Canada Trip Report, Day 9: Sea to sky hwy; Day 10: Victoria daytrip (Butchart, Miniature)

Day 9, Saturday, Sep 2, 2017:

Sea to Sky Highway 99, BC:

A two-lane scenic highway runs between the Pacific Ocean and rugged mountain peaks. Beautiful drive from Vancouver to Whistler! Of course we need good weather to enjoy the sights,

Video of our day is at:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QiyMdiYlcH7CkUxB2

We were out of the home at 7am, stocked up on groceries at Safeway which took some 30 min. There is no dedicated left turn at busy roads in the city and it had been difficult to do this earlier. Anyways it was an early start.

The "Sea to Sky Highway" is the name given to the section of Highway 99 from Horseshoe Bay to Pemberton. From Horseshoe Bay, the highway travels along the coast of Howe Sound for 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to Lions Bay, north for another 21 kilometres (13 mi) to Britannia Beach, and north for 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to Squamish, at the head of Howe Sound. From Squamish, it continues north for another 58 kilometres (36 mi) to Whistler, and then to Pemberton 32 kilometres (20 mi) later, where the Sea-to-Sky Highway ends.

Entire route is only about 2 hours each way without any stops.

 Starting in Horseshoe Bay (Northern Vancouver), the road runs along the steep-sided Howe Sound.

Brittania Beach first developed between 1899 and 1904 as the residential area for the staff of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company. The residential areas and the mining operation were interrelated, resulting in mining and community disasters through its history. Floods, fires and avalanches plagued the town throughout the years and killed hundreds of men, women and children. High operating costs and taxes eventually forced the mine to close in 1974.

Today, the town is host to the Britannia Mine Museum, located on the grounds of the old mines. The mine's old concentrator facilities, used to separate copper ore from its containing rock, are a National Historic Site of Canada.

We stopped at the Shannon falls.

Shannon Falls:

 

 Shannon Falls tumbles down a series of cliffs rising 335 meters above Highways 99, making it the third highest falls in British Columbia. The falls are named after William Shannon, who settled here in 1889 and made bricks in the area to sell them to the copper mine.

Brandywine Falls:

Brandywine Falls (70 metre waterfall) is short easily accessible walk from the parking lots;  the viewpoint also presents marvelous views of Daisy Lake and the surrounding mountains.  Two surveyors (Jack Nelson and Bob Mollison) for the Howe Sound and Northern Railway made a wager for a bottle of brandy about  estimating  the height of the falls. When the height was actually measured with a chain Mollison won the bottle of brandy and the falls was named Brandywine.

Whistler:

We reached Whistler village, parked in the metered lot and bought the tickets for the gondola. Queue took hardly 5 minutes. Buying the ticket in advance online gives a decent discount and saves time but then you have to commit to the ride even in bad weather conditions. We would not have taken this drive if the weather was not clear, so not doing advance online purchase made sense for us.

Whistler was named after the “whistle” sound of the marmots living in the area.

Peak 2 Peak Gondola:

The Whistler Blackcomb ski resort is by many measures the largest ski resort in North America. We can still see remnants of glaciers encrust the highest peaks. Peak 2 Peak Gondola holds the records for the highest and longest unsupported cable car span in the world, moving between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains at the top.

WHISTLER:

 There’s 360-degree views of Whistler Village on the way up and stunning mountain peaks at the top. The mountain trails are filled with downhill mountain bikers.

Lovely little glacial lake in turquoise blue below....

BLACKCOMB:

After enjoying the panoramic view on top of Whistler, we rode to Blackcomb. Again stunning views.

Then we took 2 open chair lifts back to the village. Terrific experience.

Alexander falls:

We drove back, taking the diversion to see the Olympic park. It as closed, but we did manage to see the Alexander falls. Nobody on these roads and we were scared of grizzlies which frequent this area. There were 2 camper vans in the parking lot with screaming bathers in the falls. So we could get down and enjoy the falls in peace, no worries! 

Pretty remote and nice experience before we joined the highway back to Vancouver.

Porteau cove:

On the way back we stopped at Porteau cove. With the lighting being what it is, it'll be a better experience to drive from Whistler to Vancouver in the morning to enjoy the beauty of the drive,

We had meant to drive through the beautiful Lions gate and Stanley park but saw signs on the electronic board saying there will be a 15 min delay as traffic is backed up there. We regretfully took another route and reached home . We had an early ferry to catch the next day.

This being a long weekend, we had expected massive crowds in Whistler, but we were OK. No lines anywhere and we had had a fun day!

Day 10, Sep 3, 2017, Sunday:

Day trip to Victoria

We had tried to book the car ferry at BC ferry site but found no slots available for Saturday. Probably because it was the last Fireworks/concert night. We booked a slot for Sunday 8am ferry, the site said checking in closes 30 minutes before. It was a 45 min drive from our apt to the ferry pier.

We were out of the home by 6.15 and reached the pier a little after 7am. The process was smooth. We boarded at the scheduled time, parked the car, then sat in comfy sofas for the 1 ½ hour trip. 

We deboarded at Victoria and Butchart gardens was a 30 min drive. We reached there around 10 am. Again an easy process, where we just drove to the gate, bought tickets for ourselves which included parking.

Butchart Gardens:

We were at the colorful gardens in no time. It was a fairy tale setting! 

In 1982 the Butchart Gardens was used as the inspiration for the gardens at the Canadian pavilion opened at Epcot Centre in Disney World, Orlando Florida. We had seen it there and it was great to be at the original.

Robert Butchart was in the cement production; he moved to  west coast of Canada because of rich limestone deposits necessary for cement production. In 1904, he and his wife Jenny established their home near his quarry. In 1909, when the limestone quarry was exhausted, Jennie Butchart set about turning it into the Sunken Garden, which was completed in 1921. They named their home "Benvenuto" ("welcome" in Italian), and began to receive visitors to their gardens

In 1939, the Butcharts gave the Gardens to their grandson Ian Ross (1918–1997) on his 21st birthday. Ross was involved in the operation and promotion of the gardens until his death 58 years later.

Ownership of The Gardens remains within the Butchart family; the owner and managing director since 2001 is the Butcharts' great-granddaughter Robin-Lee Clarke.

We had our meal in scenic surroundings and then drove to Miniature world. Parked at the Fairmont hotel parking and walked to the site.

Miniature World:

It's called the greatest little show on earth and it indeed is. TOTALLY STUNNING!

There are some 85 displays... I'll let the pics tell the story.

We had a return ferry booked at 6pm. We reluctantly left at 4.30 and reached the pier. Returned to Vancouver pier at 7.30 as sun was setting and drove home, very happy.

Next day morning we were leaving Vancouver. Report is at:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/10/canada-trip-report-day-11-vancouver-to.html

VIDEO:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nBKSRJhPGqkwMD33

has the video of Vancouver(Queen Elizabeth Park, Blodel), Victoria(Butchart, Miniature world),

Toronto (CN Tower, Casa Loma)