Canada's Sub-Tropical Playground

On my first day in Victoria, about fifteen years ago, I remember the sky was bright blue, the sun vibrantly warm. As the Vancouver ferry entered the bay, I saw a village with streets lined in intense green lawns and immense trees. Then I saw the extravagant architecture, the Empress Hotel (now The Fairmont Empress) where people still enjoyed high tea, and the British Columbia Parliament that at night became a fairyland of lights and realized by Victoria, settled in 1843, is regarded as one of western Canada’s oldest and most beautiful cities.

I’ve returned to Victoria several times, a place that caters to tourists, politicians, and residents, but my first visit was the most impactful. That’s when I came upon a pair of coconut palms, lithe with green fronds like those in Miami or Key West. It was odd to see palms outside a pub in Victoria; Canadian winter temperatures average well below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and -400 F is not unusual. I’d always thought a palm wouldn’t survive here except in a greenhouse.

Until this year, I’d been to Victoria only in the warm season of hanging flower baskets and colorful flowerbeds. I’d trekked the famous Butchart Gardens and tracked black and white orcas with the Prince of Whales. Still thinking about those palm trees, I wondered if Victoria’s winters were an anomaly. Would a Floridian used to warmer climes survive—maybe even enjoy it there?

This past January, my husband and I flew to Hawaii to escape the North Florida cold. On our way back, in early February, we stopped in Seattle and caught a Victoria Clipper ferry north. The Clipper offers travel packages with a selection of hotels and tours. We chose the Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites. For a reasonable price, we had round-trip ferry tickets and a comfortable suite with separate living room and kitchenette. Perched on a hill above the downtown, the Chateau overlooks the city and the bay. Its top-floor restaurant offers a 360-degree panorama of the Straits of Juan de Fuca—the United States- Canadian boundary—and the Olympic Peninsula.

Tucked in a bay at the bottom of Vancouver Island, Victoria is near the Pacific Ocean, and surrounded by the Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Straits. The city with British architecture also has a unique mix of indigenous and European heritage art and artists. For example, an Emily Carr statue of a woman talking with a monkey and a dog is stationed near a busy street corner. Across the street, a totem carved by Henry Hunt, a Kwawkewlth Indian, commemorates the 1866 unification of the mainland and Vancouver Island.

During our stay, redbud trees burst out in tiny bright-pink flowers. All around the city, pear and apple trees put forth delicate white and pale pink blossoms. Weeks after we returned home to North Florida, those same kinds of trees began to bloom.

Down by the docks, I discovered a line of palms more like the sabal palms of North Florida than the graceful coconut palms of Miami. But palms they were, and they grew all over the city. With its flowering trees and palms, Victoria almost seemed more tropical than North Florida. The local residents I talked with agreed and expressed a common sentiment: Victoria was Canada’s version of Hawaii.

History played a central role in Victoria’s culture, as the displays at the Royal British Columbia Museum revealed. The permanent collection of First People, or Native American, art and artifacts is outstanding. The changing displays are also first class. Several years ago, the museum hosted a comprehensive collection of Viking artifacts. This time, the displays included the impact of dinosaurs and climate change. The city also has many excellent restaurants. In addition to the meals at our hotel, we enjoyed salmon and Dungeness crab at Nautical Nellies by the bay.

Transportation options for reaching Victoria include the large car ferries from Vancouver, on the Canadian mainland, and Port Angeles, in the United States. Smaller passenger ferries and seaplanes connect Victoria with Vancouver and Seattle. Victoria’s International Airport, a few miles north of town, has flights to many cities. In season, tour boats and cruise ships make stopovers in Victoria.

Summer is Victoria’s peak tourist season, but for a Florida gal winter also has its charms.

By Sandra Elliot