Friday 4 August 2006
Highlights: Beautiful Butchart Gardens, British Columbia Legislative building

Today is the last full day of the tour and the only event I had on the agenda was a visit to the Butchart Gardens.   These gardens were established on the site of an old limestone mining operation by the family that owned the mine.   It’s a very good way to bring the areas back to life.  The gardens cover 55 acres and have been open since 1904.   The colour arrangements and the different sections (especially the Japanese Garden) help you appreciate the natural beauty in nature.   While it was very beautiful nothing could top the tulips in The Netherlands I saw earlier in the trip.

In the afternoon I walked around Victoria taking special interest in the Legislative building.   Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and holds around 300,000 residents.  Vancouver however is the largest city.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll make the greyhound bus at 2.45 pm from Vancouver.   I’m not getting dropped off at the station so it might be tight.   Otherwise I have to wait 4.5 hours for the next bus and I’ll get into Seattle at around 11 pm and still have a 1.5 km walk to the hostel 😦