The second leg of our trip was the descent from the Rockies, with the stay at Chateau (Castle) Lake Louise and Lake Moiraine (Jewel of the Rockies) being the climax. Those few days were the most jaw dropping experiences I've ever had in terms of sheer natural beauty. Afterwards, We visited various misc. sites, such as a wine factory and a honey plant. After getting back and resting up at my cousin's for a day, we headed off to Victoria Island, which is where the capital of British Columbia is located at.

There wasn't as much to do at Victoria as there was in the Rockies, but it was enough to kill a whole day. The Buschart Gardens were magnificent, putting many of our local gardens (Huntington) here to shame. Then there was the world famous wax museum, where real people / location / events were replicated via (you guessed it) wax. I would've snapped pictures of those but they didn't allow any camera work in there.

The figures were really life like, including such people as Queen Victoria, Elizabeth I and II, British Prime Minister Tony Blaire, and even Pres. Bill Clinton! Another one of my favorites was the torture chamber, where they replicated various methods of torture via wax. It was grisly, showing the effects of torture such as blood and scars. The rest of my family scurried on past that place, while I slowed down to enjoy the intricate art (or maybe cuz I'm just desensitized to violence).

Once again, I highly recommend a vacation to Canada. It met, and exceeded all my expectations for that place. Now all I need to do is to visit Australia and see how that turns out to be. Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. As usual, click to enlarge. Enjoy!


This is the city of Banff, facing the Cascades Mountains.	The administration of Banff, which doubles as a park / garden.	One of the largest wine plants in the world...


This is at a park facing the Okanagan Lake.	My mom and my brother w/ a honey manufacturing plant behind them.	Back at Vancouver! This is at a mall where we ate at the Rainforest Cafe.


One of the many ships heading towards Victoria Island.	This is at the Buschart Gardens on Victoria Island.	They sure have fancy fountains at the Buschart Gardens...


... and majestic ones too!	The whole family in front of the administration of Victoria, capital of B.C.

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