Baseball and Canada, Eh! Day #5 “A Whale of a Day”

This morning we took a water taxi from just outside our hotel to Fisherman’s Wharf where we met up with the crew of Eagle Wing whale watching tour.  I was a little worried when we were introduced to our captain, a one-legged man named Ahab.  Actually his name was really Chris and he was born in Glendale, California and lived in Hermosa Beach (attended Redondo Union High School) before settling in British Columbia.  The tour was very well run with lots of support.  In addition to the crew they supplied us with sunscreen, binoculars, hats, gloves and jackets for those of us who came ill equipped.  They also had emergency equipment aboard, see below.

I promised my friends I would send them a great shot of an Orca or two.  So here it is.

We didn’t get to see the whales as pictured above but we got some pretty decent views of the backs and dorsal fins.  I was resigned to the fact that we saw some whales and parked my camera in my pocket when suddenly 3 orcas surfaced immediately next to our boat.  I struggled to get my camera out but was unable to do so in time.   I had to be satisfied with the sighting even if I couldn’t share the experience with my friends back home.

After our whale adventure it was off to the Butchart Gardens.  We were told this was another “must see” sight and it did not disappoint.  Apparently the Butcharts made major coinage from harvesting the rock quarry at the site that is now the gardens.  It is said that Mrs. Butchart thought it would be a good idea to turn the remaining hole into a garden and a spectacular floral exhibit is the result.  The welcome brochure states that they welcome 1 million visitors a year so the gardens might be more profitable than the quarry ever was.  Most of the exhibits don’t have name tags but I did recognize a few.

And one of the few plants that did have a name tag.

Tomorrow we head back to the mainland via the BC Ferry and then on to Vancouver. See you soon.