Sunday July 15, 2018 – After the church, we went back to the hotel to check out and left our luggage in their storage so that we could go to the Butchart gardens. We walked about 7 minutes to the bus station #75, fare is $5 for a day pass for each person (children under 5 is free). The driver won’t have change so must give him exact amount.
Riding the bus #75
William cried when I told him we would take a bus; but when we got in the bus he got so excited and ran all the way to the back and sat there. It took about 45 minutes to get to the garden. Our friends left before us but because they took the wrong bus #31 so they ended up get on our bus about 15 minutes later. It was a surprised re-union :).
The garden has several gardens which are all beautiful: the Sunken garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden, Rose garden; we like the Sunken garden and Rose garden the most.
Relax in the Japanese gardenOur family hid in the shade eating snack :). Back row from right: Tracy, Julie, Than, Danny. Front row from right: Tim, William & Grandma.Rose garden, some flowers are done but still beautiful.Entrance to the garden, after the admission gate. The gift shop is on the right.Stopping for ice cream, it was too hot. William just woke up from a short nap.
Sunday July 15, 2018. It was a busy day today: church in the morning, Butchart Gardens and then flight back to Seattle.
Breakfast at hotel before heading to church
We had breakfast at the hotel; it was quite good. Then we took a taxi to St. Andrew church. The taxi driver told us he knew where the church is but dropped us at the wrong church so we ended up walking! It actually takes only 7 minutes walking to the church, we should have just walked from the hotel. Finally we got to the church, went inside but William made to much noise that we had to go out. He wanted to get back in so he cried and kicked his legs! I guess after all these days he was just tired! http://www.standrewscathedral.com/
740 View St, Victoria, BC V8W 1J8, Canada
Inside the church, William would not stay still, he kept running around and making noises.St. Andrew Church
Saturday 14, 2018 – V2V Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria. We got the good deal “Buy one get one free” royal tickets which include lunch and drink on board. This V2V company is new so there was not that many customers. They’re lucky to have our party of 28 people on board.
Checked out at the Holiday Inn hotel around 11 AM; and took a taxi to the Canadian Place where the V2V ferry departs (its location is right next to the Convention Center), which only 5 minutes away. The port is beautiful! Some of our group rented the bikes to ride along the port and they said it was a very beautiful ride. Too bad that it’s one way for the bikers so to finish the whole circle would take 45 minutes.
Walking along the water front
The ferry left at 1:00 PM so we didn’t have much time; we took William on a stroller and leisurely walked along the waterfront while feeding him a hot dog that Tim bought in the morning at a convenient store near by the Holiday Inn hotel. We checked in most of our luggage when boarding so we didn’t have to carry them along which is easier for us.
Boarding was easy and fast because there was not that many customers beside our big group of 28 people. The boat is new so everything is very clean; we got the window seat which William loves!
Soon after the boat left the port, they started to serve lunch. Because we bought Royal Customer ticket, we did not have to pay for lunch, drinks and snack (for beer you can order 1 time free of charge but after that you have to pay). I ordered for William Meat & Cheese; as soon as the dish was placed in front of him, he picked up the bread and ate it. He must be very hungry! Then he had some chocolate truffles and apple juice. But that’s all he ate, he refused to eat cheese or ham or potato salad.
3 hours on boat was smooth. The men in our group was having so much fun eating and drinking beers. Our group occupied the whole top level of the boat!
Watching the boatsThe Canadian trail, nice place to walk around in a hot summer day. Lots of restaurants around.William picked this whale from the V2V office and played with it ever since.Boarding V2V boat. That’s Tim carrying luggage ahead.William loves the windows!Lunch on the boat, foods is great, especially when it’s free :). Right: Danny, Grandma Tuyết, Tracy. Left: Tim, me & William.William and Meat and Cheese meal but he only ate bread & chocolate.William ate few slices of this breadPeople at this table enjoyed beers!2 colors of waterOpen Face SandwichMeat and CheeseAunt Julie and cousin Danny
V2V ticketsEnjoy the scenery as the ferry approaching Victoria island.
