver Island to Barkly sound, south of Ucleclet. Undeterred, this Elephant Seal had then swum 30km per day for 3 days to return right back to his favourite spot on Oak Bay, much to the astonishment of the authorities. when we spotted him, he was lying peacefully and undisturbed on the beach and letting out an occasional snort much to the amusement of the kids watching for the footpath above.

@arxcards do you know why most cruiselines no longer visit Champagne Bay? I am sure there have been discussions on cc in the past but I’ve obviously missed them. Such a beautiful place.

I had this on an itinerary last year. It was very nice to do the Amedee Island excursion from Noumea one day and do something else in Noumea on the other port day during our cruise. hope the issues are resolved by July.

True

I don’t care if the media are calling them a luxury cruise line. Just nice to read something positive about cruising in the media for once. I haven’t cruised with p & o and I am unlikely to but big kudos to them. Rotary do great work in their communities and this group would have been in a very stressful situation. Wonderful that p & o stepped up and is bringing them home.

The Bug Zoo was a short walk from our accommodation. My dad loves his garden and his insects, so I decided we would visit & take photos for him. When we first walked in, I thought oh no, we will only be here for 10 mins as it’s a very small place, just two small rooms. What it lacks in size though is made up for by the very enthusiastic and informative staff. We had a great time as the staff explained the contents of each glass enclosure in depth and offered us the opportunity to hold the insects as they gave us a tour of the enclosures in the rooms. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to see a staff member hold one of the tarantulas. That would have been very cool.

Yep. We were blessed with beautiful weather for our entire stay in Victoria ☀️

First full day in Victoria and we decided to do another harbour walk. This time heading in the other direction to & across Johnson Bridge and then all along the beautiful foreshore to Esquimalt. Beautiful morning for it. Lots of otters swimming in the clear water. On the return walk, we stopped in at Spinnakers Brewpub overlooking the water and had a nice lunch on their terrace. Then I decided I wanted a ride on one of the cute little harbour ferries, so using the QR code on the post on the wharf, I hailed one of their ferries/water taxis that took us back to the inner harbour in front of The Empress. Lovely to see that dogs are permitted on the ferries. The couple and their dog hopped off and we hopped on for a lovely trip with the friendly & informative ferry Captain.

The next morning, saw a couple of tourists stroking one of the seagulls - think they had mistaken him for a cat