Victoria 2019

Surprisingly, it has been 10 years since I graduated from college. Also surprisingly, it has been more then 5 years since I've seen my best friend, Liz. We decided to end that drought in a big way - by having a girls weekend away in Victoria, British Columbia!

It was actually my first time ever flying out of Edmonton Airport.

There were so fun things at the airport, including this carving made from a Dall's Sheep horn.

I had a nice window seat on the way out, so I got to watch as the scenery changed from this...

...to this. 

 Quite the difference, isn't it? Hello, BC!

One of the things that was on my required list for the weekend was to find totem poles. 

 I found my first set just outside the airport in Victoria!

 I also found Liz at the airport. What a coincidence!

Our first picture together in years!


After grabbing a quick lunch, our first stop was to the Royal BC Museum.

 This is the Mungo Martin House, across from the museum. Unfortunately, they weren't allowing people closer to the house or the poles at the time, but it was still great to look at.

 ...and experiment with the selfie stick. We are bad at it.
Inside the museum, I definitely got my wish to see native art. Lots and lots of it. I loved it.

 This totem pole was at the entrance to a home.

 So was this one. Awesome, right?

 I loved all the amazing art at the museum. Such intricate designs!

 Some good hugs, too.

And who doesn't attempt a selfie with the mammoth?

We also had some amazing fish'n'chips on the harbor at Red Fish Blue Fish. No, there wasn't a fish with a star or a car. But it was fantastic, so I wasn't too disappointed.

Day two we began with a beautiful hike down to Mystic Beach.

 I just love the ambient sounds of nature: the flow of the river, the song of birds...

 Along our hike, there was this cool suspension bridge.

 Of course we had to stop and take pictures.

 Our view from the middle of the bridge.

We totally went through this little hole on the way to the beach and back.
And speaking of the beach...

 This is what we hiked to: Mystic Beach.

 Complete with waterfall!

 It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and even more stunning in person.

 I just love the Pacific Northwest!

We took off our shoes and walked through the sand. Even got our feet wet, which was cold, of course. And worth it.

 We found a swing so of course we had to try it out.

 Because we are responsible adults doing responsible adult things.

I would definitely do this hike again.
After the hike, we headed to Fisgard Lighthouse.

As the oldest lighthouse on the Canadian Pacific, it is a national historic site. 

 Although, our favorite part of visiting the lighthouse was watching a couple of otters in the water.

So cool! This one pulled its lunch up on shore, and kept a wary eye on that seagull while it ate.

After the lighthouse, we headed back into town and wandered around being touristy and looking in shops. There was an awesome souvenir shop full of native artwork called Northwest Origins. The man working had done some of the artwork, and knew the artists of the rest. It was so beautiful. I highly recommend it.
We also got some Victoria Creams at Rogers' Chocolates. Those were pretty great, too.


Day three, also known as Easter Sunday, began with going to church. It was a good service, and a little strange to not have 3 kids to wrangle all during it. Ha.
After church we changed clothes, grabbed a quick bite, and headed to the harbor to check in for our whale watching tour!

 Oh, and take a couple of pictures while we waited.

 Gotta pass the time somehow!

Behind me is the boat we went on. We sat on the top deck, which had a great view.

 And was super windy once we really got going. I was glad for my coat!

 The view of the railing into the water.

 Out to sea, as we begin our hunt for orca.

After more than an hour, we found them! T49A1 is shown above. He is an 18-year-old male, the oldest child. It is his mom and siblings (including a 1.5 year--old calf), 5-6 orcas total, that we got to see. They are are Transient (or Bigg's) orca, which is a bit of a misnomer. They do travel further afield than Resident orcas, and in smaller groups (a single matriarchal line as opposed to multiple generations and offspring). The big difference between the Transients and the Residents is that the Resident orcas eat fish, while the Transient orcas eat mammals - seals, sea lions, whales, and even the occasional moose that swims too far out while munching on sea grass. We didn't see them eating moose, but we still got quite the view. 

And boy, did they put on a show for us! Our guide and naturalist said that only about 10% of tours get to see a breach (or jump) out of the water, and we got to see four! (Only 3 we caught on video. We put the cameras away after that and just enjoyed.) We stayed with the orca for probably 20-30 minutes before it was time to hightail it back to Victoria Harbor.

No, we did not get this close, for which I am grateful. Ha.
After whale watching, we wandered to Fisherman's wharf and saw the floating homes.

 Yup, just hanging out in the water.

Pretty cool, but I'm not sure I'd want to live there. Too many tourists!

We also at some fish tacos at a floating restaurant. Tasty.

Then we wandered off, exploring Beacon Hill Park.

 Our goal was to find the tallest freestanding totem pole in the world.

 And we did! Do you see us there, at the bottom? Yeah, this thing is tall!

And so detailed!
Across from the totem pole was this view:

Those are the Olympic Mountains. Hello, Washington!


And now, our fourth and final day.
We spent a wet morning at Butchart Gardens.

 Our favorite part of the Gardens was the Sunken Garden.

It used to be a rock quarry.

Mrs. Butchart was so determined to turn it into a garden that she sat in a chair suspended by a rope to plant ivy into the quarry walls.

 A bronze carousel horse. We chose not to ride the actual carousel.

And one last picture of the two of us by the Dragon Fountain before we grabbed some chowder to warm up, caught our flights home, and headed back to reality.


It was such a fantastic weekend. Liz and I are already planning another one in a few years. We're thinking Santa Fe might be the destination this time. We'll see!

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't say how awesome Kyler and Jake (Liz's husband) are. They were both excited and supportive of us (even when Kyler was dealing with a feverish Caleb all weekend), and without them it wouldn't have been possible. Thanks, guys!