Tod Inlet & Butchart Cove – Advinspiration

Sidney Harbor Marina was super nice. It was almost a shame to leave. (seriously, the showers are amazing) However, we decided to head over to Butchart Gardens today! We missed being able to do this last time we were in Victoria, so why not today? There are mooring balls available right in front of the garden entrance. It’s like fate.

As good a sunrise as I'm gonna get — As good a sunrise as I’m gonna get

The mountains are larger here than in the San Juans

There are also more narrow inlets. Have to time the tides up here for sure!

Another marina. There are a LOT of marinas and little towns up here in Canada.

Bird sunning itself on a channel marker. Almost looks like a giant bat.

Closeup of the bird. Still really impressed with my $200 zoom lens. ;) — Closeup of the bird. Still really impressed with my $200 zoom lens. 😉

There were 4-5 ferries of various sizes parked here.

Eventually we motored our way into Butchart Cove or Butchart Inlet or whatever they call it. The only thing here is the dinghy dock and mooring balls for the gardens. Also, a stern-tie is mandatory for boats using the mooring balls. This was our first time having to do that. So that was interesting getting that all set up. To top off this experience however, JUST as I had snagged the mooring ball, the shift lever broke… leaving the boat in reverse. We would have been in some deep shit (actually, shallow and rocky shit…) if we hadn’t already had the boat tied up. We halfassed a solution, but will be ordering a new shift cable (and probably some throttle cables) when we get back home. Quite the harrowing experience. Although our response was “eh, screw it, it’s already broken. Might as well go enjoy the gardens and deal with it later.” Either way, problem solved.

This is a stern tie. We have a spool of rope hanging on the back of the boat. It's ran through a ring anchored to that bigass rock. Neat, huh? — This is a stern tie. We have a spool of rope hanging on the back of the boat. It’s ran through a ring anchored to that bigass rock. Neat, huh?

or as we've had to start calling her: "Blue the color and J like the letter..." — or as we’ve had to start calling her: “Blue the color and J like the letter…”

So majestic. She's looking especially lovely after sanding the side rails and polishing the glass in the enclosure. — So majestic. She’s looking especially lovely after sanding the side rails and polishing the glass in the enclosure.

So seeing as I take my camera everywhere and can take hundreds of photos of graffiti on the wall, you can imagine how many photos I actually took of Butchart Gardens. Not as many as I expected to take, as flowers aren’t really my thing, but I still took way too many to toss into a post with all my other photos. So that will be next!

After the gardens we took the dinghy around to Tod Inlet and Gowlland Tod Provincial Park for some hiking!

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