Outside the Inner Harbour Victoria has a scattering of minor
attractions that don't fit into any logical tour of the city - and
at any rate are only short-stop diversions. Most have a pioneer
slant, though if you want old buildings the best is Craigdarroch
Castle , nestled on a hilltop in Rockland, one of Victoria's
more prestigious easterly neighborhoods, at 1050 Joan Crescent
(daily: mid-June to early Sept 9am-7pm; early Sept to mid-June
10am-4.30pm; $8; tel 592-5323, www.craigdarrochcastle.com ;
bus #11 or #14-University from downtown). It was built by Robert
Dunsmuir, a caricature Victorian politician, strike-breaker, robber
baron and coal tycoon - the sort of man who could change a
community's name on a whim (Ladysmith near Nanaimo) - and who was
forced to put up this gaunt Gothic pastiche to lure his wife away
from Scotland. Only the best was good enough, from the marble,
granite and sandstone of the superstructure to the intricately
handworked panels of the ceilings over the main hall and staircase.
Unfortunately for him the dastardly Dunsmuir never enjoyed his
creation - he died before it was finished. There's the usual
clutter of Victoriana and period detail, in particular some
impressive woodwork and stained and leaded glass.
Much the same goes for the Victorian-Italianate Point Ellice
House & Gardens , 2616 Pleasant St (mid-May to mid-Sept
daily noon-5pm; $4; tel 387-4697; bus #14 from downtown),
magnificently re-created but less enticing because of its slightly
shabby surroundings. These can be overcome, however, if you make a
point of arriving by sea, taking one of the little Harbour Ferry
services to the house (10min) from the Inner Harbour. The restored
Victorian-style gardens here are a delight on a summer afternoon.
The interior - one of the best of its kind in the Northwest -
retains its largely Victorian appearance thanks partly to the
reduced circumstances of the O'Reilly fam-ily, whose genteel slide
into relative poverty over several generations (they lived here
from 1861 to 1974) meant that many furnishings were simply not
replaced. Tea is served on the lawns in the summer: it's a good
idea to book ahead ($16.95).
Similar reservations apply to the Craigflower Manor &
Farmhouse about 9km and fifteen-minutes' drive from downtown on
Admiral's Road, or take the #14-Craigflower bus from downtown
(May-Oct daily 10am-5pm; $5; tel 387-4697). In its day the latter
was among the earliest of Victoria's farming homesteads, marking
the town's transition from trading post to permanent community. It
was built in a mock-Georgian style in 1856, apparently from timbers
salvaged from the first four farmhouses built in the region. Its
owner was Kenneth McKenzie, a Hudson's Bay Company bailiff, who
recruited fellow Scottish settlers to form a farming community on
Portage Inlet. The house was to remind him of the old country
(Scotland), and soon became the foremost social centre in the
fledgling village - mainly visited by officers because McKenzie's
daughters were virtually the only white women on the island.
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria , 1040 Moss St, just
off Fort Street (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs till 9pm, Sun 1-5pm; $5;
bus #10-Haultain, #11 or #14-University from downtown; tel
384-4101, www.aggv.bc.ca ), is a long way to come and of
little interest unless you're partial to contemporary Canadian
paintings and Japanese art: the building, housed in the 1890
Spencer Mansion, boasts the only complete Shinto shrine outside
Japan. It does, however, have a small permanent collection of Emily
Carr's work, and you may catch an interesting temporary exhibition
that changes every six weeks.