35th Anniversary in Victoria

 20 -27 November 2011

High Tea at the Fairmont Empress

C.J. set this trip up months ago. We stayed at the Worldmark condo on Laurel Point, right on the water, just outside the Inner Harbor. It was a great location, within walking distance to all of downtown and especially the Parliament, Royal BC Museum and the Fairmont Empress. Having a full kitchen meant that our big expense was only the ferry to Vancouver Island.









 

BC Parliament building and totem

20 Nov, Sun – The only Washington State Ferry to Sidney, BC, left at 0830 and we had to be there an hour early, and it is a two-hour drive from North Bend, so we had to get up a bit earlier than usual (understatement). It was cold but clear and the trip through the San Juan Islands was scenic. Since we wouldn’t be able to check into our rooms at noon, we thought we might sightsee in Sidney and we drove around the town trying to find the Visitor Center. No luck so we just headed on to Victoria and Worldmark. As expected, our room was not ready but we got a key to the parking garage and left the car there to walk down to the Parliament Building, the gift shop in RBCM (to warm up), and Thunderbird Park with its longhouse and totems. We also stopped to take some pictures of the Centennial Fountain and nearby glacial striations. When we returned to WM we used a hotel cart to move our stuff up to our fifth floor suite overlooking Fishermans Wharf. Lunch, a nap and supper plus some internet surfing occupied the rest of the day. The weather was forecast to be cold with a chance of rain every day for the next week.

21 Nov, Mon – Despite the forecast, it was partly sunny, but the threat of worse weather to come got us moving by mid-morning. After checking with the WM front desk (Adrian knew all about our planned destination for a hike at Goldstream Prov. Park: Mt. Finlayson), we drove through Victoria on the Trans-Canada Highway, Rte 1. Goldstream is only about 20 km from the city but is in dense, rain forest. We found a place to park (there were a surprising number of cars for a Monday) and walked along a stream

C.J. on the slabs of Finlayson

practically choked with salmon carcasses and the gulls feeding on them. There were a number of school field trips, mostly early elementary or pre-school. It was only 0.5 km to the Nature Center where we were hoping to find some freebie maps of the park but we had to settle for a photo of a map showing where there had been recent bear sightings. We returned to the car in a light rain – the forecast had caught up with us. By the time we got our packs on the drizzle had stopped and it looked once again like a chance of sunshine. The trail, only 1.5 km up but a gain of 461 m (about 1500 ft) started right off climbing and then, after a steep descent to a stream crossing, continued up even more steeply until we were out of the forest and scrambling up somewhat exposed rock slabs. We were glad to complete the section of the trail where steep, wet rock required the use of hand holds, and reach the gentler trail to the summit. (11:30-12:15 or so). It was windy and cold enough that we donned our raingear before stopping for lunch. Watching the approaching dark clouds, we didn’t linger over our sandwiches and hot cider. The view was a mix of wild forest for half the horizon and Canadian resort-y buildings of the Bear Mountain Golf Course, with Victoria and the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the distance. As we were descending it started to drizzle and rain lightly again but we negotiated the slabs with only minor slips. We had met only one other hiker descending as we went up, but in the afternoon, we ran into another eight heading up in the rain. Back in Victoria we stopped at a (not very) Thrifty Market to get bread, dessert and fruit. I was ready for another nap when we got back to the condo. Leftover macaroni and cheese made a good dinner with the fresh loaf of Oktoberfest Rye bread.

22 Nov, Tue – The forecast again was for rain, but it didn’t look too bad with the sunbreaks outside our windows as we finished our traditional Thanksgiving/anniversary breakfast of müesli and stöllen. C.J. made reservations for a tour of the Parliament building for 1330 and for Tea at the Empress for 1515, then we went out for a walk. Fishermans Wharf was pretty quiet at this season with Barb’s Fish and Chips closed as well as the kayak rental shop, and even the boat that usually

Stained glass window in Parliament 

sells discounted fish and crab. One seafood place was open and two harbor seals were eyeing us hopefully from the nearby water. Heading south on Dallas Road, we passed the CDN Coast Guard base and came to Ogden Point, the cruise ship terminal. There were no ships in port but the breakwater was painted with a huge mural of NW Indian (aka, First People, First Nations) designs and legends. We returned to the condo in time to change into our “smart casual” clothes for tea. We were early for our Parliament tour but it was worth waiting for. The only place we could not enter was the Legislative Chambers which we saw later when we went up to the visitors gallery and watched the name-calling and finger-pointing that must pass for business as usual for the legislature, I guess. When we left it was just beginning to sprinkle so we went right over to the Empress and entered via the reception lobby (the opposite side of the building from the tea lobby). There wasn’t much of interest to see but we took a curving, marble stairway to the second floor and found a long hallway lined by mostly undecorated (artificial) fir trees. It turned out that we had found the back entrance to the tea room. Even though we were early the hostess seated us right away and soon our waitress brought us each a chocolate-dipped strawberry and a tea menu. We each chose a different tea which shortly came in two large pots along with a three-tiered stack of goodies: sandwiches on the bottom plate (cucumber, smoked salmon, pork pate, chicken curry and egg salad on croissant), scones with jam and clotted cream (tasted like unsweetened whipped cream) on the second level, and, on top, pastries (lemon tartlets, shortbread cookies, marzipan wrapped cake, cheesecake and chocolate mousse in chocolate cups). During tea there was live piano music, and just as we were finishing our tea and paying our bill (thankfully reduced by a senior discount!), there was

Tree decorating at the Empress

much coming and going in the hallway of people with boxes and bags, some wearing antlers and other seasonal costumes on the way to decorate their assigned tree. A group of young students from St. Michaels University School began playing carols. C.J. had picked a great time for our 35^th anniversary tea! Out in the tea room lobby dozens of trees were being decorated by small groups, either business or community organizations. The lobby led past some art galleries and shops and the Bengal Lounge to the Empress Conference Center. After making our way back to the reception lobby, passing the Empress Room restaurant, we exited to the street in rain and wind. Typically for the NW it wasn’t pouring or all that cold so our one-km walk back to the condo wasn’t too unpleasant at all. Of course we had either worn or carried along our hooded parkas, hats and gloves. The only thing we hadn’t thought of was borrowing an umbrella from the WM front desk.

C.J. hiking along the Strait of Juan de Fuca

23 Nov, Wed – more müesli for breakfast then we headed out for another hike while the weather was reasonable. Adrian at the front desk applauded our choice of the Coast Trail in East Sooke Regional Park, and told us that the Aylard Farm trailhead gave access to the best coastal views. On the way out of the city we stopped at CAA to get a recent map of Victoria and the island. Then we took Gorge Street and ended up taking a wrong turn putting us in the naval depot area of Esquimalt. Eventually we got onto Rte 14 and got out to 17-Mile House where we turned left on Gilespie then right on Becher (?) to the parking lot at Aylard Farm TH. No other cars were there but a couple arrived as we geared up. A hundred yards down

the trail it started raining hard so we had to don serious rainwear. The rain did not last more than a few minutes and we totally blew off a local’s suggestion that we take the high-ground trail. Opting instead for the Coast Trail which was right on the edge of the forest, we followed the shoreline of the

Strait of Juan de Fuca. There were lots of ups and downs, puddles and slippery roots but it was very scenic (and tiring!).

On the Coast Trail near East Sooke

We endured at least one more shower but otherwise were able to hike without rain gear. We stopped at the petroglyphs, but found only one of the two, and again at an exposed rock where we had lunch…and lost our thermos when it rolled off the cliff into the ocean and disappeared. Beechy (-ey) Point (Head) was a rocky mound with a monument on top. Beyond Beechy Pt we came to a small campsite with a roofed shelter which was several inches deep in running water. Before climbing up over the next headland we turned inland on a wide trail/road which returned us to the Aylard Farm TH. We would probably not have ended our hike so early but we didn’t know whether the return trip might be as arduous as the Coast Trail. It wasn’t, and after a climb over a low ridge we were back to the car in about 45 min. Since it was still sort of early, we returned to Rte 14 and drove out to Sooke and beyond to Otter Point before turning back for Victoria. We ate an early dinner and watched “How to Train a Dragon”, our free video rental.

24 Nov, Thu – After a somewhat disappointing batch of Canadian pancakes (we threw the mix away later),

Royal BC Museum, First Peoples Gallery

we left at 1030 for a tour of the Royal BC Museum. The admission was pretty expensive but we stayed until they closed at 1700 so we probably got our money’s worth. After the 1.5 hour tour with a knowledgeable docent, we looked around on our own for a while. We had lunch at the museum café – the calzone and sausage roll were okay – then took a break by going over to the Empress to look at the completed Christmas trees. Returning to the RBCM, we went up to the third-floor human history gallery where we

Decorated tree at Empress

got almost lost in the First Nations section. In the BC history area the old buildings of Victoria  were decorated for a Victorian Age Christmas. Outside it was barely raining, not too gusty and also not particularly cold while walking back. After a dinner of C.J.’s pot roast (delicious even as “leftover leftovers”), we relaxed while strong gusty winds rattled the deck furniture and bowed-in the glass on the floor-to-ceiling windows.

25 Nov, Fri – Mmmm, back to müesli for breakfast! The sun was shining for a change so we decided to do a walking tour of downtown Victoria based on one in a Frommer guidebook. We stopped first at the VC in

C.J. and an RCMP bear downtown

the Inner Harbor area and picked up a couple more self-guided city walks and a printout of other activities. We walked up Douglas to Fort Victoria (site), through Trounce Alley to Broad stopping at the Original Christmas Shoppe (expensive), then at Mountain Equipment Co-op to check out wetsuit mukluk-style

booties (no longer available). Bastion Square and Market Square were on our route, and then we turned into what had been Chinatown before redevelopment. We traversed Fan Tan Alley and took photos of the Gates of Harmonious Interest and the Chinese Imperial School (needed during the time that Chinese-speaking children were not allowed to enroll in public schools). We took a rest stop in Centennial Square then walked down Blanshard to St. Michaels Cathedral where the bishop, mitre and all, was giving the homily. We also stopped in the atrium of the Victoria Public Library to see the large modern sculpture. Back at the Empress, we saw a sign for the Out of Hand Artisan Fair at the Crystal Gardens (but when we dropped in we found that the admission was $8). On the way back to the condo we stopped at the Pacific Grand Hotel to see “Bear Wear”, a collection of a couple dozen holiday-dressed/decorated teddy bears in the lobby. After lunch and a rest, we went down the block a ways to the Inn at Laurel Point

Gingerbread houses

 which was sponsoring a display of incredible gingerbread houses.

Decorated Empress

 Back at WM we celebrated with a lemon-orange-pineapple smoothie margarita and some nachos before driving over to Cook Street village on the east side of Beacon Hill Park for a performance by Cookeilidh – “A Celtic Christmas” – at Serious Coffee. The band had a very good flute player and a fiddle, guitar and bass guitar. We bought some soup and a Black Forest Steamer (steamed, flavored milk) and threw in a donation for the band. We didn’t stay until the end since the place was pretty crowded and the seating wasn’t the greatest, so we were home by 2145.

 26 Nov, Sat – For our last day we decided to take a day trip up to Duncan and Chemainus. We were surprised to see that gas prices had gone up 10cents in two days so when we bought gas on the return leg, it

A totem in Duncan

cost $1.169/l (I bought only enough to get back to the nearest Costco in Burlington.) It drizzled most of the day and Mt. Finlayson was in the clouds as we drove by on TransCanada Rte 1. The viewpoints on Malahat did not have much of a view although we could see as far as Salt Spring Island which wasn’t that far away. We drove down through Cowichan Bay but did not bother getting out of the car to explore the shops. Duncan is known as the City of Totems for its forty some-odd totem poles situated around the town. We followed a trail marked out by yellow-painted footprints and got to see most of them as well as a farmers market (where we bought a genuine (?) Nanaimo Bar cookie. Even with raingear we were pretty damp when we left Duncan for Chemainus which is known for its well-done murals. We also saw a big freighter taking on a load of lumber from the local mill. We had seen

A mural in Chemainus

signs for a Craft Fair in Chemainus so we dropped into the Legion building where there was a (flea) market. After a cursory glance around we left and got directions to the actual Craft Fair - in the fire hall about a km to the north. The quality of the goods was much higher and we spent some time talking with two women who were selling Nepali sweaters, hats and glove-mittens for a Nepalese charity. C.J. got a pair of earrings made of jasper, then we headed pretty much straight back to Worldmark (1530). The front desk info sheet said that the tree lighting would be at the sequoia from 4-5:30 and we figured that meant the tree out in front of Parliament. The Santa Light Parade was lining up there when we arrived at 1615 but we found out that the party was taking place at the other end of the parade route, Centennial Square. We walked there along Government Street where people were already staking out places for watching the parade. At Centennial, there was a live brass band playing carols and several tents where local restaurants were giving away samples. We got in a line more to kill time (it was only 1645) than for the food, but we got a tasty hunk of braised pork and some tea with eggnog from Aura, the restaurant in the Inn at Laurel Point. We also received a chocolate-dipped strawberry and pineapple as well as a square of chocolate cake from the Dutch Bakery. We found a place near the CHEK TV booth along Gov’t St. to watch the parade but it didn’t get there until around 1815 so it was quite a wait. There were lots of floats, a high school marching band, a dance school, a horse drawn trolley and a really good bagpipe band playing “Jingle Bells”, among the many parade entries. On the way home we took some night photos of the Parliament Building, the Empress and the Undersea Garden.

Parliament at Yuletide across the Inner Harbor

27 Nov, Sun – Our ferry departure time was 1205 and we had to be there 90 minutes early so there wasn’t time to do anything other than get packed up and leave by 1000. Of course, then we had to sit in a line while we inched up to the Canadian Customs and US Border Control, before getting onto the ferry. The weather improved as we entered the San Juan Islands and we had sunshine for the rest of the crossing. But once we drove to Burlington for gas at Costco, we ran under some dark clouds again. We got home around 1730. A heckuva 35^th anniversary celebration!