G'day All,
The morning was pretty easy with a light breakfast and waiting for the 10 am pick up to get us to the BC Whale Watching tour. Greeted once again by an Aussie (Matthew) for this Aussie operated tour. Set out at 10:30 with captain Jim on a hurricane rated zodiac with cabin (for extra comfort) in search of whales and technically dolphins as Orca's are not whales but belong to the dolphin family. It was only about 3 miles out from the harbour that we encountered our first lone humpback whale in the distance. It did a nice tail flip for us and we continued on down along the Washington State coast line around Seattle in search of Orcas.
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| Up he / she comes . . . |
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| and down he / she goes . . . |
The radio was abuzz with activity closer to shore so we headed on over to see if there was any Orcas to be found. We found two separate pairs and followed them for a bit then sat quiet to see if they would come closer as the shadow from the boat causes fish to hide in its shadow and sets the dinner table for the Orcas. After a little wait it appeared that the pair split up, one going around us the other heading straight for us, a tactic used to come from both sides of their prey. Orcas move very quickly and no sooner than we saw the fin coming towards us than it had gone beneath us and out the other side, grabbing a decent photo was difficult due to their speed and relatively short time on the surface. Regardless of the lack of good photo opportunities it was great to see these Orcas in their natural environment.
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| The female Orca heads right for us to investigate what's happening. |
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| The female Orca cruises passed, sometimes I wonder who is watching who. |
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| Clipper sailing by the Orcas play ground. |
On our return from the whale tour we had a bite to eat and headed back to the room to catch out breath and got ready for a night down on Victoria’s Inner Harbour for the 27th annual Victoria Symphony Splash. Splash is now one of the largest annual symphony events in North
America. The event attracts up to 40,000 Victoria residents and
visitors, and over 400 volunteers contribute to its goal of brining the
symphony to the people. The finale was Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture complete with cannons, tubular bells and a fireworks display over head. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat and I took a few night shots at Victoria harbour.
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| Fireworks over the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. |
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| More fireworks over the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. |
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| . . . and some more fireworks. |
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| The Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria. |
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| Victoria Harbour looking towards the Fairmont Empress Hotel. |
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| Victoria Harbour looking towards British Columbia Parliament buildings. |
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| The British Columbia Parliament Buildings at night. |
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| Victoria Harbour by night. |
Looks like we have managed to catch a few public holidays during this trip, Canada day on arrival, followed by USA celebrations across from Niagara and tomorrow is British Columbia Day. So lots happening around us for the trip. Last night in Victoria and its off to Vancouver tomorrow.
Cheers
Gary and Penny
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