I posted late in week 4, so just a weekend in Victoria to write about really. We got a good deal on a bus/ferry/hotel package, so it was a good time to explore.
The sea was amazingly foggy on the way over. It was hard to see more than a ship length away – the harbour was out of sight in seconds, and ahead of us, just a wall of white. It was cold and damp too, so very few people up on deck. But I love ships, and the cool wet air is just part of the experience.
Not far out of the harbour, there’s a “line in the water” where the water from the Fraser River meets the sea, the mixing of the water is much more visible than it is in other places. I spent ages wondering why it was so visible, wasn’t till I was back at work that someone explained that the river water carries high levels of silt, so it’s a very different colour and density to the sea water.
It was still amazingly beautiful though. Having seen the islands from the boat on the way to whale watching, it was very striking how the difference in light and visibility affected them. Even with a fast lens, my camera was struggling to catch good pictures, and there was constantly water spray in the air. At least one person’s SLR stopped working on deck – hopefully it dried out later.
As we came through the islands, a sea-plane flew by, low above the water to stay below the clouds and maintain visibility. It was barely visible at times, just audible, with flashes of blue wing escaping the mist between moments. I could imagine how scary, and how much fun, it would be to fly so low in such weather. It’s been tempting to get a flying lesson here, they’re so cheap, and I’d love to fly a plane, just once.
Saturday afternoon, we explored downtown Victoria. We poked in shops, and did a self-guided walking tour of Chinatown. Downtown Victoria is pretty much a tourist trap, similar things you’d see in any tourist spot really. We had dinner in an English-style fish and chip shop (almost right, not quite, but they had brown sauce) – then went to a Scottish pub for whisky. There wasn’t much Scottish about the pub, apart from bar staff in pseudo-kilts and mini-kilts, but they did have a good whisky selection. I spotted a Macallen 25 on the bar, but decided to try the Bowmore 15 since I hadnt had it before. I’d ordered before I checked the prices.. became very glad I hadn’t ordered the Macallen, it was $69 a shot! The Bowmore cost $15, but it was a nice taste of home. Then an early night – with clocks going back, a wonderful long lie. We seriously needed that extra sleep, we’d so much run ourselves into the ground between work and other things – so it was wonderful to go to bed early in a nice hotel bed.
Sunday morning began with breakfast in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant – there’s amazing views in all directions, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Then there should have been a casual stroll to a bus, then coffee with our friend Kiki , but first there was a hat emergency (Veronica ‘s hat ran away), and secondly the hotel had messed up our bill – so it was more of a rush to the bus. Still, there was coffee and great company when we got there. Conversation touched on houseboats, and Fisherman’s Wharf, so that was added to our walking plans for the afternoon.
And it was worth adding. If exploring Victoria’s inner harbour, turn south to Fishermans Wharf, and forget the tourist trap. See the coloured houseboats, the cute fish stalls, seals and seagulls. Buy a few fish from a stall to feed the seal, and get a Swiss Army trained bodyguard to fend off the seagulls thrown in.
Then we walked out to Ogden point, where a long breakwater protects Victoria’s harbour. You can walk a long way out to sea on the breakwater, and there are amazing views, and seabirds galore. We saw cormorants, turnstones, pigeon guillimots, harlequin duck, various gulls, geese flying in formation, and quite possible some tufted puffins (but they were too far off to identify for sure). There were people fishing and scuba diving off the breakwater, it looks like a great spot. Check out the panoramic view I took from the point, its pretty much 270 degrees around.
Lots more pictures here: http://gallery.skirnir.com/v/travel/vancouver10/victoria/
Laid back weekend coming up. With a little cold weather kayaking in the middle 🙂
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