Cowbright

Monday, July 10, 2023

Victoria, BC & Butchart Gardens

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but we could not have ordered up more beautiful weather for today in Victoria, British Columbia. I had an excursion (my next to the last) to go to Butchart Gardens. This was my third time to visit the gardens (lucky me!) as we were there on another cruise in 2006 and later when Ronnie presented a paper in Vancouver in 2009. Since he had been before, he chose not to go but to do a walk around in Victoria. Victoria is a beautiful town with a population of about 40,000. The entire city is clean and beautiful. It has hosted 396 cruise ships this year.

I went today for the express purpose of photographing flowers. However, I was using a new lens that I'm very un-proficient with and the time of day we visited meant that the gardens were in full sun. Not a good combo, but I took tons so I'll share some of the better ones. There was no way to see all of the garden in the allotted 2 hours we had to visit.

the famous Empress Hotel (photo credit: Ronnie)

Victoria Harbor Ferry Water Ballet (photo credit: Ronnie)

I will say that I’ve had better luck in the past because I was using a camera with a telephoto lens which helped me get sharper photos with more blurred backgrounds – ideal for flower photography. Anyway, as they say “it is what it is” so I will share the ones I consider to be the best. The most exciting thing for me today was the field of wildflowers at the back of the garden. There were huge numbers of poppies, mostly red, white and pink and other wildflowers thrown in as well. They were in a huge field behind a wire fence but I was able to shoot through the wire fence so I took many of those. I love poppies!

The gardens cover 55 acres with 900 bedding plant variations and 26 greenhouses. There are 6 different gardens – the Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden and the Mediterranean Garden. They hire 600 full time workers in the summer, 200 in winter with 50 full time gardeners. The gardens host 2 million people each year and operates 365 days a year. The flowers are changed seasonally so they are beautiful the year around. They have been passed down through several generations. In the winter, there is ice skating and in the summer there is a fireworks show every Saturday night.

entrance to Butchart Garden

Sunken Garden

Here’s the history of Butchart Gardens from their website.

1904 Robert and Jennie Butchart moved to Vancouver Island to build a cement plant on a rich limestone deposit at Tod Inlet.

1912 As cement production exhausted the limestone deposits, Jennie envisioned a grand garden in its place and began transferring top soil by horse and cart. Little by little, the quarry blossomed into today’s Sunken Garden.

1929 Between 1906 and 1929, the Butcharts expanded The Gardens, designing the Japanese Garden on the seaside, the Italian Garden on their former tennis court and the fragrant, overflowing Rose Garden. (there are 250 varieties of roses in the gardens today)

1939 Grandson Ian Ross was gifted The Gardens on his 21st birthday. He transformed them into a world-renowned attraction, adding outdoor concerts, night lighting in the summers and the Magic of Christmas in the winters.

1977 Great-grandson Christopher began producing a choreographed firework show every year. In 2009, his sister Robin (current owner of The Gardens) added the Children’s Pavilion and Menagerie Carousel.

2004 Two Totem Poles were carved in Classic Coast Salish style by Master Carvers Charles Elliot of the Tsartlip Nation and Doug La Fortune of Tsawout Band to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Butchart Gardens and in recognition of the rich cultural heritage provided by Indigenous People.

2023 Today The Butchart Gardens is a National Historic Site of Canada. You’ll find remnants of the original cement plant and millions of bedding plants in over 900 varieties.

Friday, July 7, 2023

A visit to an old cannery

We woke to a dense fog this morning at the port in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Our excursion was for 8:30 so the fog was fairly thick when we left the port for an old cannery located about 25 minutes away, near the tiny town of Port Edward, BC. By the time we arrived, most of the fog was burned away and the weather was again just perfect to be out and about.

in port, Prince Rupert, British Columbia

bus window photo on our way to Port Edward

convenient to railroad

cannery built at mouth of Skeena River

remains of cannery workers home at low tide

national historic site

Founded in 1889, North Pacific Cannery is British Columbia’s oldest and longest-running salmon cannery. Not operational since 1968, it is now a National Historic Site and Museum. Walking through was like stepping back in time, considering the modernized methods of canneries today.

Our guide walked us through the different areas and we saw where the unloading, transporting into the cannery, sorting, butchering, cleaning, slicing, filling and packing, weighing, capping, clinching and sealing of the cans took place.

administrative desk

board lifts to check tide or use bathroom

nets sized to catch salmon

fishing nets and buoys

net storage and repair area

rusted tin cans

our guide explaining how the different machinery worked

tools of the trade

historic photo inside cannery

working the nets

After the tour, we had ample time to wander around on our own and walk through some of the small houses that still remain a part of the cannery village.

Because the area was so isolated and could only be reached by boat or train, it was necessary to provide lodging for their seasonal workers. The labor and housing was divided by race and culture. The Japanese fished and mended the nets while the indigenous people (Indians, now referred to as “First Nation” people) fished and worked the cannery line. The Chinese worked on the cannery line and did the cooking while the Europeans fished and worked in management. Apparently this was characteristic of the early north coast canneries. We were able to walk inside some of the still intact homes, as well as the store where workers could purchase goods and carry out business transactions.

some worker houses still remain intact

inside the company store (re-created)

vintage cash register

union workers striking for more pay

because I'm a sucker for vintage advertisements

If anyone is interested, here is their website that contains much more information along with many historical photos https://northpacificcannery.ca/ and a timeline of its history is laid out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Cannery_National_Historic_Site.

Ketchikan, Alaska

We could not have asked for better weather in Alaska! Today was another sunny day with gorgeous weather. Located in the Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan is known as Alaska’s “first city” due to its location at the Southern tip of the Inside Passage. It is also known as the “Salmon Capital of the World.” That’s because the town was founded as a salmon cannery site in 1885. Ketchikan was incorporated in 1900; however, Alaska did not become a State until 1959.

The name Ketchikan comes from the native words “kitsdhk-hin” which mean “the thundering wings of an eagle”. In addition to the fishing industry, logging also became an important industry. However, these days Ketchikan’s biggest industry is tourism.

With a population of 8,000 people and lots of natural beauty, Ketchikan is a popular tourist destination. Our driver told us that there are 3 ways to get here – by boat, by plane or by birth. All foods must be delivered here by barge. The city has 7 fire stations (it had 8, but one burned down!) It has a nice size medical facility for every day type stuff, but if one needs really serious medical treatment they go to Juneau or Seattle.

shops and eateries in downtown Ketchikan

grizzly from scrap metal

close up of parts

spark plug elephant

Our first stop was to downtown Ketchikan for a lumberjack show. I was wondering how watching men chop wood might be entertaining. The audience was divided into 2 teams to make it a bit more competitive but I must say the chopping contests themselves were not terribly exciting.

sawing logs (literally)

log rolling contest

Ketchikan also boasts the largest number of standing totem poles in the world. Some are more than 100 years old. So our tour today was all about logging and totems. There was little time for shopping and browsing but the cruise terminal itself offers plenty of shopping with clothes, food, gift items and souvenirs of all types. There were several other cruise ships in port today besides ours.

After the lumberjack show, we were taken to Saxman Native Village to learn more about the history of totems, visit an authentic Clan House and watch native carvers at work. You can even order your own totem pole, but on average they cost up to $3,000 per linear foot, not including the cost of the log, of course. Believe it or not, they do get special orders. However, they must be authentic in meaning and the Saxman Village refused to build a Star Wars totem for a hopeful customer.

Saxman Native Village Clan House

young dancers

each section with different meaning

custom order your own!

native dancers, various ages (rowing dance, below)

Back on the ship at dinner, we were able to eat outside on the back deck while the chefs cooked up fresh halibut and salmon to order. All in all, we had a very nice day in Ketchikan!