Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria, BC, Canada

After Michelle returned from Portland, we spent another enjoyable night with Lisa. Michelle loved the time as she and LT went to get a Christmas tree and we spent the evening decorating - getting into the Christmas spirit. The next day, we hopped on a ferry and cruised over to Victoria on Vancouver Island to stay with our good friend Bernie!!
The weather in Victoria was again unseasonably cold and windy, but we came at a good time as Bernie had just finished his semester at UVic, working towards his MBA. That meant we had time to sightsee with him. He treated us to a few good meals and toured some of the rainforest greenery the Island is famous for. The salmon run had just finished but this meant that there were still many fish corpses in the stream - a little eerie!!! Also, the downtown was all dressed in Christmas lights and the Parliament building looked exceptionally impressive with lights outlining it all.
One highlight for us was a trip to the stunning CraigDarroch Castle. Built in the 1890's by Canada's richest man of his time (Robert Dunsmuir), the exterior was ornate and the interior was decorated in wood to great detail. It took some time to circulate as there was plenty to see and lots to read.
We also managed to take a trip up to Mill Bay to visit our friend from Cambodia - Ron - at his eclectic house in the country. We had to leave in a hurry as another major windstorm was expected and we didn't want to get stuck at the ferry. A long day landed us back in the Okanagan in Penticton after driving through whiteout, blizzard conditions on the Hope/Princeton Highway. *Stub