Going West 2013

Wednesday was the second full day touring on Vancouver Island. We checked out of the condo and headed out. The first stop was Butchart Gardens, north of Victoria. I almost passed out when we learned the admission was $30.00 a person, but…..we were there. It turns out it was almost worth it. Butchart was owner of a cement manufacturing plant. When the limestone quarry near their home was exhausted his wife turned the quarry pit and surrounding acreage into gardens. In addition to the quarry area there is a Japanese garden, Rose garden, Mediterranean garden, and a performance venue. A boat ride is extra, we skipped that. All the gardens are meticulously maintained with an amazing variety of trees and flowers. We stopped for lunch at a family restaurant on the way to Victoria and had a very good lunch. By the time we reached Victoria we were able to drive right into the queue for the ferry so we avoided having to find parking in town. There were two hours before customs inspection so we walked around the harbor area and to the Parliament building, a huge stone edifice. We also walked through the Empress Hotel, an old ritzy hotel overlooking the harbor. I noticed by one of the whale watching concessions there was a note on a blackboard about rough conditions on the water, and it was a bit windy.

Customs and boarding went smoothly. The harbor area is rather small and the ferry rather large. The boat must back away from the landing and spin around to align with the inlet, this time the Captain had to bring the bow around against the wind. Apparently there was no lookout posted aft because as the ferry continued to try to swing the bow, which was coming around very slowly against the wind, the stern of the ferry hit a pair of floating docks, pinning a catamaran between one dock and shore and destroying the other dock with the water being pushed by the propeller. Katie and Jordan and the Bowermans were at the stern, so they got to see the whole thing. They said they thought the ferry was going to hit the hotel at the shore along with the docks, but it missed that. Very exciting! For some reason Mom and I had decided to stay inside so we missed it all. Very unusual for us. Anyway, we proceeded out of the harbor very slowly. Nope, didn’t stop to fill out an accident report. Hit and run, though I think others were aware of what happened, like the hundred people on the hotel balconies. There are videos on TV news, etc. We cleared the harbor, but didn’t pick up speed. Soon the crew was on the bow. Apparently they dropped the anchor to stop the rearward progress of the ferry, now could not get it fully retracted. That took another twenty minutes or so, but we got home safely. The ride was a bit rough because of the sea condition, but not too bad. It was so windy it was almost impossible to stand on deck, however. After docking we drove back to Puyallup, arriving a bit after midnight.

Yesterday we relaxed, moved out of the farm where we were staying, took the camper to the RV dealer for evaluation of our problem, and moved into an RV park for a few days. The camper news is not good, some water damage from somewhere. Next week the dealer will do a leak test and seal problem areas, but more will have to be done when we get home. Water damage seems to be a family theme.