We got an early start to catch the 8:15 am ferry from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, B.C. The view above is looking back to Port Angeles with the Olympic Mountains in the background. The crossing took over an hour and a half plus Customs so it was quite a trek. I mostly sat and read on the ferry but Scott wandered around, checking it out and taking pictures. The ferry was quite comfortable and you can sit or move around to a variety of areas and seating configurations, plus there’s a galley with food to purchase. It hit some swells right out of Port Angeles, but then settled down to a nice even roll. We had a lovely view coming into Victoria and got quite easily through Customs. We saw the legislature building on the lower right, walked a block to the beautiful Empress Hotel on the lower left, and caught our express tour bus up to Butchart Gardens. It was the first time we really felt like tourists!
We had lunch first at the Blue Poppy Restaurant and then started exploring the gardens. The Rose Garden was lovely, although we were too early in the year for a really good show. Many shrubs and climbers were blooming but only a few hybrid teas. They all had buds but most weren’t open yet, however, the ones that were open were gorgeous. They were planted around this open grass circle and the climbers were all over behind the hybrid teas.
The gardens are simply beautiful and the history is fascinating. Jennie Buchart’s husband owned a cement factory and had a large limestone quarry on their residential property. She wanted to do something about the ugly hole so she hired a landscape designer to help her put in a garden. This became the Sunken Garden and it’s amazing to see what it has grown into since 1904. There are plantings everywhere with huge trees. You walk down some stairs into a huge bowl whose walls are covered with plantings and trees. There is a large mound in the center you can climb and the plantings are lush and full. The Ross Fountain is at the far end and down in a lower quarry area. It is seen from far away and has dancing waters. The bus driver said you could sit there for four hours before you saw a repeated pattern.
The first garden to go in the property is close to the rear of the home and is the Japanese garden. We loved this space because it has a full canopy and is totally shaded, with lots of water features and meditative corners. Every time you turned a corner there was a delight to the senses and there were visual and auditory cues throughout. The whole garden was quite peaceful as it was intended to be.
The Bog Garden was cool and set in a low area by the Ross Fountain and the Italian garden was nice. It is directly behind the residence and was built for Mr. Buchart because he really liked Italian gardens. Since neither Scott nor I are really into formalized gardens we didn’t gush over it as much as the other garden rooms. The residence is now used as a fancy restaurant.
We saw everything, rode the bus back tired from walking and hung out on the waterfront for a couple of hours. We felt slightly guilty for not traipsing around Victoria but I was just so tired and it doesn’t pay get too exhausted. So we read, had Starbucks and enjoyed the view.
In the gift shop I had purchased some blue poppy seeds that were hand-packaged in the Gardens and are a famous flower there. They were put in a bag and sealed with a special Canadian inspection sticker. She told me I had to hand that package with my passport to US Customs to get them in the country. The US Customs officer glanced at it and were were in!
We rode the ferry back and one of the things we loved was the Bing Crosby jingle they played on the MV Coho advertising the Black Ball Ferry Line. So fun! On the way back I read, Scott wandered; everybody was happy. We had clam chowder on the ferry, got back to Port Angeles about 9:15 and headed to the hotel.
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