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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.
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