Victoria Butterfly Gardens

I always like butterfly gardens, and it made a good stop in the rain.



There are always lots of butterflies, the question is whether they sit still in a spot where I can photograph them. I also prefer to get them in natural settings - not sitting on the wall or on the fruit they put out for them, even though that is where they tend to sit still.







There were also a few caterpillars around. This interesting looking one is from the Giant Owl Butterfly,



And a few other miscellaneous insects, including leafcutter ants. Leafcutter ants have different "castes" which vary in size. I assume the two in this photo are two different castes. The smaller "minors" are actually the soldiers that defend the foragers.



Praying mantis are a favorite of mine.



There were also parrots and flamingos, and a few turtles.



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Victoria

It's been a few years since we've been in Victoria so it was nice to wander around. If you're lucky you'll see some otters or seals in the harbour. These are river otters, perhaps a family group since there were two smaller presumably younger ones.



Victoria in the summer seems full of flowers.



It was hazy, probably from the forest fires, but we did get a few views of Mt. Baker in the distance (another one we've climbed).



We had some nice meals - Il Terrazo, Oak Bay Hotel, Muse Winery, Spinnaker, Rebar - lots of good places in and around Victoria.

We went for lunch at Muse Winery, sampled some of their wines, and wandered their vineyards where the grapes were ripening. (We sampled some of the grapes too - interesting how they varied in sweetness and flavor.)



After supper at Spinnakers we had a sunset walk along the water.



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