Live review, not fake, completely possible, cruise trip report.

[twangster]

13 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

My photos don’t do justice to it by any stretch.

 

Sure beats the view out my window right now...

[Sea Dog]

@twangster Oh do I love your Sony A7 III. Curious what kind of tripod are you using to capture those star shots. Obviously you need something steady for the long exposure. Looks awesome.

[Tree_skier]

And waking up this morning to a beautiful BC morning. 

 

 

BC is truly one of the most spectacularly beautiful places on the planet. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

And a little breakfast porn

 

 

 

This is what a typical Windjammer plate would look like for me. So I’m sticking pretty close to my cruise ship routine. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

Water taxi into town from the hotel. Kind of like tendering. 😇

 

 

[Lorey2007]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Water taxi into town from the hotel. Kind of like tendering. 😇

 

 

 

 

 

Oh how cool is this!

[loug1601]

Nice, fun review tree!

[Tree_skier]

Sorry for going dark yesterday afternoon. Business intruded after we went to the castle so I had to attend to a couple things by phone and then it was drinks on the patio time. 

We spent the morning wandering Government street and going in and out of shops until lunch time. Lunch was at Milestones. Milestones is a local chain with west coast inspired cuisine. After that we “tendered” back to the hotel got the car and headed to Craigdarroch castle. Along being an interesting architectural design, the story of the Dunsmuir family, it’s first owners, are an interesting story. Think Kardashians meet Victorian Colonial Canada. For those not familiar with the Kardashians, think Downton Abbey on a budget. 
 

 

 

 

Today is going to be visiting Butchart Gardens as well as enjoying their high tea. I’m hoping for another activity in the early evening but we’ll see if it come together.
 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

[Tree_skier]

[Tree_skier]

Breakfast this morning was a simple affair  of fruit and coffee. But the view is to die for. 
 

 

[A&L_Ont]

Are the float planes as common today as the pre-Covid days?  
 

Last time we were out we flew over for the day from Vancouver and went whale watching for the day. We arrived early enough to have breakfast at The Empress.  Later that night at Cardero’s, around the corner from the Westin Bayshore. 
 

Always love BC.

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Are the float planes as common today as the pre-Covid days?  
 

Last time we were out we flew over for the day from Vancouver and went whale watching for the day. We arrived early enough to have breakfast at The Empress.  Later that night at Cardero’s, around the corner from the Westin Bayshore. 
 

Always love BC.

They are not as common.  Harbour Air is still running service out of the inner harbor but far less frequently and they appear to be the only one.

 

I tried to get a video of one taking off but my stupid phone messed up so I didn't get it.  I had wanted to do Tea at the Empress but unfortunately, because of the virus and the decrease in tourists, they are only doing their tea service on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  That's why we settled for Tea the Bucharest Garden... More on that in a minute.

[Tree_skier]

Today was Buchart Gardens.  We arrived at about 10:30 am and had a couple of hours to tour the gardens before our reservation for afternoon tea.  The plan was a couple of hours in the Garden, then tea, then back out to finish off whatever we hadn't been able to be able to see. However, because of the extreme lack of tourists the gardens were much easier to wander through.  Typically during summer peak season there would be 40 + tour busses plus whatever drive up crowd that showed up that day.  Today there were no busses at all and tops 100 cars. We finished wandering through the gardens with 15 minutes to spare before our reservation.

 

This was a unique opportunity to see the crown jewel of Victoria without fighting crowds. When things return to normal I suspect this opportunity will be lost forever.  I'm glad I was able to experience it this way.

 

Here are a few of the many pictures I took.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

Their afternoon Tea was very good.  DW absolutely loved it and that was the objective.  Gardens and afternoon tea are not normally in my wheelhouse but I have to admit it was a great experience and DW might just be able to convince me to do it again.

 

 

 

 

And finally our view while enjoying our afternoon tea

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

Finally tonight, a nice walk down the path from the hotel towards the city to work off a little bit of all the eating we have been doing.

 

 

You can see the dome of the provincial legislature lit up on the right side and The Empress on the left

 

 

And here is an attempt at a panoramic shot encompassing the entire inner harbour. 

 

Tomorrow we "cruise" back to the mainland and real life begins all over again.

 

 

[ReneeFLL]

The Gardens look beautiful. I was going to ask if you were going to see the Miniature World, but I see you're leaving tomorrow. It looks like it would be an interesting place to see. Thanks for taking us on your mini vacation. It was nice seeing it.

[bobmacliberty]

8 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Their afternoon Tea was very good.  DW absolutely loved it and that was the objective.  Gardens and afternoon tea are not normally in my wheelhouse but I have to admit it was a great experience and DW might just be able to convince me to do it again.

 

Smart man.  I'm like you.  Tried afternoon tea once (to please DW) and I was pleasantly surprised.  I could pass on the cucumber sandwiches but the strawberry and clotted cream was very good.  

[ckmedsec]

  Thank you for the review and the beautiful pictures.  

[retiredgram]

Beautiful pictures.  Thanks for allowing us to come along on your vacay.

[erinsmom03]

@Tree_skier Thank you for the beautiful trip report of Victoria! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Makes me want to go to Butchart Gardens and have afternoon tea! 

 

I also found the Dunsmuir family history from Craigdarroch Castle quite entertaining and the castle itself was absolutely gorgeous.