| The Empress Hotel looking
out over the harbour is one of the old colonial hotels dating from the
1900s. Like the Raffles in Singapore it is a place to take afternoon tea (at $30
a head). |  |
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It is a magnificent building in a magnificent setting as this view from
Parliament Buildings shows. The US ferry comes in by the old P & O steamship
buildings just to our left. |
| Parliament Buildings were
built in 1892 to replace a motley collection known as the Birdcages. It was
budgeted at $600,000 but cost around a million. Today it is valued at a
billion. |  |
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Victoria is the capital of BC (not the much larger Vancouver) and at the
time it was built Victoria ruled. |
| The coat of arms has been
in use (illegally) for over 100 years and was only accepted by the court of
heralds in London in 1987 following minor but heraldically significant
changes. |  |
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The flag shows the links between Britain, the waves, and the west (setting
sun). |
| This is the legislative
chamber used by the 81 representatives. BC has only one chamber as do most
Canadian provinces. Only the federal parliament has two. |  |
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There are two famous stained glass windows. The first celebrates Queen
Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897. The second celebrates Queen Elizabeth's
golden jubilee in 2002. |
| Currently there are no
First Nation representatives in the legislature (although there have been in
the past). The Queen's representative is the Lieutenant Governor Stephen Point
and he is a chief of a First Nations tribe. He has the (largely symbolic)
power to give assent to bills and to dissolve parliament. |  |
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Another statue in the grounds is that of Captain James Cook (from Whitby)
who discovered and mapped the area in 1778. |
| The totem pole is a
reminder of the heritage of the area. First Nations people form about 3% of
the island population. |  |
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Also in the grounds is a giant sequoia planted in the late 1800s. These
trees grow about a foot each year and this one is over 30 metres tall. It is
the official BC Christmas tree and is decorated with thousands of lights
each year. |
| Seafood abounds here and
we had a splendid seafood papardelle with salmon, scallops, mussels and
clams for lunch. |  |
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Harbour taxis at base. If the weather is too rough, as it was the day before, they
just don't run. |
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Seaplanes come in quite sharply and stop very quickly (but very noisily). |  |
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More retirement flats facing out over the sea. These are probably quite
expensive. |
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Part of the campsite is floating cottages each one on a raft and going up
and down with the tide. Its a good job this is a sheltered spot. |  |
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A view of Victoria with the Empress Hotel in the centre taken from our camper. |
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