The highway west of Kelowna took us up through the mountains, and along some surprisingly steep stretches that challenged our "little" (read "not a truck") car.  It was a relief to finally start coming down the other side, although with slopes just as steep, controlling our downhill speed without overusing the brakes was a challenge too.

Although Vancouver was on the horizon, we veered off toward Tsawassen to catch a ferry to our next destination: Victoria.

We have taken the ferry once before, many years ago when we did our article on the Mayne Island Resort.  This time we were a little shocked by the fare of over $80 because of our vehicle coming along with us.  We experienced the "waiting for the ferry" culture, as many Victoria residents, seasoned ferry-goers, parked their vehicles in the line and then wandered on foot to the souvenir and food market.  Taking the ferry is not something that can be done in a hurry, with ships only departing every hour (or 30 minutes during peak hours).  We arrived just after 4pm, and had to wait nearly an hour for the next ship.

We loaded the car on board the 5pm ferry, but it was still another two hours or more of travel to our destination.  The regulars knew to grab seats early so that they could curl up and sleep, but we decided to wander the decks and check out the shops and take pictures of the views from the sheltered upper deck areas as the sun set.

The sky was dark by the time we arrived on Vancouver Island, and it was a half-hour drive south to get to Victoria.  We arrived at our bed and breakfast, Albion Manor, at around 8pm where we got ourselves settled before heading out for a long overdue dinner.

The Oscar Wilde room, where we stayed at Albion Manor Bed & Breakfast Inn, has an amazing atmosphere to it created by the antique furnishings and artwork.  We had a delicious breakfast the next morning in their equally lavish dining room, where we got the chance to formally meet both owners Don and Fernando, and some of the other houseguests.  Fernando was tickled to hear about my Spanish heritage, as he lived in Seville (where my dad grew up) prior to coming to Canada.

The couple gave us the full tour of their B&B, during which we got to see some of the other spectacularly decorated rooms with beautiful sculptures, wood carvings, hand-painted wall and ceiling murals - some of it done by the multi-talented owners themselves!  Even the yard around the house is very scenic, with many of the rooms opening out onto patios that access it.

Next we were scheduled to go for afternoon tea – a traditional Victorian ritual - at the Fairmont Empress Tea Lobby.  Conveniently, it was only a 10 minute walk away from the Albion, and with plenty of time to spare we decided to walk around downtown Victoria a bit and check out the shops before making our way to the Fairmont Empress Hotel.  Steve and I weren’t expecting this to be a meal, but we ended up completely full from the unique and delicious sandwiches and desserts that were served with the tea.

After this we were taken on a tour through the Fairmont Empress Hotel, which was gorgeous both inside and out.  The hotel is absolutely massive, and had so much history behind it, that it took several hours to fully explore.

With little time left before closing time for most establishments, we decided to stop by the Undersea Garden, as the structure had piqued our curiosity.  It looks almost like a ship docked just off the bay along Government Street, but after entering on the main floor you take a staircase down below the water level where you can observe several tanks of undersea life – fish, crabs, anemones, and more – through windows in the outer wall.  They do a narrated show every hour, during which a diver enters the tank in front of the theatre area and interacts with some of the sea life.  He brings some of the creatures closer to the glass for the audience to see, and puts on a few cheesy comical antics.  We caught their last show of the day before they closed for the season, and did some souvenir shopping on the way out.  At the time of writing this article, we are sad to find out the facility will not be reopening next season, and feel lucky to have experienced it while it was still around.

We spent our last few hours of daylight exploring downtown Victoria, and stopped by Paparazzi Nightclub to introduce ourselves to the owners and chat a bit about the gay scene in Victoria.  From what we can gather, Victoria is seeing a similar trend to most other cities across the country, where exclusively gay bars and clubs are dwindling and mixed bars and clubs are filling the niche.  Paparazzi is the last of its kind at the moment, although we’re told the gay community is welcomed at gay friendly establishments like Garrick’s Head Pub and Hush Nightclub.

As the sun set, the air got a bit chilly for us without jackets, and so we hustled our way over to our dinner spot for the night: The Black Hat by Bistro 28.  We had a relaxing dinner with our host Brian, who then wanted to take us to the Garrick’s Head Pub for a beer but we were far too exhausted from the day’s activities.

A chilly but brief walk got us back to the Albion for a peaceful night’s sleep, and after another lovely social breakfast the next morning, we set out with an even busier itinerary than the day before.

First we hit the Royal BC Museum, which unfortunately was between feature exhibits at the time.  We made quick work of exploring their year round exhibits which were very well done, but from the perspective of quantity and variety, we still felt a bit spoiled from the Glenbow Museum back in Calgary.

Craigdurroch Castle was our next stop, and quite an impressive one at that.  The tour took us up the front half of the gigantic mansion, and then down the back half.  Apparently the building had nearly been lost before a group of concerned women took charge of restoring the it as a historical monument.  Not all of the rooms have been fully restored yet, but enough to give visitors a glance into the extravagant Victorian-period lifestyle of the original owners.

Next, we went off the schedule to visit a few places of interest from the entertainment industry.  First we went to Government House.  Although we couldn’t get a tour of the inside at that exact moment, we did a quick walk around the expansive gardens surrounding the mansion.  Then we made the drive out to Hatley Castle, which has been featured in movies like X-Men (the "mutant academy"), and in TV programs like Smallville (Lex Luthor’s Mansion) and Arrow (the Queen Mansion).  In real life, the castle is a school, and the inside cannot be toured while classes are in session.  However the gardens surrounding the castle were open to the public, and absolutely gorgeous.  I felt jealous of the students who get to use these areas to play and study.

And while on the topic of gardens, we next visited the ultimate one for Vancouver Island – Butchart Gardens.  Located in Brentwood Bay, this place was once a stone quarry, but now teems with all shades of plant life.  We had a late lunch in their cafeteria before going for a slightly rushed tour through the huge area of interweaving paths.  At one point the path took us through a dark wooded area and as we came around the corner of a stone embankment we were greeted by a stunning view out over the sunken gardens in the former quarry pit.  There are benches scattered throughout the grounds to sit and relax, with all manner of fountains adding the soothing ambiance of running water.  Steve and I were totally blown away, and wished we could have stayed longer.

After this very busy day, we made our way back to Victoria to stop in at the Albion to get changed, and then decided we would go check out China Town while keeping an eye out for a place to eat.  We stopped to photograph the red dragon statue and traditional Chinese archway, and the streets with strings of red paper lanterns and red and gold lights criss-crossing above them.  There was no shortage of options for where we could eat, but we ended up at a sushi restaurant not even on our list of recommended stops.  Victoria’s proximity to the ocean was probably a big contributing factor to the freshness of the fish, so we had a delicious meal.

We took our time walking back to the Albion, checking out some of the nighttime sights of the city, including the parliament building which is lit up with white rope light after dark.  Victoria brags a very mild climate all year round, and this was indeed a clement, cloudless autumn night.

Another restful night and alas, it was time for us to start making our way to our next stop, Vancouver.  However there was time in the morning for us to do a few last minute things, so we visited the Robert Bateman Gallery to check out the collection of work by painter and naturalist Robert Batemen.

After that we took a stroll along the water’s edge and ended up at a place called Fisherman’s Wharf, which we instantly regretted not coming to visit with more time.  As we walked along the rows of floating houses docked along the piers, some seals swam up beside the dock and put on a bit of a show for us and other tourists, in exchange for some food.

Unable to hold off leaving any longer, we made our way back to the Albion to check out and thank Don and Fernando for the amazing stay!  As this brought them to the end of their busy season, they were already hard at work doing renovations for next year as we left.

It was another long wait for the ferry to get us back to the mainland, and then we were on our way.