Tour de Victoria

Richard and I just spent a week visiting Victoria, British Columbia and Seattle - it was awesome!  No kids (thanks nana & papa) and a great vacation touring and staying busy with adventures.  We joked that our vacation ended up being "extreme" because many of the things we signed up for turned out to be bigger/longer/bumpier than we imagined!  I would highly recommend Victoria for a getaway - one of my favorite cities i've been to!

we lucked out - Ryder Hesjedal (famous cyclist) was hosting a big ride the day after we got there.  While Ryder wasn't there, 1,500 riders participated and the city was alive with festivals and bike stuff!

Walking in downtown Victoria - this is Parliament.  We walked everywhere and our hotel was close to everything.

Enjoying one of our many seafood meals - fish and chips on the water!

A sea kayaking tour of Vicoria - 3 hours and we saw so much! 

Richard and his kayak.  He did great for his first time paddling!

Paddling by the harbor seals. 

 

Day 2 - we rented bikes and took off for a seaside tour. The bike guy told us this would be a "nice" ride for a couple of hours. It was nice, but very hilly and 23 miles later we made it back to the city!  Extreme vacation!

Day 3 - whale watching!  We had low expectations of seeing any whales and we were more than happy with the outcome.  We chose the "zodiac" ride, a small boat that holds 12 people and sits down in the water.  On a calm day, this boat would be great - we had a very rough day with 5 foot waves!  it was quite a bumpy ride but we held on and were thankful for our big red floatation suits! 

We did see whales - a lot of them!  They were orkas (killer whales) and so beautiful! 

After whale watching we took a city bus north to the Butchart Gardens.  We heard they were beautiful and not to be missed - we were not disappointed. 

The sunken gardens - our favorite of the many gardens.  I think it will be even more beautiful in another couple of weeks if you can imagine.

The Japanese Gardens

A walk down to Fisherman's Wharf - a great little spot with more fish & chips and a dock to feed the seals. 

What a great vacation!  Victoria was even better than we imagined - so walkable, easy to navigate, lots of good food and beer, beautiful scenery, boats, and plenty of activities.  I hope we can do it again someday!