[inghamm]

We did a 9 day tent camping trip on Vancouver Island in 2011. We scheduled Butchart Gardens in Victoria on a Saturday because they have this amazing fireworks show Saturday nights in the summer. I think they call it French style, but it’s not just big booms up in the sky, they have things on the ground and just above the water as well. Coordinated with music and sometimes telling a story, trees on fire (or so it seems) rockets that go from one side to the other… So we did the gardens during the day, then enjoyed a concert in the afternoon, late dinner in their cafeteria. Earlier we had spread out a little tarp and put our sleeping bags out on the lawn to reserve our spot for the fireworks. When the sun goes down they start the fireworks, and then after the fireworks we go through the gardens again because they have everything lit up with cool lighting.

Other things in Victoria – the BC museum is pretty good. Then they have the usual touristy things – street performers and artist/craft displays on the waterfront, wax museum (which we didn’t do), aquarium, (we didn’t do that either), miniatures museum I thought was pretty cool. Barb’s Fish and Chips a little farther on the waterfront is very good. I enjoyed Fort Rodd Hill. I also enjoyed Craigdarroch Castle (It’s a mansion, not a castle). We’ve also gone up to the Victoria observatory, to get an overview of the city.
Our hikes are usually small ones. We have hiked around Thetis lake outside Victoria. Lupin Falls and Auger Point trail when we were staying a Miracle Beach Provincial Park (which is nice). Elk falls out of Campbell River. We didn’t get to do the suspension bridge there because someone had been foolish and died there the day we went. We went to do the Paradise meadows trail on mount Washington, but there was still snow on the trail and we only had tennis shoes. (this was mid July) So we did the chair lift up to the top instead.
I like the Bastion at Nanaimo. We also walked around and did some hiking at Piper’s lagoon, and hiked at Englishman River Falls Park.