Last month Burnaby Mountain District took a day trip to visit our province’s capital for a day of culture, fun, and friendship. Organizing this trip was quite the undertaking as more than 70 girls participated. Girls left Burnaby on a school bus early in the morning and arrived back there late in the evening. In between they participated in their choice of a variety of experiences — all on a day that turned out to be very, very rainy!

Girls had signed up for their experiences ahead of time. Choices included the Royal BC Museum, Miniature World, a tour of the BC Legislature, and more.

Girls who went to the museum got to enjoy amazing artifacts from the Mayan civilization at the featured exhibition called Maya: The Great Jaguar rises. Some of the items were about 3000 years old! They also had time to check out some of the living world exhibits to learn more about the geography and creatures in beautiful British Columbia.

The legislature tour was very informative, telling girls all about the history of how BC’s government was formed and how it functions today. They also got to enjoy the amazing architecture of a very beautiful building. The engaging tour was inspirational for the girls.

The incredibly detailed dioramas at Miniature World were a highlight of the trip for both some of the youngest and also some of the oldest girls on the trip. There’s something about the tiny figurines recreating periods of history and fantasy that really capture the imagination. They’re really cool!

Some girls also spent time at majestic Beacon Hill park, including playing with some incredibly friendly petting zoo goats. What a group of silly kids! (See what I did there?)

 At the Victoria Bug Zoo, girls got to learn about, view, and even handle some amazing bugs. It’s a wild world out there.

The rain put a bit of a damper on things, making the planned scavenger hunt a bit of a bust. Pathfinders also had their bike tour cancelled due to the weather — but the girls still had a blast doing some shopping and stopping for tea at Murchies. It turned out to be a bit of a lesson for some girls about being prepared… for much of the day it wasn’t lightly drizzling, it was pouring.

Everyone gathered at the end of the day for a huge group meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The staff there did an incredible job feeding our huge group and getting us out in a timely manner so we could get back on the buses and to the ferry terminal in time to get home on schedule.

What a day! Thank you to all the businesses, tour guides, tourist attractions, and friendly strangers who helped out our group all day. Thank you to the planning committee who worked hard to make this trip happen, and thank you to the girls who participated in cookie sales and other fundraising to make this trip (especially its transportation costs) manageable.