A day to explore the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island. It was a good 30 minute walk to the port from Abbeymoore Manor, but a pleasant walk mainly through suburban streets.
The city is relatively small place, and the city centre very relaxed. The port area is the centre of things, with whale watching boats leaving from here, with crowds of buskers and stalls in the evening, and the Empress Hotel and the City Hall over looking it.
There is a Chinatown, as on most west American coastal cities. The Chinese started arriving here to help build the trans continental railway, and many never went back home. Actually the China town in Victoria is small in area, but has quaint touches like bonsai trees in the streets.
The Empress Hotel, where they will sell you afternoon tea for around $60 a head including the Canadian notion of what one has to leave for a tip. This seems an institution in Canada, but we did not feel inclined to splash out on what appears to be overpriced sandwiches and cakes.
On the way back to Abbeymoore we stopped off to walk through the grounds of Government House, which is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. This being Canada, there are no security guards keeping you away from the place, and you can wander the grounds
The front door - one could go right up to it, but not inside.
A gazebo in the grounds, and I think two tourists in Edwardian gear getting a tour of Victoria in a vintage car, pausing to have their photo taken in the grounds.