Victoria, BC

After my cousin’s wedding in Vancouver, some of us hopped on a ferry and headed to my aunt’s house in Victoria. It’s the capital of British Columbia and located on Vancouver Island, so the only ways to access it are by boat or by plane. I, for one, love this ferry ride!

 

I managed to snap this one from the bus window.

Upon arrival, we hung out at this grocery store until my uncle came to pick us up.

My aunt’s incredible elephant collection! She has 205 elephant objects gathered over the years.

 

My cousin had to interview someone about their career for her summer homework, so she interviewed me! And we had a whole fleet of translators flipping between Mandarin and English. My Chinese is ok, but I have the vocabulary of a five year old.

So many delicious home cooked meals.

No trip to Victoria is complete without a visit to the world-famous Butchart Gardens. It’s my all-time favorite garden, and I’ve been to a lot of gardens!

The sunken garden. My favorite.

My uncle took us on a driving tour around the area. So many pretty coastal views.

My mom with her silly hat + hood look.

People used to feed these seals here, but they just banned it as of July 1. They still come around hopefully, but they’ll probably wise up and stop soon.

Petting zoo! We weren’t supposed to actually go in the zoo, but of course I saw these alpaca friends and insisted on stopping in. The white one looks rather dopey, haha.

Goats! I instantly became a rock to climb. Making so many friends.

Downtown Victoria.

And a visit to Craigdarroch Castle, (pronounced Craig-Derrick), home to the Dunsmuirs. You might remember that name from my 100 Bay Area Gems and the Dunsmuir-Hellman house here in Oakland, since that was their son who was dispatched to take care of the family’s San Francisco interests.

It was cool to trace this family up and down the West Coast. So much family drama, with power, money, and legacy at play.

Afterwards, we visited the Government House nearby. They have some lovely grounds, and it’s where the queen stays if she comes to visit.

Finally, a visit to a couple of parks nearby.

Quite the overlook!

And back to the ferry, back to Vancouver for my flight out!

Until next time, Canada.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.