Tag Archives: Victoria

Wind And Rain Have A Benefit Sometimes

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I may have complained a little about the weather being damp and windy during our trip to Victoria but there was one upside to this.  Unfortunately, it took one missed opportunity before I realized.  The wind was strong and from the west.  The normal approach for Harbour Air is to come in through the opening to the harbor and then touch down in the outer area before taxiing into the Inner Harbour.  With the wind coming from the opposite direction, they reversed the flow.

I had seen this once before on a previous visit to Victoria many years ago and had forgotten it could happen.  Our hotel was located right on the corner of the shoreline around which the planes would approach and we had a view out of our (not huge) window as they came around to touch down.  The first time I realized I could get the shot, I had to make so with shooting through the window.  This does not do much for image quality but it was still okay and I got an Otter coming in.

The next time something was due, I planned ahead.  The window of our room did open but it only opened a very small amount.  Not enough to get a camera out of except when looking off to one side.  However, the restriction on opening was the result of a small screw that was in the track for the window and it was not very securely fastened.  With my fingertip, I was able to remove the screw and with that out of the way, the window could fully open.  A Twin Otter was on the way so this time I was ready to get a clearer shot.  There is plenty of warning of their arrival because the sound of the props reaches you long before the plane does.  Besides, they are on final approach so hardly going too fast.  The only downside to this shot is that the touchdown location is further around and out of sight of where we were.  Bad weather can have its benefits.

How To Move Ships Around The Shipyard

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The walk from our hotel in Victoria to a favorite breakfast spot took us alongside one of the local shipyards.  This yard had plenty of decent sized vessels out of the water and being worked on.  I was quite taken by their method of moving the boats around.  They have a lift area in the water and then the ships get put on supports on rails.  There is a turntable in the yard which allows each vessel to be moved to a different part of the yard.  I had seen a hint of this on Google Maps before we went so was interested to check it out when we walked by.

Harbour Air Movements In The Rain

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I had a bit of time one morning during our Victoria stay to walk along the shoreline.  The hotel that we were staying in was right on the shore so I only had to step outside and then I could walk around to the more open are of the harbor.  This also meant I could get some shots of the Harbour Air operations.  Their floatplane base is in the Inner Harbour area but the planes taxi out to the outer areas for departure.

I was able to get some shots of arrivals and departures as well as taxiing planes.  Some of those I could shoot from our hotel window when I wanted to stay dry!  I was happy to shoot the Otter movements but I was more interested in the Twin Otters.  We have plenty of Otters around here with Kenmore but Twin Otters are not common down here so some variety was welcome.  Besides, it is a bigger plane so a little easier to shoot at a distance!

Three Years of Building Progress

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One of our earlier visits to Victoria had involved staying close by a building that was being demolished.  They were keeping the façade of the building intact and taking out the interior for rebuilding and development.  Three years has gone by since that visit and I was interested to see how the building was looking.  While some finishing and fit out still appears to be underway, the building appears to be complete.

They have retained the façade as anticipated and constructed a whole new building inside.  In addition, one source of the building had been removed to allow the demolition process to get underway and that now has a new structure grafted on to the building.  Consequently, there is a combination of the old and the modern in the way it is finished off.  I assume by the next time we are in Victoria, it will be open for business.  I don’t know when it was originally scheduled to be done but I assume the pandemic delayed things a little.

Legislative Building at Night

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Continuing the theme of casting back into the past for shots of things that compensate for not going anywhere anymore, this one isn’t too long ago.  Our visit to Victoria in the run up to Christmas involved staying in a hotel alongside the harbor.  We had a view from our hotel room across to the legislative building which is nicely illuminated at night – not just for Christmas but all the time.  Here is the shot from the hotel window!

Three Types of Wightlink Car Ferry

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Having traveled on the car ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight for all of my life, I have seen many generations of ferry come and go.  The oldest ones I recall are Fishbourne and Camber Queen.  These would amaze current travelers with their limited car capacity and very limited customer amenities.  They were replaced by a bigger and better equipped fleet which were replaced in turn but the fleet of Saint named ferries.  Their time has mainly come and gone and now most have been replaced again.

On this trip, I got to ride of two ferries from the newer generation.  They have  a significant increase in capacity that has required the introduction of two level loading to allow the schedule to be kept.  While traveling on each, I got to see the other heading in the opposite direction along with one of the older Saint class.  The latest ferry has again gone away from bi-directional operation and has also added a hybrid power drive of some sort.  No idea how it works but the large logo on the side leaves you in no doubt that it is there.

Making the Victoria Approach

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I walked along the harbour shoreline in Victoria to go and see some of the floatplanes in operation.  The planes have to take off and “land” in the outer area of the harbour so they are a bit away from the easiest spots to watch things from when they are most active.  I saw a couple of planes making their approach.  They came in through the entrance to the harbour before making the turn to line up for landing.  A nice arc to final approach and then touching down to be at water taxi speed by the time the entered the restricted area of the harbour itself.  Fun to watch and I could have spent plenty of time there on a sunny afternoon!

Captain Cook Not Getting Respect

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The waterfront of Victoria Harbour has a statue of Captain Cook.  This is a long way from his home town of Whitby but the lad did get about a bit.  Given the nature of his efforts, you might think he deserves a bit of respect (unless you come from a place that he ended up harming irreparably).  A local gull -or one of its cohorts – was clearly not from the respect camp.

V2V Express (I Guess)

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During our visit to Victoria, there was a fast catamaran ferry moored up in the harbor.  It was named to the V2V Express.  Based on the name, my assumption is that it provides a fast connection between the downtown harbors of Vancouver and Victoria.  However, at no point while we were there did we see the thing move.  I don’t know whether the service is seasonal, not yet implemented or has failed.  The boat just sat there during our visit.  If anyone knows the story, do let me know.