What is written nowhere is that the ferry from Vancouver can only arrive in Schwartz Bay, a half hou

This summer it would finally be possible. cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico Russ had meticulously researched for months, reading through consumer reviews and studying guidebooks. Although many train options exist, about three months before our scheduled departure, he switched gears. Our decision to rent a car, follow a similar route, and stop/eat/rest when we pleased for a fraction of the cost overrode the plan to ride the rails. Russ instead researched hotels, locations, car rentals, routes and must-see attractions.
Most of our trip exceeded our expectations and I will tell you about those glorious occasions soon in another post. This story is about one of the worst vacation experiences either of us has ever had, the misinformation we were told , how it was preventable cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico , and how it may save you headaches cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico in your own travels.
Our day of disaster began with the decision to visit Butchart Gardens , an idyllic setting near Victoria on Vancouver Island . Russ had read and heard from others cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico how gorgeous the gardens were and that we could also visit in the same day, Victoria, a city of architecturally beautiful cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico buildings and design. Through his research, we knew touring companies would pick us up from our downtown Vancouver hotel, visit those two sites, and return in the late evening.
Our hotel concierge offered to arrange such a trip with their preferred touring company vendor. Pickup would be 8 am and return about 9 pm. Transportation each way was about three to three-and-a-half hours, depending on traffic. Never one to make such a hasty decision, Russ said we should visit the Vancouver Visitors Centre (VVC) to see how this touring company’s offerings varied cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico from others so we could make an informed cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico decision on which touring company to book.
The VVC representative cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico assisting us literally talked us out of taking the tour and into finding cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico our own way to the Gardens and Victoria. As she repeatedly advised: “It’s very easy to get there on our public transportation. It will take less than four hours and will cost you less than half the money.”
Hey…. We’re self-sufficient travelers. We (and I actually mean my husband here) are great at following directions to a location, even when out of country. Bonus we get to save money we can spend elsewhere? How could we pass up this opportunity?
She gave us a map and written directions published for the VVC. All we had to do was walk to the Sky Train, cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico jump on a bus to the ferry and hop on a bus to Butchart Gardens. cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico Victoria wasn’t far from there, cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico about 20 minutes, so we could take a bus from the gardens to Victoria, return to the ferry, a bus and the Sky Train. Easy, she kept emphasizing.
What we weren’t told is that the Sky Train runs by zones. We don’t know what zone we’re in, let alone how many zones we pass through to get to our stop. There are no maps on the station’s walls, nor is there a ticket box or human ticket taker to explain how to buy tickets for multiple zones for multiple people.
A Canadian local came to our aid. We again sought her aid to know which train to hop aboard and which stop to get off to catch the bus. Mind you, the ferry is a destination, cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico yet there are no posters or materials telling how to get there. No one takes our tickets nor is there a slot to enter them. When we inquired about that, someone said undercover police monitor that people cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico really buy the tickets.
We get off at the correct stop, Bridgeport Station, which happens to be alongside a casino. We hurry to find the correct bus, unsure how often they come but everyone cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico seems to be moving at a quickened pace, so we do too.
Our printed instructions from the VVC say which numbered bus to take. We see that number, but by the time we get in the queue, the bus is filled. The driver says the next bus goes to the same location and we should all board that one.
What we are never told by anyone is that there are always two buses with the same designated number, but only one has an X attached. X for express. The next bus is X-less. Having a few minutes before it arrives, we scurry inside the casino’s building to find a washroom.
The bus arrives and we board, only to discover (because there’s nothing to indicate this) that only coins are accepted. No paper money. Even though we are hardly the only non-locals boarding unaware of this, it makes for a frantic departure by Russ and all of them to hurry back to the station’s money changing machine so we can all board the bus before it leaves .
Before boarding, Russ double checks cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico with the ticket agent about the departure time for our return. All literature says there is an 8 pm return ferry on Fridays and Sundays. All other days there is just a 7 and a 9 pm ferry, but Russ wants to verify. She assures us there is an 8 pm return ferry.
What is written nowhere is that the ferry from Vancouver can only arrive in Schwartz Bay, a half hour bus ride to Butchart Gardens (if you’re on the X bus), but if you travelled by ferry from Seattle, WA, the ferry can dock directly at Vancouver Island and then it’s a very quick trip to the Gardens.
It is now around 2 pm. We’d eaten a light breakfast at 7 and are hungry. We opt for a quick lunch at Poppyseed Café, assuming that following our trek through the Gardens, we’ll head to Victoria and dine there. My yam salad with feta cheese, cranberries and toasted hazelnuts was quite tasty but I wish there had been more of it. Russ had a tasteless egg salad sandwich. Can you see how this did not lighten our mood?
We meandered through Butchart for about two-and-a-half hours. cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico The design and beauty of the flowers cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico was a true testament cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico to Jennie Butchart , who began reshaping the abandoned limestone quarry into the Sunken Gardens in 1904.
Russ is anxious to get to Victoria. An avid photographer and lover of historical architecture, he’s eager to see what the guidebooks have described: a city of preserved and recreated Victorian architectural beauty. He couldn’t wait to tour the legendary Fairmont Empress Hotel .
This a 50 minute journey. We arrive at nearly 6 pm. Not much time to tour Victoria if we’re to catch another bus back to Schwartz Bay so we can catch the 8 pm ferry. We decide instead of eating dinner there, we’ll eat something on the ferry. They have a full café, buffet cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico dinner venue, and even Starbucks. Before we can dash off for a fast trip straight to the hotel two blocks away, I decided that after all that’s happened, I should check the posted bus schedule. The only X bus for the rest of the evening is at 6:20. Russ takes three fast pictures of the hotel with a telephoto lens and we have no more time except to jump on the bus back to the ferry. Are you sensing how distraught we were by then?
Nine??? What are you talking about? We were clearly told there would be an 8 pm ferry. Yes, there usually is… just not tonight. Nowhere is that posted. No signs at the ticket office. Nothing on the ferry. Obviously even the clerk we spoke to earlier in the day was unaware. We were not the only passengers upset at this unexpected announcement.
If we had been told the truth, we would have skipped Victoria and gone from the Gardens straight to Schwartz Bay. We’d have skipped an additional hour of bouncing in a bus. We could have made it back to Vancouver and had a lovely dinner.
We’re very hungry and unless we want to wait to eat until the 9 pm ferry, we have only two options. Take a taxi to a restaurant or we can eat at the café next door to the ferry, cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico which is owned by the ferry. Did I mention the 9 pm ferry is the last of the evening and if we miss it, we are SOL? Would you take a chance catching a taxi, having the restaurant’s service be fast, the food great, and that getting another taxi to return would be prompt?
We ate at the café. I won’t bore you with the abysmal food choices available at that time of night and that it was so horrid that we barely ate any of it. Oh, and there’s no booze there, so we couldn’t cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico even drown our sorrows.
We boarded the ferry, arrived back in Vancouver around 11:30. By the time we boarded an X-bus ($5.50), cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico took the Sky Train ($5.50) and then walked back to our hotel through the mobs of young people out for late-night dinners and partying, it is 1 a.m.
Contrary to the guidebooks and the VVC, Vancouver Island’s Butchart Gardens cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico is not an easy day trip, even by arranged tour… at least not if you actually want to enjoy the venues at a leisurely pace and would rather spend more time visiting those venues than travelling there.
The one truth we were told is that taking public transportation would cost less than taking a tour. It did. We still spent roughly $200, not counting meals. Was it worth what we experienced? Absolutely NOT!
Karen Kuzsel is a writer-editor based in the Orlando area who specializes in the hospitality, entertainment, meetings events industries.  She is a Contributing cheap airline tickets to santa fe new mexico Editor-Writer for Prevue Magazine and is an active member of ISES and MPI. She writes about food wine, spas, destinations, venues, meetings events. A career journalist, Karen has owned magazines, written for newspapers, trade publications, radio and TV. As her alter-ego, Natasha, The Psychic Lady, she is a featured entertainer for corporate and social events. karenkuzsel@earthlink.net ; www.ThePsychicLady.com ; @ karenkuzsel ; @thepsychiclady.