Canada Travel Photo Gallery

Victoria Vancouver Island

In the south of Vancouver Island is Victoria the most British township in the whole of Canada. The architecture of many buildings the red double Decker buses are still very British. The name of the town Victoria points to the fact that this island belonged once to the British Empire.

A visit to the Parliament Building, the Fairmont Empress and the Royal British Columbia Museum are a must. The culture and history of British Columbia as well as the first nation are excellently documented. Outside of the museum is the Thunderbird Park containing a collection of Totem Poles.

Fort Victoria was founded in 1843 by the Hudson Bay Company as a trading post. In 1862 Victoria became a town and since 1868 is the residence of the British Columbia Government.

The Parliament House is the most famous building in Victoria. A golden sculpture of the national hero Captain George Vancouver decorates the copper dome of the Parliament House.

The Johnson Street Bridge is an huge steel construction which spans over the harbour of Victoria. The bridge is also known as the “Big Blue”. It was built in the 1924 and is split in two segments one for the Trans Canada Railway and the other for motor traffic.

Nothing is built for eternity like the Johnson Street Bridge. If the councillors have their way the Johnson Street Bridge should be demolished and be replaced by a new bridge . The future of the bridge seemed to be concluded.
In recent times however the people of Victoria stardet to resist the destruction of the blue bridge.

The luxurious Fairmont Empress Hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in 1908.

After sundown the Parliament House is illuminated by thousand light globes it looks like a fairy castle.

Houseboat romantic on the Fisherman’s wharf. At the south end of the inner harbour in Fisherman’s wharf is a small village of houseboats.

The noise of start and landing airplanes of the West Coast Airline assault once ears. The airport is situated right in the inner harbour of Victoria. It is intresting for the tourists to see airplanes start and land in the middle of a suburb. But quite noisy for the population.