Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Victoria

This lovely, undulating fountain was quite the spectacle to watch! You can find out more about this beautiful water feature here: Ross Fountain

(+10 insets) (bigger is better for lovely details!) Trip Talk: Marvelous Butchart Gardens When I began to figure out the itinerary of our trip to Vancouver Island, there was one place we were definitely going to visit: Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Listed as one of the top 10 gardens in the world, this 55-acre horticultural masterpiece simply cannot be missed--especially for a person like me who's crazy about macro and flower photography! When I visited their website, the beauty and opulence of the grounds had me so excited that I could barely wait! Another reason we wanted to go was memorial in nature. Steve has often told me how much his mother loved Butchart Gardens. Although we could only take her there in our thoughts and hearts, we would dedicate the day to her. I wished I'd gotten to meet Steve's mom, but it felt nice to know we could go to a place that she loved so dearly. We hoped to avoid a weekend visit but ended up going on a dreaded Saturday. And as predicted, it was totally swamped with thousands of people. However, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that everything about Butchart was set up for huge volumes of people. From their uniquely organized parking lot to masterfully designed paths winding through the gardens, this place handled the enormous crowds easily with plenty of room for everyone! When we arrived, we were directed by a team of helpful attendants to our spot in the vast parking lot. Before walking to the entrance, we used a parking app that saves your location so you can find your way back to your car. We didn't need to bother. Butchart actually has every aisle of parking marked with an enormous brightly colored banner with an animal and a number to make it really easy to remember where your car is. We'd never seen this before and thought it was totally brilliant. (There's nothing like leaving a venue of some sort and realizing that you have absolutely ZERO idea where your car is in the literal acres of cars laughing at you…Steve has a story of wandering around a football stadium parking lot for HOURS before finally discovering where he'd parked the car.) There is nothing about this park which isn't beautifully manicured, elegantly designed, or perfectly landscaped. Both of us were totally blown away from the second we entered the parking lot…and by the time we arrived at the ticket booth we realized that Butchart Gardens was going to be even more incredible than we'd imagined. It turned out to be a totally mind-blowing experience and I would end up taking over 1,000 pictures during our visit! To be honest, I've been working on this folder for days and STILL I haven't taken a close look at most of the pictures! I recognize that I simply won't be able to process all of the "winners" that I captured that day. However, I'll have at least five presentations to share from our day at Butchart Gardens and hopefully you'll get a sense of this incredible place. Today's Pictures My main image is the classic, iconic display of Butchart's most dazzling gem and the heart from which this Eden sprang--The Sunken Garden. If you can believe it, this place was once a limestone quarry! Robert and Jennie Butchart built a cement plant here in 1904, but as the quarry was exhausted, Jennie envisioned a garden to take the quarry's place. Dirt was carried in by horse and wagon for literally YEARS in order to create this lovely place. As decades passed, more and more landscaping was lovingly nestled into the sprawling 55 acres. Eventually the entire estate was turned into different sections which include, among others, the wondrous Japanese, Italian, and Rose Gardens. It is a wonder, just standing there and looking down into that garden. But of course we did more than just look from afar. After all…I had my macro lens with me, heh. Inset 1: Gorgeous Lantana blossoms opening up in lemon and magenta…how incredible these flowers are! Inset 2: Be still my heart, it's Candy-Striped Gazania, *SQUEEEEE*!!!! Too beautiful for words!! Inset 3: This periwinkle blue Clematis stretches elegantly up to the heavens. I'm crazy about vining flowers and some day I would like to have an assortment of these huge favorites of mine! Inset 4: I noticed a large, unassuming succulent growing below a huge flowering bush and the flash of what looked like glowing tendrils immediately caught my eye. Upon a closer inspection I could see that these weren't tendrils at all, but a sort of fraying at the edge of the sturdy leaves. I love finding gems like this, it makes me feel like I won a prize! :D Inset 5: Glowing leaves are magnetic to me and these enormous and colorful canna leaves always blow my mind when I see them. Absolutely breathtaking. I cannot resist taking picture upon picture of these amazing plants! (more pictures coming in other presentations!) Inset 6: Everywhere you looked there were planters filled with collections of flowers paired with lovely foliage plants, and these rainbow coleus leaves were as pretty as the flowers they were accenting! I couldn't resist having some fun with them and I used a filter which intensified the colors and created a psychedelic glowing blacklight effect. (I have another version of this which shows the normal beauty of this plant but will have it in another presentation.) Inset 7: This ridiculously colorful gold and wine-colored rudbeckia stood by itself in front a wall of short, orange marigolds and screamed for attention, which I gladly gave. After I'd taken pictures and moved on a bit, I heard Steve yell, "OMG Janet, did you see this flower?!! It's incredible!" I looked over and grinned happily, as Steve was now falling all over himself to take pictures of the floral diva! :) Inset 8: After several hours stumbling in flower-filled ecstasy, Steve and I left the main part of the park and walked out to the parking lot to have our lunch. This grand display, just 100 feet from our parked truck, was the Mediterranean Garden, surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. How would you like to lay out a picnic blanket, spread out lunch and enjoy this sight as you nibbled goodies?! That's just what we did! Inset 9: As we brought our lunch into the Mediterranean Garden, we found a bunny enjoying the grass and we were delighted to see it hopping around while we arranged our lunch. There were many bun-buns in the Butchart Gardens and they weren't scared of people so they didn't instantly disappear and we could enjoy their cuteness! Inset 10: Throughout the park were many sculptures and tasteful artwork. I really liked this piece but its setting made the birds' pretty details hard to appreciate. So I challenged myself to see if I could create a pretty collage which made the sculpture stand out. I hope I succeeded!! :) Pam, Pam, Pam…how you would love this place. There aren't words grand enough to describe how incredible and vast this garden is. Think about it: 55 acres, totally covered with ornate landscaping! I've got loads of pictures and they might give you a clue but you have to experience this place to understand it! Just as I thought about Steve's mom as we walked around this stupendous place, I also thought about you. *BIG HUGS* Explored on 9/29/19; highest placement #1.

(+ 7 insets) (best at full size!) Trip Talk: Where Would YOU Most Like to Travel? I wonder if you are like me…if asked that question, I simply can't answer with a single destination. How do you prioritize a favorite place to go when the world is simply bursting with incredible locations! Maybe that's an easy question for some of you but I am very interested in so many things that it's really hard to say. So basically, when Steve tossed "Vancouver Island" into the air as a place we should visit in our RV, I immediately said, "LET'S GO!" :) Vancouver Island is such a cool place because it has basically everything I love! Unspoiled nature and wilderness, quaint little towns, fun touristy places, a deep history of indigenous people and also of explorers and settlers. There are simply endless activities to be involved in--basically you name it and you'll be able to find it somewhere on the island! I'm not kidding…think about something you're interested in--I bet it's available! Our walking adventure in Victoria really couldn't have been nicer. The biggest requirement was that we didn't make any hard-fast plans--except for making sure we visited a few places that couldn't be missed. Then we just started to stroll. I didn't get any pictures of the lovely street fair we stumbled upon but we really enjoyed visiting and chatting with the many talented artists there. Walking along the harbor, we found ourselves wandering into Victoria's Fisherman's Wharf. There we discovered another surprise! Along with being a traditional place to dock fishing vessels and sell the catch of the day, this place is also home to dozens of adorable house boats! I'd seen pictures and read about the boats but I wasn't prepared for just exactly how fun it would be to see them in person! Steve and I strolled up and down the docks and enjoyed looking at the quirky, unique, and colorful houses. Both of us agreed that it would be really fun to sleep overnight in one of these homes but thinking about living in a place like this had us shaking our heads…how would you like to live in a place where thousands of tourists are peering into your windows every day? NOPE! But it sure was fun to visit! There was also a regular stream of darling water taxis which picked up and dropped off passengers. We simply couldn't get enough of these little boats and their fun paint jobs. The green taxis were cute but the ones we were crazy about were the yellow ones with the black and white checks! We wanted to OWN one of them! :D Today's Pictures Taking the main picture today was one of those instances where you say, "Quick! Raise your camera, it's perfect!" I'm glad my reaction was fast enough because I got a great angle of a water taxi (and a view of one coming up behind it!) and also a few house boats and their reflections. Lucky me!! How could I resist making this my Picture of the Day?! :D (To be honest, I would have loved to pick most of the insets as main spotlights but I could only choose one! *cry*) Inset 1: This was perfect to turn into a selective color image because otherwise the picture was too busy. I was so happy with the way it turned out that I wish I could have made it my main shot! Inset 2: The green water taxis were really cute too but they really couldn't compare to the yellow ones with checks! Having to ride in a green one would be like going on a carousel and being forced to ride a stationary animal instead of the ones that goes up and down! Inset 3: Would you just LOOK at all of those fabulous boats?! WOW! So pretty! Inset 4: Another boat picture complete with more reflections! Inset 5: This serious fishing boat made me think of the Orca II from Jaws…though these two boats are completely different. Inset 6: This was our first view of the house boats at the wharf…aren't they amazing to see?! Inset 7: I took a picture of this crazy character while Steve and I were visiting the house boats. At the time I didn't realize that there were three others hidden around the area which represented the other Winds. After I got home and looked at my pictures, I noticed this artwork and saw there was a group of pictures under it which showed what the other Winds looked like, along with descriptions of each Wind: The Four Winds: They represent the main four winds and weather conditions around Vancouver Island South West Wind (Pineapple Express): This wind originates from an "atmospheric river" which affects the West Coast of North America. It is a strong and persistent flow of atmospheric moisture and is associated with heavy precipitation from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiin Islands. Atmospheric rivers are typically several thousand kilometers long and only a few hundred kilometers wide, and a single one can carry a greater flux of water than the Earth's largest river, the Amazon. (Artist: lvise Dogloni Major) North West Wind: This wind is considered to be the more violent and dangerous than the rest. It brings frigid air from the continent, which moves over the coastal inlets and fjords. In the fall, it becomes a dense fog, espeically in the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. This wind brings fog, that's why he's blowing a horn. North East Wind (Squamish): This most well-know arctic outbreak wind on the British Columbia coast. It bursts out of Howe Sound, past Bowen Island and onto the Strait of Georgia. Locals named it the Squamish after the small town that lies at the head of the sound's inlet. Common conditions associated with arctic outbreaks include gale or storm force winds, moderat to heavy snowfalls and squalls, and, over the waters, severe icing, high waves, rough seas and poor visibility. This wind brings cold weather and fog, that's why he's wearing a fur hat and holding a lantern. South East Gale: Can cause very high seas and severely affect boats. Pam, would you like to live on one of these house boats? They are so darn cute and full of character. I think it would be really fun for a while...but I like my peace and quiet so I think it would get really old after a while. Plus...the wharf smells as it should: like FISH...so *wrinkles nose* ... I wouldn't want to be there for too long! Love to eat the fishy. Don't love to smell the fishy! :D It's raining here today...hopefully you are having nicer weather! *BIG HUGS from southern Oregon! Explored on 9/22/19; highest placement #1.

(+ 11 insets) (this scene is really best at full size so you can see the whole show! :D) Trip Talk: Our Last Visit to Victoria Wasn't Long Enough! Some years ago, Steve and I went on a group motorcycle ride with a bunch of people including our good friend Andy. The plan would be to ride up into Canada, take a series of ferries to various islands and eventually end up in Victoria, Vancouver Island before heading back down to Washington and then home. The idea seemed reasonable until Steve started doing the math. There was no way we'd be able to make the ferry hops in time. But nobody wanted to think about details, so we went on the trip and lo' and behold, the ferries were missed and our adventures changed substantially. Steve and I didn't even make it onto the first ferry because of navigation issues with our phone. In the end, we decided to make our own adventure and took a ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. From there we took the day cruising slowly south to Victoria. It turned out to be the best day of the whole trip! After exploring several quaint towns on the way down we eventually wound up in Victoria, where we ended our evening at an amazing sushi restaurant, followed by a walk along the harbor and finally tucking ourselves into bed after a glorious day. The only thing we'd wished was to have more time in Victoria, which was so beautiful and full of things to see and do. Therefore, when we discussed going on a trip to Vancouver Island, spending at least a couple of days in Victoria was at the top of our short list. And so, the day after we went to Goldstream Provincial Park, we decided it was time go have a proper day at Victoria. What would we do? Why, walk everywhere, of course! We wanted to see it all…and you know, I think we did a pretty good job if my photos are any indication! In fact, there are so many pictures that I processed that I'm reminded of the day Steve and I spent in Nice, France a couple of years back. A different adventure for sure, but equally full of wonderful sights and lasting memories. That being said, I'll have to take several days post pictures from our day walking in Victoria…either that or force you all to endure 30 insets! :D I didn't think that would be reasonable either, heh! :D Today's Pictures My main picture today shows the beautiful and extremely active harbor of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. There was a constant show going on with dozens of boats and ships of all kinds going by. I'd read that you might get to see pontoon planes in the harbor, but I never imagined we'd get to see them constantly taking off and landing! Steve and I really enjoyed looking out on this harbor! The rest of my presentation today includes more harbor pictures and some of the popular sights and cool things I saw as we enjoyed this gorgeous day! Inset 1: See the plane coming in for a landing on the main image? Here it is coming around to land on the bay! How cool is that?! And we got to see lots and lots of planes landing and taking off here! In fact, I've never seen so many planes land and take off in such a short period of time...such great entertainment! Inset 2: This is the plane from the main image preparing to take off. It's amazing how quickly these planes get off the water and also, how fast they land. They don't need much space which I thought was really interesting. The fact that they don't waste their time also meant a challenge to get pictures! Inset 3: This was a typical docking of sea planes. They were constantly taxiing into dock and then a different one would pull out and was soon zooming up into the sky. Inset 4: Across the bay was the magnificent Delta Hotel, overlooking the busy harbor. That cute little boat is a water taxi and they were constantly buzzing customers to and from water-based destinations. I'll have more pictures in my next set of images! Inset 5: We walked past the circa 1908 Empress Hotel, famous destination for celebrities and royalty through the years. Also known for its very schmancy "High Tea" service offered only with weeks-in-advance reservations and prices high enough they aren't listed on the menu! Inset 6: Built in 1897, the Baroque-style Parliament Building shown here is a construction of four government offices. This place was absolutely crawling with tourists so we didn't bother trying to get closer. Inset 7: I thought this statue might be Vancouver but upon looking closer I discovered that it was Captain James Cook! WOW, has that man been around!!! Here is what the plaque read: Capt. James Cook, R. N. 1728-1779: After two historic voyages to the South Pacific, Cook was cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest on his third and final voyage. With his two ships Resolution and Discovery he was searching for the western exit to the legendary Northwest Passage. In March, 1778, they put into Nootka Sound for repairs and to trade with the native people. With him on the voyage were Mr. William Bligh as master of the Resolution and midshipman George Vancouver. Inset 8: As Steve and I approached the harbor I saw this sculpture and nearly dropped in my tracks! "The Homecoming" celebrates a father and daughter's joyful reunion as he returns home from sea. I was just stunned by the expressions, body language and perfection of anatomy and every single detail presented. An incredibly touching sculpture that really hit home with me. Inset 9: In daddy's bag we see that he's got a teddy bear for his daughter and a small wrapped box for his wife. Fantastic details! (I also adored the girl's frolicking dog, so darn cute!) Inset 10: I couldn't resist posting a picture of some of the ridiculously colorful planters that were absolutely everywhere around Victoria! Inset 11: Finally, this was a very interesting place to park your bike in inclement weather. :) Explored on 9/19/19; highest placement #5.