Thank you, amygirl for the suggestion on parking. We have not made up our mind re tomorrow; I guess a lot depends on the weather and how depleted we are from it during the day. Which "fiesta. . is magical?"

We bused down to Douglas and Yale, getting better at predicting the bus' arrival and only waited 2-3 minutes in the hot sun. We, then walked down Government Street to the Emily Carr House. I guess it is about 8-10 blocks. The front of the building is a pretty yellow Victorian facade with carefully tended flowers in front. Admission is $6. One room was closed off for renovations. There is not too much to see. Hardly any furniture is original, though there are period pieces. I suppose you really need to be an Emily Carr enthusiast, very devoted to the details of her life, to find it interesting. There was a 40 minute video which was pretty good and fleshed out her life for me. I can't say the self-guided tour was worthwhile, at least not for me. Although, not air conditioned (we had been warned), it was not uncomfortable to wander through the rooms. It might be a good place to pick up some Emily Carr knicknacks and cards.

Afterwards, we stopped at Green Cuisine for some tea and desert, later finishing the day food shopping (this time with our car) at the local Thrifty's for some berries and peaches. N has been buying California nectarines here, says that they are better than what he buys at our local farmers' market and is wondering if the better stuff is shipped out of state!

Sorry Annetti I guess I got a little carried away with the written word when I said "this fiesta is magical". What I really meant to say was for you not to be deterred by having to park and walk a bit when you attend the Sidney Street market.

Annetti, you have experienced a bit of history - the hottest day EVER in Victoria! Maybe not what you were hoping for! Emily Carr house is quite a short visit, maybe I should have warned you. And it was free (by donation) when I went! Oh well! It's movie day maybe!

Thank you amygirl for the clarification. AND Dar as you would have guessed, it would not have been a loss not to experience the hottest day ever, however that might have meant missing Vic this summer and in spite of the heat, I AM so happy to be here. We are really enjoying ourselves.

I love Vic too. I've been lucky enough to stay at the Pacific Grand (I thought you were in that neighborhood too, but I was mistaken). I'd walk around Laural Pt, down the waterfront to Beacon Hill park, cut through the park, go back up the road back to the hotel. A great walk! But not on a record breaking hot day.

dar: We took part of that walk, through Laurel Park, the other day when we tried Barb's on the Wharf. It's very pretty and because, it overlooks the waterfront, not too bad, heat-wise. We are still figuring out how to spend the day. I checked the weather forecast and I hope that it is correct, because it appears that it will be cooler, though not cool.

Explore Oak Street Village. Visit Abkhazi Garden (very tiny) and admire the houses nearby. Stroll down Cook Street (picking up a drink at Moka House) to Dallas Road and just enjoy the waterfront. :)

Carmanah, Where should we start our walk? Cross streets? Thanks.

Abkhazi Garden is certainly small by comparison with Butchart Gardens, but I wouldn't call it tiny. My wife and I spent well over an hour wandering around and enjoying it--one is likely not to see many other visitors which makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Another garden, certainly not tiny, which seems to be off the tourist route is Glendale Gardens on Quayle Road. A lovely garden, well worth an hour or two.

annetti,

When I was in Victoria last (last year in September), I stayed on Douglas and would walk down Fort Street to Cook Street... I'd head down Cook Street to Fairfield Road, making a detour to the Ross Bay Cemetery. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, but I loved walking through the side streets and finding these beautiful homes with gorgeous gardens. Later on my way back into downtown, I walked all the way down to the waterfron and took it back... one of my most memorable walks.

Thank you Carmanah for your reply and the suggestion. We left Fernwood before we saw the more detailed answer. I am going to sound repetitive, but we had another lovely day. The weather helped. It has cooled down considerably. We were pleased to feel the breezes, but we met more than a few Victorians who actually enjoyed the historic heat wave.

We started our visit at The Abkhazi garden, taking the 7 bus from downtown. It lets you off about a quarter block from the Gardens at Foul Bay Rd and Fairfield. If you have a little romance in your soul, you will probably enjoy the gardens a bit more. The couple who built the house and gardens had met before WW11, were in camps during the war, separated for 13 years and then met again and married. They built a small home on the site of the garden which I understand they designed; the former living room is now used as a small dining room, perhaps 6 or 7 tables in all. A lunch is served from 11:30am to 2:30 everyday and tea and dessert for an hour after. The prices are reasonable and the food, though there are limited choices, is very good. N had some kind of lamb dish and I had a very nice salad. The dining rm overlooks the garden.

Afterwards, like Laverendrye above, we spent an hour wandering the garden.It is immaculate with all kinds of small plantings (none of the names do I know!) and very colorful.There are several small ponds with goldfish and neon blue dragonflies skimming the surface for small insects. All the work on this very prettily landscaped garden is done by volunteers. We read that the gardens were recently saved (within the last 10 years) from a townhouse development and is now under a Conservancy, however there is still a mortgage, so I guess they can use the patronage. So if this kind of place that remotely appeals to you, go and visit. The entrance fee is $10, but it is such a pretty place and not at all crowded that you feel no one at your heels as you wander. It is all yours for an hr or so.

Later, we made our way back to town as Carmanah above suggested. The homes are interesting, lots of arhitectural mix, from very small bungalows to some large Arts and Craft houses.We saw Moka's on Cook Street but were not ready to stop for a coffee break. We arrived downtown around 4:30 or so, stopping at our favorite vegan restaurant, Green Cuisine, for a light meal and some dessert. I had planned on visiting the Thursday Sydney Market, but will have to put that on hold for a while. We are a bit tired from our day.

We're thinking of seeing the show at the Belfry in Ferndale. Anyone have opinions on the play? Thanks.

Annetti, you might enjoy tea at Point Ellice House one of these days. It's an old Victorian house that has been restored so that it looks much as it would have when it was lived-in. You get an audio-cassette self-guided tour of the place, and then you have tea in the garden. It's quite good. The garden itself has been planted with heritage plants and it's very pleasant.

Meesthare, I just looked it up on the Tourist Map. I had trouble placing it for a while; it is not clustered with all the other tourist attractions. It is in a part of town that we have not explored. It is also in the AAA guide. I never would have found it otherwise, so thank you for the suggestion.

Hi Annetti, just wanted to let you know that I'm thoroughly enjoying your reports from my home town.

annetti, glad to hear you enjoyed Abkhazi. I wasn't almost hesistant to recommend it because I can understand it's not for everyone. But I had a feeling you'd appreciate the subtleties of it. :)

When it's not so hot, you may want to give Craigdarroch Castle a visit. It's an old Victorian mansion and is quite fascinating if you're interested in local coal baron history. Victoria was settled by English and Scottish well-to-do'ers who came over here with the hopes of creating a prim & proper British society (only to discover that Vancouver Island is mountainous, forested and full of indigenous communities, not exactly a place where you can recreate England). But they tried. Oh, yes, they tried. Craigdarroch Castle really does a good job of preserving that whole era, and you learn about the Dunsmuir family who played a fairly prominent role in Victoria and Vancouver Island's colonialization.

Can you tell I studied BC history in university. ;)

But Craigdarroch Castle would probably be sweltering, I can imagine. And it's not for everyone. Maybe save it for a rainy day.

In the meantime, with all this gorgeous weather, I hope you can down some medication and take the drive over to the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park one of these days. Say hello to Sombrio Beach for me. Remember - giant trees, lush rainforests, otters frolicking in the surf. ;)

That was to say, "I WAS almost hesitant..."

Oh! As well, you will have to make it out to both Salt Spring Island and Galiano Island. It's a tad expensive to take the ferry over for a day trip, so if you can book a B&B for a night, it would be well worth it. Ferry schedules are quite limited, so it would be worth a reservation. You'll love it though - the Gulf Islands are special places.

Thank you, Cruiseryyc. I am enjoying recording it, too.

Carmanah, Thanks for the compliment. Craigdarroch Castle is on my itinerary; I was wondering if it would have worked on the recent hot days, apparently not from what you wrote. AND, I have been reading through my previous thread on recommendations of what to see in Vic and I still have Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on my list. I am still not sure about Salt Spring Island; it sounds like a lot of traveling for a day trip and I am not sure I feel like expending the energy of packing for an overnight. I am feeling very slothful. Perhaps, because we walked and walked today.

The weather has returned to delightful; all memories of those overheated days are just about gone. The sun was shinning today and the breezes were cool. Even for us we had an extremely late start, after 1:00, probably later.We decided to fill in the part of Dallas Road walk we missed yesterday. BC Transit failed us on where to transfer going towards Beacon Park. We spent at least a half an hour and about 10 blocks walking trying to locate the transfer point. Most people were helpful, but many said they just didn't take buses. It is not like Vancouver where the buses are crowded and you often cannot find a seat. We have never stood here in a bus (not complaining, just describing) and at the most the bus is only 1/2 to 2/3rds full. However, we eventually found the bus stop and took the 30 bus to Niagra, then started walking slowly back to the Inner Harbor, passing some of the scenery we had seen when we walked through Laurel Park and to the Wharf. It is a pretty walk along the water and probably took us several hours, hence the current fatigue.

On the other side of the home exchange equation, we checked in with E, our exchanger to see how she was managing. She e-mailed us about a few minor problems and we wanted to make sure she was comfortable. Another Victorian who loves the heat and is hoping for some hot weather in Southern California while she's there. Currently, a disappointing mid eighties. She encouraged us to attend the Symphony Splash as did one of the volunteers at the Abkhazi Gdns yesterday. She admitted she had never been to Butchart Gdns, which hardly surprised me, when I consider my husband a native Los Angelino never went to Disneyland until I suggested it to him some years after we were married.

If you haven't done it yet, since you're tired from walking, I think it's time to hop in the car and drive along the waterfront through the Uplands. This is an easy drive. You can start on Dallas Road around Beacon Hill Park.

You will wind up in Cadboro Bay Village, where you can either go straight and have fun getting lost - but remember, you're on an island so you can't get too lost, or turn left and follow McKenzie Avenue (might be called Sinclair to start) up to Shelbourne. Turn right, go straight and follow Cordova Bay Road through Mt. Doug Park (turning <i>right</i> again at the 4-way stop at Blenkinsop and Royal Oak Avenue) all the way to Mattick's Farm, which WhistlerAl mentioned. I'm not an ice cream fan but I like the raspberry rocky road ice cream cones there.

By the way, when you go to Craigdarroch Castle you might as well visit the Government House grounds at 1401 Rockland Avenue. I think the grounds are best in spring and they've been let go lately, but you can wander around there for FREE from dawn to dusk. Drive through the big gates and park for free. Around the back are trails higher up with views across the strait and a lower trail through the woodlands garden.