21. June 2022

Day 18: Ferry to Vancouver Islands

Ferry

After the night in Abbotsford, we wake up at 07:00 to have a quick breakfast. The buffet was okay, but they used plastic cutlery and carton plates… never saw that before in a hotel 🤷🏻‍♂️

We left shortly after 08:00 and made the quick drive to Tsawwassen Terminal (Vancouver) where we arrived a bit after 09:00. The ferry was scheduled for 10:00, so we had to wait a bit, before we could board. It took around ~45 minutes to cross the open water, then we were already in between the various islands. To Swartz Bay (Victoria), it was then another ~45 minutes.

Butchart Gardens

The Butchart Gardens were recommended to us, so we decided to visit them after we arrived on Vancouver Island. It was a quick drive from the Ferry Terminal.

There are different garden styles and areas inside of the Butchart Gardens, we started in the Sunken Gardens which are in a kind of a valley and got there name because of that.

Multiple ponds waited to be discovered and the Garden was overall really nice and beautiful done. It was maybe a bit too crowded, so a visit in the morning or late afternoon makes probably sense.

The part we liked the most was the Japanese Garden, which made us feel as we were somewhere in Japan. This created some wanderlust for Japan. (even though we are already traveling :)).

Port Renfrew

After the visit of the Garden we were on our way to our next stop, Port Renfrew. We have a Luxury Tent there, in which we stay for the next 2 nights. The drive was different compare to the last days, no highway, but a curvy and narrow road.

Before Dinner we did a short hike on the various gravel roads, for Dinner we then visited the Renfrew Pub, which is right next to our Tent, so it was a 1 minute walk.

Nicole had a Mashroom Burger and I the local Fish with Chips.