plonq | Here are some random shots from our vacation (Reply)

Posted in no particular order (and behind a cut tag), here are some random shots from our vacation.

From top to bottom (and left to right, as required):

This isn't the best picture from our lot, but this has always been my favourite part of the gardens. Just do a Google search for Butchart Gardens and you'll find all kinds of pictures of the place. I keep trying to remember why it was that I moved away from this climate. I'm not happy with the sky in this picture - our camera seems to have trouble with fine details against an overcast backdrop. I don't know if it's a feature of the jpg compression or if this is something that I can fix in other camera settings. I'll have to wait for another overcast day and play around a bit with settings.

My ~~niece~~ grandniece was running along, kicking the ball when suddenly this happened. Ah well, coordination come with practise. This one is my nephew's kid, and she's one of the cutest, most sweet-tempered kids I've met in awhile. She must have got that from her mother's side...

This is the carillon outside of the Royal British Columbia Museum. Every hour or so a guy climbs the stairs to serenade the city with off-key musical numbers that all sound the same. It's supposed to be charming or something.

Here's another grandniece - on my niece's side this time. atara caught a rather striking picture of her, IMO. She's frighteningly like her older sister was at this age, both in looks and personality. It's only because her older sister seems to have grown into a decent, well-behaved kid that I guess there still might be hope for this one.

Goldstream park does not get enough rain to count as a true rain forest, but the valley retains enough water to generate the same kind of growth. atara called this part of the park "prehistoric", and it's hard to argue with that when you look at the picture.

Here is another shot from the gardens. As far as I can remember, this is the first otter I have ever seen rendered in a totem pole. It's very cute in person (but otters generally are). The pole is (from bottom to top) and otter, beaver and eagle.