Western Wanders - Victoria

With the anniversary of the passing of Barbara upon us it was time for a visit out West to Vancouver Island. 

We arrived on a Friday afternoon in June apparently having brought the summer weather with us from Toronto! 

We checked in to the lovely Fairholme Manor for three nights, encountering the resident doe and fawn being fed apple scraps from the kitchen window. Sylvia, the owner, informed us that the fawn (named Fairholme) were living in a grove on the property and we encountered them several times during our stay. 

After dropping our luggage at Fairholme, we popped in on Gary to say hi before heading downtown for a stroll through the old city and a visit to our favourite streetfood vendor in Canada, the amazing Red Fish Blue Fish!

With it being the most lovely day of 2022 so far for Victoria, the line at Red Fish Blue Fish was longer than any we had seen before. We opted to wait the 45 minutes for service and it was well worth it; two lovely pieces of fresh fish deep battered and fried as well as chips and deep fried pickles! Now that is a lunch worth waiting for! 

A stroll back to Redfern was followed by dinner and drinks with Gary and fond remembrances of Barbara. After an evening of freely flowing wine it was time to head back to our B&B for a good night's rest in our cavernous lovely suite.

The next day started with an amazing breakfast at Fairholme and a stroll through the gardens next door before heading over to Gary's later in the afternoon for tea with the family. The lovely Hanna brought all sorts of goodies which were enjoyed by Martin, Gary, Lisa, Ingunn, Hanna and Christos. 

More remembrances of Barbara and family, as well as a look through some of her wardrobe for the ladies, ensued followed by a visit to the Marina Restaurant for dinner. Lisa and Christos opted for a stroll over while the rest of the party walked. Dinner was wonderful with fresh fish all around served with yummy accoutrements. 

Martin had to depart after dinner but the rest of the group was back at Gary's after dinner for more chit chat and catching up in the lovely back Sun room. Finally in the weeish hours it was time to head back to to Fairholme to collapse into bed for another sound sleep.

Sunday in Victoria involved some down time as well a buying a new pair of sandals for Christos (and saying goodbye to the ratty old ones!) and another lovely garden stroll through Governor's House before meeting up with Gary for a dinner of delicious burgers. Bedtime came earlier after several late nights!