Day 23

We were up early and left Hope at 8:15am. We joined Canada Highway 1, the "Trans Canada Highway" for the ride to the ferries. We had about 100 miles to go before reaching the docks, and we wanted to sail on the 11:00 ferry from Tsawassen. Fortunately, the TransCan is a fast moving road, and we made good time, until...

We reached Langley, and a sign told us to take this exit for the ferry to Tsawassen. My first impression was that the ferries were farther from Vancouver than I originally thought since Vancouver was still about 35 kilometers away. At Langley we obediently took Route 10 for what seemed to be quite a long time. At one point, we finally found a posted sign with the distance to the ferry: 34 kilometers! That might have been okay, except Route 10 is a two lane road that goes (slowly) through several cities. Oh well.

We did pass O'Hara's Harley Davidson in Delta, BC where Rob Urquhart helped me out with a rattling muffler. This noisy distraction had been driving me nuts since I left home. He found the problem to be a small, $2 gasket. Now, even though the service area of the shop was closed, Rob helped me install the part at no additional charge. Thanks again, Rob!

We reached Tsawassen in time for the Noon sailing, only an hour behind the schedule we'd set for ourselves. Approaching the docks, we could see vehicles lined up, seemingly forever, waiting to board the next ferry. We purchased our tickets and were instructed to proceed to the front of the line! On this ferry, motorcycles go to the front of the line, the front of the ship, and are the first to depart at the other side of the trip. I love it!

The ferry ride from Tsawassen to Swartz Bay took about two hours. The route sails through narrow island straights and makes for a very beautiful and relaxing ride. The ferries are large and ours had two cafeterias. It even offered an all-you-can-eat brunch on the deck above the passenger deck. All we needed at that point was a casino and it would have felt like a cruise through the inside passage!

We arrived in Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island at about 2:00, and found our friends Jerry and Mary Morris waiting for us at the hotel. After a little "catching up" we decided to make the requisite visit to Butchart Gardens. Situated northeast of Victoria and just west of Saanichton (where we were staying) the gardens are a "perennial" favourite to visitors from around the world.

The site of the gardens was originally a sand and gravel quarry. That was back in the early 1900s. When the quarry was depleted, Mrs. Butchart began her gardens. Now, over ninety years later, the huge property has nearly every square foot covered with brightly colored flowers and exotic plants.

The walking tour takes a couple of hours, even if you hurry through it. But why hurry? There are many places to sit and soak up the grandeur of this English garden.

The Butchart Gardens are "subdivided" into several theme garden areas. There is the Japanese Garden, the Italian Garden, the Sunken Garden, and of course no English-style garden could be considered complete without the Rose Garden. If you come to Butchart Gardens, bring comfortable shoes and plan to spend at least half a day; more if you're even an amateur horticulturist.

The rest of the evening was spent restoring our traveling infrastructure: doing the laundry, washing the bikes, and getting some dinner. We never actually made it into the City of Victoria, but then we have a good reason to come back to the Saanich Peninsula.

Tomorrow we travel to Seattle.

Updated 8/19/97 by Robert Farrell Email Me

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