Hello
Here are some pics I took of my trip to Victoria last month (April)
Victoria has a metro population roughly around 350 000 people, making it the second largest metro in British Columbia (of course it is much smaller than its younger brother Metro Vancouver, 2.5 million, to the north east.) Victoria is actually considerably south of the 49th parallel on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is among the mildest and driest locations in the pacific North West, due to the rain-shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. The downtown / Oak Bay area receives half the rain of Vancouver, and considerably less than both Seattle and Portland, at only just over 600 mm of precipitation a year. Like the rest of the PNW, there is also a very distinct dry season, with July (the driest month) only receiving 12% the precipitation of the wettest month (November). Victoria's agreeable climate has made it an amazing city for gardens.
The Harbour
First, we will start with the downtown Harbour, the heart of Victoria. Just a side note, on this day it was a mix of sun and cloud in Victoria but rainy in Vancouver
The Inner Harbour now
The Provincial Capital Building of BC
Beacon Hill Park
Here, there are still native Garry Oak meadows. Unfortunately most of the Garry Oak woodlands around Victoria have been destroyed via urbanization.
Looking towards downtown from Beacon Hill Park
Here are some Windmill Palms in the park
Some nice large Arbutus trees
The park then leads down to the ocean, you can see huge clouds hugging the Olympic mountains here and how the rain shadow is created.
Downtown Urban
Victoria does a great job with its Alleys, making them pedestrian ways.
Here is one at night
Another thing I love about Victoria is their double decker transit buses
The Navy Base
Canada's western Navy base is just outside of Victoria, in Esquimalt.
The navy base is actually very old, so many of the original brick buildings are from the 1880's.
Goldstream Park
Last but not least, at the very western edge of Metro-Victoria is Goldstream Park, which has some amazing hiking trails with many beautiful Arbutus and garry Oak groves, with old growth cedars and douglas Firs at the base. Here is the view from the top of one of the local hills in the park.
All pics are my own:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30634635@N03/
Cheers!