Vancouver Island, especially Butchart Gardens, is very popular among tourists, including visiting friends. So when a group of her friends was in town this past July, my mom arranged for a driver and van for a day trip to Vancouver Island. She invited me to come along.
Early in the morning, we headed to the BC ferries terminal in Tsawwassen. There are regular non-stop ferries to Swartz Bay near Victoria. While we waited for the ferry, we browsed the shops and grabbed some snacks. I found a wide-brimmed hat for the day.
It’s a short ferry ride over, just over 1.5 hours. I loaded up my iPod and relaxed by the window. It was sunny and bright already though I still managed to doze off, getting ready for a full day ahead.
The itinerary was lunch, tasting, and Butchart Gardens.
Quick Link Lunch | Tasting | Butchart Gardens
Lunch at Church & State Wines
Our first stop was lunch on the terrace at Church & State Wines Brentwood. It turns out my mom’s friends weren’t too much into wine tasting. I joined my mom for a brief sampling at the bar, while waiting for our table.
The terrace overlooked the vineyard and our large party enjoyed various dishes from the menu, which offered vegetarian options. It was an enjoyable lunch, mostly because my mom got to spend her birthday with her friends.
Gin Tasting at Devine Distillery
Even though the ladies did not want to do any wine tasting, they were up for visiting other places and I quickly searched online for some ideas. So we drove to Devine Distillery to check out their hand-crafted spirits. They also had a nice patio area to relax in. This is a family-owned craft distillery that is involved from the grain to glass process. I liked their philosophy of stewardship and wanted to sample their various products. I was also drawn to their bottle designs. My mom ended up purchasing a few of their rums, including Black Bear Spiced Honey Rum.
Devine Distillery is located at 6181B Old West Saanich Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8M 1W8. It is about a 20 minute drive from the Schwartz Bay Ferry Terminal, and just a few minutes from Church and State Wines and 10 minutes to Butchart Gardens.
Butchart Gardens
The highlight of the day trip to Vancouver Island was Butchart Gardens. I don’t even remember when the last time I visited. It’s been a very, very long time. This trip gave me a new appreciation of it. We made plans to meet later and we went our own ways. Initially, I was walking with my mom and her friends. Soon, I separated from the group, taking photographs.
I was content to wander by myself and I was in search of their new flower. They made it sound like a mystery. I had read about it on their website and while they gave an approximate location, despite close looks at the different flowers, I couldn’t find it. Not all flowers are labelled. After I bumped into a lady from the US and struck up a conversation, she became interested in my mission and together, we went to the Visitor’s Centre. I was actually surprised to find it…Calycanthus ‘Aphrodite’.
The day trip to Vancouver Island started early, much too early for my body and it ended late, with dinner back in Vancouver. It was a long day, a day that I rather enjoyed. I had forgotten how much I do like riding the ferry, and being on the water. The search for the new bloom also added something bright to the day.