Author: Shane McDermott
I grew up on Vancouver Island and couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful place to live! Although it is no longer my home, I can’t wait to get back and show you all how amazing this place is. Join me for 6 glorious summer days on this northwest island paradise tour June 18-23, 2017!
This is truly one of those photo tours that offers everything you could imagine and hope for. You will experience it all including charming cityscapes, bustling harbor scenes, beautiful gardens, ancient rain forests, wild orcas, stunning seascapes and abundant coastal wildlife!
The tour begins in the heart of old Victoria’s inner harbor. This quaint old Victorian city has a very special charm and will capture your heart the moment you lay eyes on it! As you walk through the gobble stoned back streets of Victoria you’ll feel as though your in an old European city. I remember moving to Victoria from up island as soon as I was old enough and my parents would allow it, I just love visiting this place!
Although we could easily spend the entire six days in Victoria, we will visit many of the local highlights, including, the spectacular inner harbor with it’s famous Empress Hotel, fisherman’s wharf, the world renowned Butchart Gardens, Craig Derek Castle, the Edwardian style Hatley castle of Royal Roads and more.
From Victoria, we’ll head to the vast open waters on the west coast of the island, where we will begin the nature portion of our photo journey. Based out of coastal fishing village of Port Renfrew, we’ll spend 3 fun filled days exploring one of the islands true natural gems, Juan De Fuca Provincial Park. Juan De Fuca offers spectacular seascapes, rivers, waterfalls and old growth rainforests as well as abundant coastal wildlife.
On the coastal portion of our tour photo, location highlights will include Parkinson beach, botanical beach loop trail, Botany Bay, Avatar grove and a few other surprise locations. Expect to be astonished with the diverse beauty to this enchanting park and it’s rich display of both flora and fauna! The immense moss covered giants of the Avatar grove rival the mighty redwoods of California. Even better, few people even know this place exists, which means quiet serenity and a relaxed photographic environment.
Upon returning to Victoria we’ll finish our tour chasing wild orcas across the open ocean! If lions are the king of the savanna, orcas are definitely the king of the sea! To see and photograph these massive whales in their natural and wild ways will provide you with remarkable photographic opportunities and lasting impressions. We’ll conclude our time together a warm summer evening dinner together overlooking the inner harbor.
Shane McDermott is an instructor with Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.