31 July - Sunday - Victoria - Orca and whale watching

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.

Up he / she comes . . .

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.

The female Orca heads right for us to investigate what's happening.

The female Orca cruises passed, sometimes I wonder who is watching who.

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.

Fireworks over the Victoria Symphony Orchestra.

More fireworks over the Victoria Symphony Orchestra.

. . . and some more fireworks.

The Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Victoria Harbour looking towards the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Victoria Harbour looking towards British Columbia Parliament buildings.

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings at night.

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

30 July - Saturday - Vancouver to Victoria - Butchart Gardens

G'day All,

An early room delivered breakfast that was over catered for due to somebody (Penny) putting 2 against two hot breakfasts meaning we had four hot breakfasts as well as cereal :-) Well at least we could fill up for lunch as well... Transfers all went well, albeit a bit of a shuffle between the pick up at 8:30 am by a small bus to get us to the coach which took us to the ferry (vehicular ferry) and then continued to take us to the final stop at Victoria at around 1:30 pm. Thought we were getting dropped off at the Chateau Victoria Hotel but that wasn't the case, luckily it was only a 100 metre walk to the hotel from the drop off point. We checked in as the room was ready, dropped the bags in the room had a quick freshen up before jumping on the public bus to get to Butchart Gardens.

A point to note here for any Australian or State government public transport officials, "Pick up your game!" as the costs of public transport in Victoria and Canada generally are crazily cheap. Butchart Gardens are about a 40 min drive from down town Victoria and its fare? . . .  $2.50 regardless of the stop off along the route or $5 for an all day pass. The route was equivalent to travelling Ipswich to Brisbane for $5 return! We had a bit of a chuckle at one of the bus drivers who took us to the gardens and named him Mad Max as he must have been one of the drivers for the movie, the leather glove gave the game away but the bus was pushed to its limits for most of the trip :-).

The gardens are amazing and have been going for more than 100 years, well laid out, well manicured and everything in bloom, a few examples below.

During the summer months the gardens also put on a fireworks show so we stayed for that too, it was an Aladdin theme and quite well done.

There were thousands at the event meaning we caught the last bus home at 11:20 pm. Sleep in tomorrow as we forewent the HOHO bus and booked an Orca whale watching tour instead at 10 am.

Cheers
Gary and Penny

Preparing for Canada

It is early days yet as we don't officially depart Australia until the 01 July 2016, but time stops still for nobody and it won't be long before it's upon us.

The tickets are booked and the itinerary is starting to take shape. We'll be flying with Air Canada as they now fly direct and non-stop from Brisbane, Australia to Vancouver, Canada taking about 13.5 hours. Not a bad run really, well for me at least, as Penny is not that fussed on flying :-)

Once we hit Vancouver we'll have an hour or so before catching a connecting flight to Toronto before settling down there for a couple of days. From there it's off to Niagara Falls to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary for a few days before flying to Calgary to meet up with our eldest Samantha and her better half Oliver.

A couple of weeks in Calgary to meet some new friends and take in the Calgary Stampede, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper before we head out on the next leg of the journey.

From Jasper its time to relax on the Rocky Mountaineer through Quesnel and on to Whistler and Vancouver. From here we hook up with Holland America cruises to head north to Alaska. Seven fun filled days of cruising on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam up the inside passage to Tracy Arm Inlet and back via Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan before returning to Vancouver.

From Vancouver its off to Victoria for a couple of days before returning once again to Vancouver to spend the last couple of days in the city before finishing up the vacation. It's a midnight flight from Vancouver back to Brisbane, losing a day to the international date line and ending 5 weeks of fun and frivolity.

The aim will be to update this blog frequently throughout the trip to keep you up to date on the activities, fun times and I guess all those events that will make the trip one to remember.

So for now, it's time to sign off, finalise the itinerary and secure those bookings, until we get a little closer to the departure date.

P.S. All the bookings mostly done and the tickets, itinerary and paperwork picked up, a big thanks to Samantha at Booval Flight Centre for her insight, enthusiasm and great communication in assisting us with the planning for the trip. :-)

Cheers
Gary and Penny