What do boat folks do on vacation??

Yeah, 3 days off may not be your idea of "vacation"... but, we are enjoying the time away.

The answer to the title of this post: we go on a boat tour.

The little water taxis that scoot all over the harbour also do tours; one is the Outer Harbour (where we come and go, so we've already seen that), the other is the Gorge - further up the natural channel of the harbour.  We opted to do the Gorge tour...

Only 4 people on the tour.  As we went up the Gorge, our captain/guide Gary told us some of the history and pointed out some unique places along the way.  Years ago, it had been a mostly industrial area, but is gradually changing over to more housing... or, as Gary described it, "The young people like living along the water."  Hmmm... I like living along the water; that must mean...

A shipyard with condos growing up around it...

Joan thought these low-rise condos looked like they were made by Ikea...

We passed an anchorage with derelict-looking boats...

It reminded me of some of the "dead end looking anchorages" we've seen in the Florida Keys.  We were told that most of the boats are occupied by liveaboards.  Most of them didn't appear to be seaworthy.

We continued on; houses and bike paths along the water.  This is as far as we went...

Beyond that bridge, it shallows out.  Kayakers and rowers were out on the water, some coming under that bridge.

More condos at the Inner Harbour...

Passing by the Parliament building...

Dodging other water taxis, seaplanes and boats...

We did learn that Victoria is the world's busiest seaplane port.  I don't doubt that - over 200 flights daily.

After that tour, we walked along the waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf...

We do this walk every time we come to Victoria - the walk winds around the water from the Inner Harbour to Fisherman's Wharf.

There are benches along the way, where you can relax and take in the beautiful scenery and boats coming and going...

We watched while this big fella came in...

He was still flying the yellow quarantine flag - I guess he missed the Customs dock, too.  We sat on a bench and watched him stop, then finally go to a long dock in the Inner Harbour.

Joan laughed when she saw this bench...

The greenery has grown up in front of it, so there is no view.  We decided it was the "time out bench" for naughty waterfront walkers.

Up to the floating homes at Fisherman's Wharf...

I really like this idea - you never have to mow the lawn.  ;-)

There are some beautiful flowers and gardens along the way, too...

And a couple marinas...

There are restaurants here, but we decided to take a water taxi back to downtown, and a real sit-down lunch outside again.  It was the waitress's first day.  It showed.  The food was good, but she was (putting it kindly) a bit slow.  No doubt she will learn and improve.  Fortunately, we were not on a schedule... it was nice to let my feet relax.

From there, we decided to walk through the gardens and lobby of the Empress Hotel.  More flowers...

We walked through the lobby and by some of the shops - flowers there, too...

Out front to view the Orcas topiary...

Better light on it today.  In fact, lots of sunshine today.  The weather weasels were calling for rain all day - a 70% chance that dropped to 50%... nothing but sunshine and blue sky!

And then back to the boat to check on Izzy and relax a bit.

I need to work up an appetite: there is a food cart on the waterfront selling poutine that is calling my name.  ;-)

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On edit:  Better than poutine!!

You're asking, "What could be better than poutine?"

OK, some of you are asking, "What the heck is poutine?"

Poutine is a Canadian delicacy: it starts with French fries and cheese curds, then pour hot brown gravy over it.  That's it.  That's enough.  Fortunately for me, I have low cholesterol.  I have heard some folks refer to it as: a heart attack on a plate.  Of course, that is a complete misnomer - it is generally served in a bowl... or in one of those waxy baskets that take out restaurants use.

Well, this evening, one of the food carts on the waterfront has managed to improve on the standard poutine recipe: for only $3 more, you can heap on some bacon!  Oh, yeah - make mine a double!  They will also put grilled onions on it, but I don't recommend that - you don't want to take away from the taste of the fries... and the cheese curds... and the brown gravy... and, especially, the bacon.  Did I mention: they put bacon on their poutine??!!  :-)

For full disclosure, I am not a total hog - I did share it with the Blonde.