Oct 7, 2009 -- Montague Harbor to Brentwood Bay, Victoria Is.

We got up and underway at dawn today.  Although we only needed to go about 30 miles, at the end of the run was the world-renowned Butchart Gardens, which we wanted to visit for as long as we could.  the Gardens have a small cove, Butchart Cove, with about four mooring buoys for visiting boats.  We arrived just after noon and each took a mooring bouy and ran a stern line to the shore, similar to what we did a few days back, only we weren't rafted.  Actually, Brian took each boat's bow line and passed it through the mooring bouy, then took the stern line ashore and put it through a ring mounted in the rocks.  Here's Brian doing all the work, with the pups waiting to go ashore:

Here are the three boats settled in  the quiet little cove.  The dock in the foreground belongs to the Gardens:

Before we go any further, we should remind you that Ruth's number one love is flowers (yes, even more than pastry).  So she took hundreds of pictures in the Gardens.  We have spared you all but 19 of them.  Here is a sampling, with a few comments:

While it wasn't the peak time for roses, the Garden still had some perfect examples:

The smile on Ruth's face is real, and so are the unusual flowers:

The Gardens had their whimsical side as well.  This is one of several "musicians:"

 

 And there was a huge overhead of latticework that sported scores of hanging flowers:

The Gardens had done a masterful job of combining shapes, colors and textures.  This garden, in an old quarry, offered several views of that feature:

 

Since this was October, the summer blooms weren't there, but the masterful design of the Gardens provided magnificent color contrasts by using the trees and shrubs:

At the very bottom of the quarry was this dancing fountain.  It was fascinating, and, again, the colors were breathtaking:

These little flowers were officially Cuphea, nicknamed "Tiny Mice."  Look closely at the center flower and you can fancy the "face:"

The sculpture in the Gardens was interesting.  Here is "The Fountain of the Three Sturgeons:"

 And a popular good luck statue is the "Butchart Boar."  He was brought from Venice, Italy by the founders of the Gardens.  His shiny nose is rubbed by visitors for good luck:

The base of the Butchart Boar sculpture is festooned with tiny creatures -- snakes, frogs, snails, crustaceans, turtles, etc.:

They have a "Tropical" garden, full of plants and trees you would expect to see in tropical climates -- palms, banana trees and all sorts of succulents:

Even the Gardens' parking lot was ablaze with color:

There was a room you could visit to identify flowers or plants or ask a botanist questions.  On display were unusual flowers from the garden including this rare "double" orchid:

 There was a "Japanese Garden," with a Japanese motif.  One of the visiting Japanese snapped our picture at the entryway:

It was approaching dusk when we finally left the Gardens and dinghied back to the boat.  We hoisted the dinghy, poured a "sundowner," and relaxed.  It had been a long, but beautiful day.  The sunset sort put a cap on it:

Tomorrow...back to the USA.