It was Benjamin Franklin that said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” While I don’t see any day as a complete failure, the days I go to explore with a plan tend to turn out much better. Every time I fail to plan my day I end up wasting parts of it on either finding what to do or discovering things I could have learned earlier.
Bug Zoo
The first stop today was an excellent example of this. After leaving the hotel without a plan, I decided to find the Bug Zoo that sounded interesting. However, on the search for it, I discovered it is likely something much more focused for children. As it turns out this information, I could have easily learned by reading their website.
Rogers Chocolates
Recently I have been trying to avoid chocolate and other such sweet treats. As such, I had passed Rogers chocolates but decided not to visit. But then the other day on a tour bus as we passed the location the guide mentioned that it was a business that started locally. With the added benefit that they are said to be some excellent chocolate. As such I could not pass up the chance to at least buy a little bit to try.
Royal British Columbia Museum
Moving along I decided to make a stop at the Royal British Columbia Museum. There is a great range of exhibits here that very much highlight the history of British Columbia. One of the exhibits shows a great range of artefacts and information about the local First Nations People. While another exhibit showcases Victoria’s past in a replica display.
Other displays also include a showcase of the life and works of a locally born artist and writer. Then there is also a showcase of local animal life, from bugs to bears and everything in between. I took a little look at all the areas in the museum, even though some were not as interesting.
To enter the museum it costs $22 for an adult for one day (updated May 2017). However, there are a couple of different ticket options including multi-day visits and IMAX movies. I spent a few hours looking around, and many of the exhibits are quite good with plenty of information.
I did get some photos, but nothing much to share as the lighting is rather dim. I did get one picture from outside that works though of a building and totem pole that is on display.
Victoria Harbour Gorge Cruise
For the afternoon I decided to take the Victoria Harbour Ferry Gorge Cruise. The cruise takes around 75 minutes and travels up the Gorge Waterway on one of the Electric Duffy boats. The Duffy boats hold 12 people plus the driver and are quite cute little boats.
The area along the Gorge Waterway is a beautiful area, and there is excellent commentary from the captain of the boat. There were a few interesting spots along the tour that I was able to capture some photos.
Above – Seals just laying about on a log below a pier.
Above – A small island in the Gorge Waterway with some interesting clouds above.
Above – At this point where the Gorge narrows there is a small difference in the height of the water depending on the tide. As such the water flows quite fast in this area at times.
Above – Part of the city skyline and some the Sea Planes that operate from Victoria Harbour.
Today is my last day in Victoria before taking the ferry back to Seattle tomorrow morning. I feel that I have managed to visit many of the main attraction in the middle of Victoria. Plus also a couple of the ones on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus route. But there is still more that I could visit in the future a little further outside the city.
One of the biggest challenges came in not planning ahead for something like renting a car. When I looked into this, I found many places did not have practical hours for what I wanted. Or even some were sold out due to being a weekend. So something to keep in mind for the future is planning things like car rental in advance.
