We had been getting around from place to place on the red bus but today we were committed to getting a closer look at the harbour surrounds on foot. Lucky the map didn't have distances on it or we may have been daunted. Endomodo and UP keep us honest and credited us with 25 000 steps and 14 kilometres of tourist heaven.

Ironically we started the day by organising some transport for upcoming events - a shuttle bus to "the" gardens and a dusk carriage ride for Friday . With those details in place it was off to Parliament.

The facade of the building is magnificent and of course we have enjoyed the night time view from The Empress because the building has been outlined in some 4 500 lights - which make a distinctive daily tourist mecca. . And the daytime view inside did not disappoint either. The tourists are certainly catered for at this venue. Every 60 minutes actors present vignettes from history on the front steps. In period costume and sporting distinctly British accents they play out snippets of the history of democracy and government in BC. We also joined the free 45 minute guided tour (with a whole splodge of 55+s, their walking sticks and over stuffed backpacks) to get up close and personal with the symbolism of the province and the architectural grandeur of the precinct. Emma, our guide, was both knowledgeable and passionate about the parliament and if we had been a week later we would certainly have sat in the public gallery to hear the politicians in action .

Across the road and back to the harbour we headed towards Fisherman's Wharf. This is a series of colourful floating homes wrapped up in a tourist precinct. The floating homes are in all shapes and colours and are home to family members ranging from 1 to 70.

Watched our first seals here swimming lazily and gracefully around the pier, sunning their tummies as they floated waiting for the local stall holders to feed them bait. They sure drew a crowd. Perhaps inspired by the seals we opted for a lunch of fish - heavily battered halibut and salty chips. What can I say other than delicious!

We trekked along the David Foster pathway and watched the sea planes take off and land, saw the clipper arrive and soon were at the Cruise Ship Terminal at Ogden Point to get an up close look at The Celebrity and all the port facilities. Certainly a well oiled machine with all the tour operators ready to whisk the visitors away for a quick trip around the town . Guess that will be us next month!

The weather turned cold at Ogden Point and there was a very threatening series of black clouds on the horizon. The full blast of the icy weather was felt as we made our way out along the breakwater, an almost kilometre long man made barrier that protects the cruise ship terminal. This was our first lesson in "cold" since we have been away - so glad there were some options stashed in the backpack.

The trek along the coastline continued and we were surprised when a couple of deer wandered out of the bush to pose for us. From the headland vantage point of James Bay it was possible to watch the slow but steady approach of the next two cruise ships as they started as white dots on the horizon and made their seemingly snail's pace entrance to the harbour.

The trip back to The Empress was much quicker as we looped once more around Beacon Hill Garden and by the Terry Fox statue and the Mile 0 marker of the start of the trans Canada Highway and headed down Douglas Street . What took us an hour on the tour bus was just a 15 minute walk.

The night time adventure was a trip to Butchart Gardens. This was timed as a sunset adventure. The gardens usually close around 5 pm but when the cruise ships are in town the opening hours are extended to include an "Illuminated" tour. We were the only two NON cruisers on the tour. The Gardens are a 35 minute drive out of Victoria at Tod's Bay and the 22 hectares of gardens were created by Jennie Butchart 100 years ago in an attempt to re-beautify the site of her husband's limestone quarry.

I am out of superlatives in attempting to describe the gardens and I would imagine that this living canvas of nature would be so different on each visit as the colours and shapes change with the seasons. It was breathtaking in the full light of the day, it was breathtaking at dusk and it was equally breathtaking illuminated under the night sky. As usual, it seemed we had too little time on this one visit to explore the Sunken Garden, the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, the Star Pond and the Italian Garden .

There was even a carousel (yep, I did ride the elk for the princely sum of $2.) I had it all to myself.

Mac was more than happy to be in the gardens because he had a MAP and there were so many pathways and so many variations he was in navigation heaven. And, when the sun went down, he had to break out the TORCH and navigate in the dark. Of course, we managed to visit all sections of the gardens and after weaving and turning we popped out at the pick up point right on time. What a star!

All in all, a super experience and at 11 pm we were dropped off in front of The Empress, exhausted. Time to call it quits and actually too tired to worry about dinner. We'll make up for it tomorrow.

And yes @AuntyGail, this is such a beautiful place. Glad that we have made time to enjoy it!

Thursday
Temperature: 18
Pedometer: 25 763
Bear Sightings = 0
...but we did see deer, sea otter, seals and blue heron

Total Bear Sightings = 2