um, Sidney Summer Street Market on Thursday evenings and the Mary Winspear Centre, with a full lineup of special events and performances. The pastoral Saanich Peninsula is home to a number of excellent attractions, including the famous The Butchart Gardens, Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Heritage Acres. Agritourism is also a growing pastime, with such celebrated stops as Church & State and Muse wineries, Sea Cider Cidery and Victoria Spirits. With scenery second to none, you’ll also find excellent cycling and paddling opportunities and pleasant drives.
West Shore Communities, Sooke & the West Coast About 15 minutes from Victoria, or a pleasant bike ride out the Galloping Goose Trail from downtown, find the growing West Shore region and the communities of View Royal, Highlands, Colwood, Langford, Metchosin and Sooke. Here you can indulge in a wide variety of outdoor activities or spend time at several hubs for shopping and dining West Shore attractions include Olympic View and Bear Mountain Golf Courses, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites, Hatley Park at Royal Roads University, Adrena LINE Zipline, the Sooke Region Museum and a thriving arts community. Beyond Sooke, the landscape grows even wilder, with lush coastal rainforest and dazzling beaches, such as French Beach, Mystic Beach and Botanical Beach — home to amazing rock formations and rich tidal pools. The 47-km Juan de Fuca Marine Trail traces the shoreline from China Beach to Botanical Beach and is divided into sections, allowing hikers to choose a portion of the trail as a day trip or to tackle the whole route over about three days. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Martin Machacek is a Victoria-based fine artist who was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic. Since moving to Victoria in 2006, he has created distinctive paintings of iconic local landmarks, which are now collected and enjoyed worldwide. Architecture has been his main focus since the 1990s when he graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) in Calgary, Canada. Machacek spent several years working for architects, developing a keen understanding of perspective while creating precise renderings of commercial projects. Since 2002, Machacek has created spirited paintings on a full-time basis, relying on his architectural background and strong drawing skills to bring his paintings to life, giving them a sculptural presence in a two-dimensional form. He aims to celebrate the beauty of imperfections in his charismatic artwork and to encourage people to appreciate their surroundings in a new light. The fluid, soft lines of his paintings mimic natural gestures and provide an organic element to man-made objects. The subjects are still recognizable but gain fresh energy through his paintings.
Fisgard Lighthouse in the West Shore.
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