Victoria

On day 2 we visited Victoria. We took in the legislative buildings, with the legislature in session. As well we viewed the harbour and Fisherman's Wharf. We also took in Mile Zero, the western most end of the Trans Canada Highway. Here are a few pictures from this leg.





Fisherman's Wharf
This area is an easy walk from central Victoria. There are seals there that will rise up to be fed, but the most interesting thing to see, in my opinion, are the unique and colourful houseboats. Each one is unique to an extreme degree and each one is worth a photo on its own. You can also see the seaplanes taking off and landing nearby.












Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of about 330,000, the 15th most populous Canadian metro region.
Victoria is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from BC's largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Seattle by airplane or ferry, and 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Port Angeles, Washington by ferry across the Juan de Fuca Strait.
Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and of the Dominion of Canada, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1841. The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, the British Columbia Parliament Buildings (finished in 1897 and home of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) and the Empress hotel (opened in 1908). The city's Chinatown is the second oldest in North America after San Francisco's. The region's Coast Salish First Nations peoples established communities in the area long before non-native settlement, possibly several thousand years earlier, which had large populations at the time of European exploration. Victoria, like many Vancouver Island communities, continues to have a sizable First Nations presence, composed of peoples from all over Vancouver Island and beyond.










Mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway is located on Dallas Road & Douglas Street on the beautiful Victoria waterfront on Vancouver Island. The Mile 0 marker has proven to be a popular roadside attraction for visitors taking photos at the start of the longest national highway in the world.
The monument is located in the beautiful Beacon Hill Park which is also home to manicured gardens, shaded pathways and a nesting site for blue herons.