Arrived on Tuesday evening 9th October after a good but long flight. Rather cramped conditions - I had expected the plane to be less full than it was - however the crew were helpful and relocated me to a bulkhead seat with better leg room. The food - as ever with British Airways - was mediocre but there was an endless supply of water and fruit juice, very necessary since they kept the cabin temperature rather high and dry.

I had spent a long time waiting at Heathrow because my brother who kindly drove me there had to return home immediately for an afternoon meeting - however I was able to wander round the duty free shops and drool over all the things I could not afford to buy.

On Wednesday we did some shopping at the Granville Island Market and then visited Stanley Park and took a horse-drawn carriage ride round the park in the rain. Afterwards we paid an all too short visit to the Aquarium.

Thursday morning we made an early start and caught the 9am ferry from Tsawassen to Vancouver Island. Once across the straight we drove off the ferry and down to the Butchart Gardens - do NOT miss a chance to visit these gardens. They are truly amazing.

We then drove on to Victoria and took a look at the Government buildings and the Empress Hotel. Searched for and found the Crystal Gardens which house a collection of plants, birds, butterflies, monkeys, bats and are extremely interesting, not least because they have a cabinet full of ready-to-hatch butterfly pupae and one can - given sufficient patience - watch the perfect imago emerge from its chrysalis.

We then drove up-island to Parksville where we found a comfortable motel and an excellent dinner.

Friday morning was spent shopping mostly in a boutique run by a friend of Rita's (I bought a nice poncho) and Rita had a happy time enhancing her wardrobe.

After this we drove on up to the Macmillan State Park and found Cathedral Grove which is an area of very old forest with extremely tall trees and a fascinating number of different fungi.

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