Category Archives: travel

Victoria — The Strait of Juan de Fuca


Red, White, and Yellow

Red, White, and Yellow

From March through October there’s another view available on your visit to Vancouver Island.  That would be taking a ferry water tour from the Empress Dock on the Wharf.  Tickets are available at the nearby visitors center.  The Victoria Harbor Ferry tour boats look pretty much like the yellow H2O taxis, and you board them on the same dock as the taxis, but they’re green instead of yellow.  Here’s a view of a similar but slightly smaller H2O taxi:

Taxi Tour of the Strait

Taxi Tour of the Strait

The actual tour ferries look like this (photo from Victoria Harbour Ferry website):

Victoria Harbour Ferry tour boat

Victoria Harbour Ferry tour boat

And what do you get for your $26 Canadian?  A great ride along the Juan de Fuca Strait.  It’s a fun ride, and you’ll see sights that you would otherwise miss.

Juan de Fuca Strait

Juan de Fuca Strait

Before you even get on the water, however, you’ll still get some great shots from the dock.  Here is a view of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly building with its magnificent verdigris domes:

The Wharf and the B.C. Legislative Assembly

The Wharf and the B.C. Legislative Assembly

That green ship you see in the foreground is the Thane, and on it is a banner advertising three-hour tours for $89.  Makes one wonder if it has a two-man crew, perhaps going by the names of Skipper Jonas Grumby and First Mate Gilligan.  Perhaps next time I’ll try this venue.  It certainly looks to be a fun ride.  Here’s a close-up view of the Thane:

Advertising a 3-Hour Tour . . . YIKES!

Advertising a 3-Hour Tour . . . YIKES!

Below is today’s photo gallery.  I’ll be back on Wednesday with more on taking a Victoria Ferry tour of the Juan de Fuca Strait:

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Fun Photo Friday — Victoria Favorites 1


B.C. Legislative Assembly

B.C. Legislative Assembly

Here is today’s photo gallery of some Victoria favorites.  Click on any image below to enlarge and start the slide show:

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Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Victoria — The views along the wharf


Bastion Square Public Market

Bastion Square Public Market

I find downtown Victoria a very colorful and fun place to photograph.  Art and interesting architecture greet you everywhere you turn.

Clinging to Brick

Clinging to Brick

But reaching the wharf area brings you a whole new vista:

Juan de Fuca Strait

Juan de Fuca Strait

Juan de Fuca Strait

Juan de Fuca Strait

It’s at this point that you’ll want to get off the main street and descend down to the wharf itself.  Are you an aviation buff?  Stroll by the float planes of Harbour Air:

Harbour Air DHC-6 Twin Otter

Harbour Air DHC-6 Twin Otter

Are boats more your cup of tea?  Lots of those here as well:

Downtown Wharf

Downtown Wharf

Rather do some people watching and street photography?  You can do that here as well:

Downtown Wharf

Downtown Wharf

You can even catch a taxi here, which we’ll do in a future blog article as we tour the Juan de Fuca Strait:

Water Taxi

Water Taxi

I’ll leave you today with these two final images:

"The Docks" restaurant

“The Docks” restaurant

Harbour Air DHC-6 Twin Otter

Harbour Air DHC-6 Twin Otter

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation