Victoria, British Columbia , 5/3/2022, National Geographic Venture
Aboard the
National Geographic Venture
Alaska
This morning, we arrived in Victoria, the beautiful capital city of British Columbia. We had a variety of options to choose from to see different aspects of this lovely city: a historic walking tour, a walk to some ‘secret gardens,’ a cycling excursion around the city, and a cultural canoe tour.
Photographers: Tara Kaestner, Nathan Kelley, and Berit Solstad
Berit grew up on the rocky shores of Marblehead, Massachusetts. In the tidal cove behind her family’s home she found horseshoe crabs, eels, and feeding frenzies of fishes and birds. Low tides exposed clam flats, crabs, mussels, and snails. She explor...
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The alpenglow of the snowcapped Olympic Range wished us good morning and farewell, from the United States to the Canuck welcoming committee of Canadian goose, red and white air dancers, and the verdant capital of British Columbia: The Garden City of Victoria. Crisp, sunny, and clear weather watched over us throughout the day as we rode bikes along the seashore to the world’s tallest freestanding totem pole or strolled through downtown and the historic waterfront on interpretive and gustatory adventures. We let our eyes wander through the foliage and flora of the city’s most-famed and super-secretive gardens. The undersea team took advantage of a slack low tide to explore the world-renowned Ogden Point breakwater just a short walk from the ship. They documented perhaps the most secret garden of the city: Fields of giant plumose anemones— “Anthozoans” or “flower animals” by their phylogeny. Cocktail hour found us enjoying the expansive collection of local and traditional pieces at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria before returning to National Geographic Quest to continue our Pacific North journey. Onward!
We spent our day enjoying the beauty of Glacier Bay National Park. After hiking in the early morning, we were treated to a welcome by NPS Ranger Hailey and the Tlingit people who have called this land home for thousands of years. As we cruised around the bay in rain, wind, and sun, we watched the beauty of the park reveal itself to us.
And so, it begins! After a blustery arrival in Seattle, our first day northbound to Sitka treated us to a crisp, bluebird day of sailing through the San Juan Islands. Early morning birding delivered us a plethora of rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, and bald eagles as we sailed into Friday Harbor, the ‘quiet capitol’ of San Juan proper. There we explored the famed and wonderful whale museum as an introduction to the charismatic megafauna that awaits us on our journey through these remarkably productive waters. But before there’s an orca, there are its planktonic puzzle pieces, witnessed through the undersea team’s temporary dockside jellyfish exhibition! In the afternoon, some of us tucked into Jones Island for hikes through this Mediterranean of the Pacific Northwest in the rain shadow of the Olympics. Others kayaked around the small harbor or Zodiac cruised around Jones and nearby Yellow Island as the dive team went looking for Seasquatches (yeti crabs) along one of the steep current-swept walls of this magical archipelago. A glorious sunset greeted us after a second delicious dinner, and we slowly made our way to Canada and the gardens of Victoria. No time for further Quest-ions—onward!