Vancouver Island & the Butchart Gardens (story)

So today we are heading off to the place that everyone again told us we needed to visit, the Butchart Gardens. Now most of you know that I (Mel) am no green thumb, in fact the two plants people gave us for our wedding died not to long after. I do not have any horticultural skills and it seems neither does Tim. So when we get the chance to marvel at gardens that are alive we do it and admire in awe at the people who posess the skills we don't.

So to get there we had to go to Vancouver Island. On Vancouver Island is British Columbia's capital Victoria, now this was such a strange concept to us that a capital city would be on an island, we just assumed it was Vancouver. This perhaps should have given us a clue as to what we found out later.

Off we headed to take the ferry to the island. We thought it would take us about 20 minutes to get to the ferry given we were so close to the water, about 30 minutes to get to the island and we would have a couple of hours at the gardens and maybe look at the other attractions on the island. Then head back to have dinner with Richard and Jenny from Assistance Dogs Australia, who were here for the conference. We felt very organised (well I did, and that means Tim felt exceptionaly organised).

It was here that we discovered we were grossly mistaken. It took about an hour to get to the ferry as the dock was not in town but on the way to Seattle. We got to the ferry, just made it before it left and as we were running/speed wheeling to the dock, we all of the sudden stoppeed dead in out tracks. We expected the Sorrento ferry but standing before us was a version of the Love Boat in grandeur and size. We got onto the ferry and there were buffets, shops galore, timezone, you name it. We were amazed and especially since it only cost us $19.00. We did think it was a bit over the top for a 30 minute ferry ride. We saw the island just minutes after we left the dock. To our astonishment the ferry sailed straight past the island and went around it. It was then that we realised how big this island was as it didn't seem to have an end. We heard someone say we still had an hour before we docked. We laughed at out gross miscalculation.

One thing we did find out on the ferry was that there were no accesible taxi's on the island but they have an accesible truck called the handydart, but you have to organise it ahead of time. We thought this was great that they provided this transport, except we didn't know about it so had not organised it. Not to worry the buses were all accessible and they went to the gardens.

So we took the bus to Sidney where we got off and caught another one to take us the gardens. Now this bus that came looked like the old milk trucks and Tim and I looked at one another and wondered how it was possible that they were accessible as they had the small stairs leading into the front of the truck/bus. To our surprise they were and they had a lift at the back just like a maxi taxi and Tim was strapped in at the back of the bus. You will be able to see what I mean by the pictures I hope.





On the bus we wove in and out of these tiny little unsealed roads and villages. We were on the bus for an hour and it was an adventurous ride as you had to hold on so tight which was a challenge for Tim and poor Roxy was sliding all over the place looking very sick. Now I do not normally get motion sick but I was feeling a little queasy myself. This was due to our driver's leadfoot on the dusty unsealed roads. We reached our destination and to out horror realised it had taken us 3 hours to get to the gardens from our appartment and it was 4pm and we were due to meet Richard and Jenny at 7pm which meant we would have to leave before even seeing the gardens. Tim and I decided that we had come all this way to see the gardens that we would meet Richard for a drink later instead.

So off we went to the gardens. Now I must mention that Tim in the morning discovered his wheelchair tyre was flat so we stopped on the way to the ferry to pump it up as he was adamant that it was not a puncture but just flat from all the plane travel & the amount of wheeling we had done. By the time we got to the gardens his wheel was flat which meant he had a puncture. Now the gardens were mainly up hill or steep downhill. With a flat tyre...well lets just say I got the best work out that day!

Upon entry to the gardens we realised our troubles were all worthwhile. They were absolutely breathtaking. Apparently these gardens are the best in the world and they sure didn't disappoint. Tim and I stared in awe and wonderment at the colours, and carefully chosen plants according to colour, height and temperament. We thought about just how much Aunty Kim and Aunty Beryl would love this place and giggled at how Tania would love to take samples to plant in her garden. We have made another posting with pictures of the gardens and some comments following this post.

The gardens take about 2-3 hours to get through depending on how much you stop. We wheeled through them in an hour and a half only because we needed to get back to meet Richard but also because the flat tyre was tiring me out!

So we head back to the ferry and on the way back we were told that no one comes to Vancouver Island for a day, most people stay a night or two as there is so much to do. Note to all of you out there...don't go to Vancouver Island for the day. Apparently Victoria has these beautiful old buildings and so much to see and do. Maybe we will go back there one day.

So we left at 7pm and got back to meet Richard about 10.30pm. Poor Richard had waited for us for about an hour but he was good enough to stay and wait. Even though we had many challenges this trip we enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to end such a day with a drink with a familiar friend!