Tuesday Excursions, June 21
University Campus Walking tour, Free
This 90-minute walking tour takes you around the University of Victoria campus, highlighting the main campus buildings as well as interesting campus sites (like Finnerty Gardens, pictured here) and facts. This is a private guided tour for ABLE attendees. Please let the host know if you would like to participate in this tour but walking for 90 minutes is not possible. We have accessible-friendly options. We will meet at the Conference Registration room at 3pm and the tour will run until 4:30pm.
Victoria Harbour Ferry Tour, $45 CAD
This private tour of the Victoria Inner Harbour and scenic Gorge waterway is with the Victoria Harbour Ferry company. The tour will run from 1-2:30pm and transportation to the ferry will be included. This is a light exertion activity and family friendly.
Minimum 5, maximum 12 people/boat. Option to book a second boat.
Ocean Kayak Tour in the Victoria Inner Harbour/Gorge waterway, $45 CAD
This private, guided ocean kayak tour will be in the quiet and scenic areas of the Victoria Inner Harbour. The cost includes all necessary paddling and safety equipment and transportation to the site. This tour will run from 1:00-3:00pm.
Minimum 6, maximum 28 people. This activity requires moderate fitness.
Saturday Excursions, June 25
Ocean Networks Canada Tour, Free
On the trip to Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC’s) Marine Technology Centre you will learn about the instruments in the infrastructure and all the procedures and engineering behind the whole network and infrastructure. We will depart campus at 10am and return at 12:30pm.
ONC operates and maintains cabled observatories to monitor the ocean and inform decision making. The observatories feature a variety of instruments deployed in diverse habitats at different depths and on the seafloor that continuously collect data on multiple oceanographic parameters such as salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, and currents, as well as record deep-sea video and underwater sound. The data collected are transmitted in real time through fiber optic cable and are freely available to students, researchers, and educators through ONC’s data portal. However, there is a great deal of maintenance and preparation to have the infrastructure up and running. ONC carries out many phases of the process at the Marine Technology Centre where a group of engineers work with the instruments and hardware in the developing and testing process prior to them being deployed in the seafloor.
This is a light-exertion activity.
Butchart Gardens, $75 CAD
This tour includes transportation to Butchart Gardens. We will meet at 9am in downtown Victoria. For those staying on campus, conference host representatives will assist you to get to the meeting location in downtown Victoria. Once at the gardens, you can choose to stay for as long as you like. Generally, you can expect to be there until 3pm. The transportation service includes transport back to downtown Victoria. Those wishing to remain with the conference host representative will leave at 2pm, but all others can take a bus back at either 3pm, 4pm, or 5pm.
This is a light-exertion activity.
East Sooke Regional Park, $100 CAD
East Sooke Regional Park is a beautiful west-coast park that offers many options. Once arriving at the park, participants can choose to spend the day, 9am-3pm, exploring the beach or head out on a guided hike. Access to the beach is an easy excursion and family friendly (washrooms and accessible toilet). Hiking will require moderate fitness and a bag to carry the provided lunch bag. Minimum of 10 ppl, maximum of 23 ppl. A volunteer will escort the private ABLE tour. The tour includes transportation and a bag lunch.
Day Trip on Vancouver Island, $122 CAD
This day trip will take you to some of the top sightseeing locations on Vancouver Island. The tour will run from 8am – 5pm and includes transportation. Minimum of 10 ppl, maximum of 23 ppl. A volunteer will escort the private ABLE tour. This is a light-exertion activity.
The first stop will be at Cathedral Grove, which is one of the oldest and most accessible stands of giant Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island. Here visitors can stroll through a network of trails under the shadow of towering ancient Douglas-fir trees, majestic pillars untouched by the modern world – some more than 800 years old. The park protects and preserves an internationally significant representative example of Douglas fir old-growth forest within the Coastal Western Hemlock Biogeoclimatic Zone. Trails on lead visitors through the mighty stands of this old-growth coastal forest, including one of the largest Douglas firs – measuring more than 9 metres in circumference. Trails are well marked and maintained; some are wheelchair-accessible. Loop trails lead through the old-growth forest and a raised viewing platform on the south side of the park offers a unique perspective of the surroundings. The walk through the grove will take approximately 45 minutes.
Next, we will go to the Farmers’ Market in Coombs for lunch. The options range from fast-casual to table-service restaurants, and there are many great eatery options at the Market. An added attraction are the goats that live on the roof of the Old Country Market. The lunch break will be approximately 1.5 hours. There are several local shops to visit in Coombs as well.
The final stop on the trip will be Englishman River Falls featuring two stunning waterfalls cascading along the descending riverbed into a deep canyon. The falls are set amid a lush old-growth and second-growth forest of Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock, and maple. The park contains several hiking trails that meander through the forest and along the river. Visitors can expect spectacular views along the way, particularly from two bridges that cross the river where it plunges down the narrow rock canyon toward quieter waters below, where the lower falls end in a deep crystal-clear pool.
Some facilities in the park are wheelchair-accessible. We will stay at the falls for approximately 1 hour.
Other options
These options are not organized by the hosts. We will add any tour companies that wish to offer discounts to attendees to join on their own time.
Half-Day Hop-On-Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus Tour of Victoria, cost $47 CAD (– 20% discount)
This is a great way to see from a double decker bus some of the top city sites. The tour will be operated by Sightseeing Victoria. This is a light exertion activity.
Conference attendees receive a 20% discount. The promo code will be available to be used from June 20th to June 26th. We highly recommend participants to purchase tickets in advance through their website at http://www.sightseeingvictoria.com. There is a promo code box on the right-hand side of the payment summary. To get 20% off, please type UVIC22. This code is only valid for the Hop-On-Hop-Off City Sights.
