We got out the door very early (for us) to catch the 9:00 ferry to Victoria. Dori, Baird and Forest, hooked up with us and we hung out on a beautiful 90 minute cruise to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. We passed all sorts of other islands on the way; the ferry system in these parts is a well-oiled machine - it is many people's only way to the mainland. The ferries are huge and can take hundreds of cars and trucks over each crossing. Baird (native Vancouver Islander) was our guide. First stop- Butchart Gardens, hundreds of acres of gorgeous manicured flower gardens in an old limestone quarry - I guess they had the miners work on the garden in between ships. Dane and Drake went a little nuts in the rose garden -they had to smell every single different kind and make us come over and sniff the "really" cool ones - funny. In Victoria we found a pub (that would let kids in) and had a patio lunch overlooking the harbor. After lunch the boys and Avalon split off and went to the beach in Cadboro Bay while Dori, Kambria and I made a stop at the world famous Roger's Chocolates and then went to get tea at the Empress Hotel (Dori has the tea towel to prove it). We also drove up to Craigdarroch Castle - which ends up isn't really a castle at all but a super big house built by a Scottish barron in the 1800s. Highlight - Kambria got to play on a 150 year old Steinway in the house (only those with musical ability were allowed to touch it) We met up with the boys at the beach and collected the sandy kids and raced back to Sydney just to realize that the 7:00 ferry was already full (they had cancelled the 6 so the 7 filled early). Dori and Forest ditched us since they were walk-ons, and Greg and I did our best to entertain 5 kids for 2 1/2 hours at a ferry dock (where we had to leave our car in line). But since I finally got the chance to play Astrotilt on my phone, AND taught the kids how to play concentration (which is now Avi's favorite game), I call it serendipity.
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