23rd September – Victoria
We made it out of town and to the airport with plenty of time to spare and absolutely no dramas. We had done our homework before leaving the hotel, asking both Uber drivers from the night before and the hotel receptionist to ensure we were heading the right way before I got behind the wheel and took out any pedestrians.
We figured we would have breakfast at the airport. Our bags are pretty heavy and we didn’t want to stress on when we arrived.
All the homework paid off and all the worry was for no reason. It was a 20 minute ride to the airport and even with the “peak hour” traffic there really were no issues.
Arriving at the airport the directions to drop off the rental car were easy and it all went seamlessly. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will they try and charge us for something, is this the wrong drop off point, OR is this the wrong airport???? But no, it all went super well (do you like how I am adopting our Canadian/American vernacular “super”) now onto the terminal.
At the kiosk, no issues, get out bag tags, attach to bags and head to the bag drop. No queues, no struggle, this is WAY too easy. Looking over my shoulder to see who is going to come and get me! There is no way this is going to go smoothly. I mean, come ON.
The bag drop, bag 1, boom gone. Bag 2, boom see ya. Bag 3, “this tag has already been scanned”. Yeah, there you go, that’s more like it. The relaxing feeling that the universe has righted itself.
We seek out a, way too easily identified and way too helpful airline assistant. Rather than being told there was an issue and I would have to pay, or being made to wait 30 minutes only to find out they could not help me, he escorts me over to another counter, scans my bag and wishes me a safe trip.
What kind of devil magic is this!
Next is security. I know we are not in the USA but surely Canada has the same draconian and time sucking process that is used by their neighbours and best friend. Hmmm, nope, we are scanned, and other than asking about my power bank (which is the mother of all power banks) we are through and clear.
Because we had been so sure there would be issues along the way we are now through security and standing on the right side of the airport with 3 hours to go. When does that happen?
The airport is relatively quiet, plenty of room to sit. We choose a breakfast option, some sort of mass produced omelette, and settle down.
The bonus of having lots of time to spare, I can sit down and knock out some posts from our trip so far. After breakfast and taking into account boarding time, I have 90 minutes. That should help with the backlog and, of course, fill in a fair bit of time.
Jason takes the opportunity to explore the airport. I am really pleased to say that he decides not to go through the doors to the other terminal. Which is really a good thing, I would have been a bit miffed to leave him behind. Then again, needs must.
Time ticks along, I get a lot written up and done, surely it is boarding time soon. Ahh, delays. Hello my old friend. Not to worry, only a 30 minute delay. Nope, 45 minutes, nope, 60 minutes, ahhh 90 minutes. I am so productive.
There was one REVOLTING issue with waiting at the airport, there was this gross, disgusting, vulgar, mother fucker who was coughing and snorting, and swallowing. It was loud, it was disgusting and I was very close to pointing out he was in a public place and he was a gross human being. Jason reminded me that people here can be a little unhinged so I settled on glaring at him and wishing him misfortune. PIG. For the love of Pete, get a nose spray, blow your fucking nose, or (here is a novel idea) stay home. Oh, and this is in the area where people sit and eat…
Anyway, this repulsive excuse for a human being finally leaves the area. Yay.
Sitting in the airport is not exactly what I had planned for my day, but no point in fighting it, I make the most of the downtime and get lots done. Until finally, 10 days later – exaggerate much, our flight number is called and we will be boarding… SOON.
In the SA vernacular not now now. But now.
It is only a 90 minute flight and we are really, finally, on our way to Victoria. Wahoo.
The flight time goes very fast, landing without a hitch (always a relief), bags come out in the first batch. REALLY.
AND we have gone back in time and gained an hour. Win, win, winning.
Our first instinct is to order an uber, but when it comes back at $140 CAD (fuck off mate, you’re having a laugh) I realise that Uber may not be that prevalent in Victoria. We ask the Information lady about public transport, but that sounds like an absolute nightmare, so we opt for a taxi. This turns out to be ½ the cost of an Uber and possibly one of the worst drivers we have encountered in a very long time.
The vehicle is devoid of any electronic forms of air conditioning, so we intermittently crack the windows at 70kmh, which creates that bloody awful feeling of your eardrums being walloped 100 times per second.
The driver himself, not an overly chatty person (understatement of the day), either struggles with the theory of a consistent speed or has music in his head that he is tapping his foot to. This makes us both feel a little seasick, on land. It also appears that checking before changing lanes is an optional extra. Luckily, an excruciating 45 minutes later, we are delivered to our hotel in one piece.
Right from our arrival we are in love with Victoria. It is so pretty!
We are staying at Hotel Grand Pacific (Hotel in Victoria BC | Hotel Grand Pacific) which is right by the waterfront.
We escape our torturous taxi and head inside. The lovely bell people take our bags and greet us warmly. The young woman checking us in is called Summer. She is Korean, and an absolute delight.
Summer: Oh, I see you are from New Zealand, welcome.
JKW: Thanks so much, we love it here.
Summer: My parents sent me to New Zealand for a year to learn English.
JKW: Bites tongue, and does not say “why the fuck would they send you there to learn English”
JKW: Actually says – your English is excellent. I hope you enjoyed your time in New Zealand.
Summer: I loved it and I really want to go back.
Due to the delays we Don’t have as much time as we had planned to get to know Victoria and do our usual recognisance. There is still a few hours of light and we decide to spend it wisely, walking the water front and doing something physical. I’ve been sat on my butt for most of the day.
We wander around the harbour and after 30 minutes of walking realise that we really need to stop and support the local tourism industry. So a local pub for a local brew before continuing on. There are so many cute attractions to stop and take photos or post for photos, it has been really well thought out.
If you find yourself in Victoria and want to do a leisurely stroll, with lots of sights, I would recommend following this link and checking out the stops and options (trailpeak.com/trails/Victoria-Harbour-walk-near-Victoria-BC-6846).
At 5km we turn and head back towards town, we’ve been looking for a really good fish restaurant for dinner. The location of Victoria alone means they have access to some of the best seafood and we want to experience ALLLLLLL of it. After some asking and a bit of BINGING (yeah, I know, it still sounds so naff to say that) we decide on the weirdest sounding restaurant name…
Finn’s – Seafood Chops Cocktails. I am not entirely sure where the chops come into it but that was not on our radar. They had a table available outside, and it is the perfect time to be sitting down. The sun is setting and Finn’s overseas the marina. I can confirm the hype. The food was lovely, the service efficient and friendly, and the sunset phenomenal (Finn’s Seafood Restaurant | Downtown Victoria, BC Overlooking the Harbour (finnsvictoria.com)). Check it out.
After a very filling dinner we continue our journey back to the hotel. Walking through wafts of Devil’s Lettuce as we stumble across a Pro Palestinian protest. To BE CLEAR this is not a political blog. Everyone has the right to their own views. I do draw the line at violence for the sake of it and those people should fuck off. This protest appeared peaceful if a little fragrant. However, as we got in the lift to head to our room, some of the locals apologised for the disruption and noise.
I mean how fucking nice are Canadians!
We relax in our lovely room with our beautiful view. It is time to sleep.
Goodnight Victoria. You might not be in the rockies, but you still rock!
24th September – Victoria
The other think I absolutely love about Victoria and, to be fair, a lot of places in Canada, is how welcoming they are to dogs. We see them in stores, hotels, planes, and even some restaurants. It is no big deal, just a dog with a nappy on wandering through reception and getting into the lift.
Your every day occurrence.
I LOVE THIS. Though Harri would absolutely die of fright if we tried to put her onto a plane. Poppy would love this and take it as acceptance of the fact that she is not a dog but, in fact, a human.
We drag our asses out of bed at 700am. How lazy have we gotten! It does not take long until you become lazy huh!
We have plans for today, do a seaplane excursion over Victoria, we really enjoyed the one in Vancouver and thing it would be a lovely thing to do. We purchase tickets to do a 10am flight. Based on the lovely young woman’s recommendations when then head to Frankie’s Diner for breakfast.
Frankie’s is super cool, a traditional diner. With vinyl seats and laminate table tops. Our server wears a bowtie and the menu covers everything you could possibly want. And what Jason wants is eggs benedict and a good coffee.
The food is really good and the service is great. There is also an early bird special which was my favourite, eggs any way you like, with toast, and potatoes – I don’t know why but every breakfast seems to come with potatoes. Also, f you order your breakfast just before 900am (get the early bird special) then at 855am you can order a lovely mimosa, to be delivered from 900am, to wash it down. Nothing like eggs and a juice boost to start your day.
I had Jason convinced and even he imbibed. Finally seeing some real holiday spirit from this man.
This is now Jason’s local! We will be back.
As we leave the diner we notice a thick fog has rolled into town. This is some freaky shit, it silently sneaks along the street hiding everything from you. Amazing! It all just came from nowhere.
We walk back to the “airport” we are not surprised to hear that our scenic flight has been delayed. They are not going to be flying in this stuff.
With more time on our hands we head out for another walk. The fog lifts then runs back in again. Sly shit.
Our newly scheduled take off time arrives and so does our plane. It is looking positive, we all board the plane, Jason gets priority boarding so he finally gets a window seat. Happy man.
All loaded up in the Turbo Otter (for any plane freaks out there – yes, I mean you Allie Jones de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter – Wikipedia) we head out into the bay. Due to the location of the “runway” is it still a runway if its on water? Hmmmmmm. It is a really long taxi, even so, it seems like he is going the long way round, and round, and round, and round again. We are going in circles but we are not going up.
Then we are going back, back to the dock/airport and out of the plane. That fucking fog is back and we are grounded.
Well that was a lovely scenic boat ride, in a plane.
It is now 130 in the afternoon and we opt to have our flight rescheduled for tomorrow, the weather has got to be better right.
For now it is lunch time and we really want to try a food truck, of sorts, called Red Fish, Blue Fish (Red Fish Blue Fish (redfish-bluefish.com)). The reviews were good so our hopes were high and the queue was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. Being the lovely, patient woman that I am, I grumbled that it better fucking be worth it – what can I tell you, I was hungry.
Turns out all those reviews were accurate and the food was worth the wait, Jason got his much desired halibut and chips, whilst I had some sort of fish jambalaya type thing. The price is good, the food is good, the location is good. Worth the visit if you ask me.
Now that our bellies were full it was time for some serious sightseeing. we wanted to do the Hop On / Hop Off bus, a 90 minute tour around Victoria. The price felt a bit steep at $60 CAD each. The cashier said, its for the full day though, so you can do it several times. It was lost on him that it was 230pm and they stop at 600pm.
We pay, we get on. Going up the top of the bus to get the best views. It is mostly sunny but the wind is brisk. We have packed layers and are prepared for this. In the big scheme of things it is not that cold. Its not Banff or Lake Louise cold.
A really pretty and interesting city. Much more to it than you would think.
Absolutely! Here’s a quick and quirky take on Victoria’s history:
Victoria, BC was a lovely little hangout for the Coast Salish people over 10,000 years ago. Fast forward to 1843, and settlers, general hostility, and the Hudson’s Bay Company set up Fort Victoria, which quickly turned into a gold rush hotspot. By 1862, it was a full-fledged city named after Queen Victoria herself – good on ya Vicky. Today, you can definitely see the English influence, stunning gardens, and historic vibes.
Quirky Facts:
– Victoria is known as the “City of Gardens” with over 1,500 hanging baskets adorning its streets each summer. Shit that’s a lot of watering.
– It’s home to the narrowest street in Canada, Fan Tan Alley, which is just 0.9 meters (3 feet) wide at its narrowest point. Most of the tourists on the bus would struggle.
– The Empress Hotel, a historic landmark, is famous for its afternoon tea, serving over 750,000 cups annually – I would be more impressed if they served that much wine!
Our driver is a character and seems to really enjoy her job, for the records the bus is 45 feet long and 13.8 feet tall. Just in case you are interested.
We drive through busy streets, obviously when we boarded the bus we were in holiday mode and did not consider the fact it was heading into peak hour traffic. Laughable really, its not really that busy. The bus is 10 minutes late!
There is a deer, randomly walking down the street, apparently not an uncommon occurrence.
Real segway here: Takaya, the famous lone wolf of Victoria, BC, in fact I think he was the only wolf, which would make him the lone wolf.
He lived on Discovery Island, near Victoria, for about eight years and was the local celebrity, known for his unique lifestyle and ability to adapt to the island environment. Takaya was first spotted in 2012 after swimming nearly two miles through strong currents to reach the island – he clearly needed the holiday.
This dude was IMPRESSIVE! He developed impressive survival skills, like catching and skinning seals, hunting fish, and even digging for fresh water during droughts – smarter than most humans.
– Takaya was so good at avoiding traps that conservation officers eventually decided to let him stay on the island – I love that.
Sadly, in 2020, some wanker shot him when he left the island. Rumour has it that the wanker in question knew it was Takaya and shot him anyway, for the glory. I know I have said it before, but humans are scumbags. This human in particular, takes out the Scumbag award.
For those of you in the project delivery business, check this out. The oldest graveyard in Victoria, known as the Old Burying Ground or Pioneer Square (established in 1855 and served as the main cemetery until 1873). When the city decided to transform the area into a park in 1908, they moved many of the headstones but left the graves undisturbed. Who would have thought, don’t worry about doing the hard work, just move the labels, job done.
After we hop off the bus, see what I did there, we walk back to Beacon Hill Park, this is close to where we saw the deer wandering the street. Apparently there are lots of deer, peacocks, chipmonkeys, and squirrels. You had me at chipmonkeys.
The advertising did not lie. There were an abundance of chipmunks. I am surprised we made it out before it got dark, I had to photograph and video all of them. We also saw two deer just hanging out and eating. Not fussed by us at all, they are so used to humans and allow me to take great photos.
Next thing on the list is a tour of the harbour, we did a brief harbour tour aboard the sea plane, but we thought one in an actual boat would be nice. I am really exaggerating when I say boat.
We had missed the final proper tour, but the water taxi offered to take us for a cruise and then drop us off wherever we like… for a small fee. It actually was a small fee too.
Turns out our captain is actually called Dan. That is two captain Dan x 2 so far. The water taxis are very cute. Same as they used in Vancouver to go between little stops. Here, they are often referred to as “pickle boats” due to their distinctive shape and bright yellow colour. They are small, agile bath toys designed for quick and scenic trips around the harbour. Apparently, on special occasions, they will do a synchronised ballet on the water. I WISH I had seen that.
Captain Dan takes us for a cruise and then drops us to Fisherman’s Wharf, he feels bad that we have been so much and tells the lovely young woman there that we should be allowed a trip back for free – you fucking Canadians. I LOVE YOU.
Fisherman’s Wharf is famous for the colourful, floating houses, where people actually live. Poor bastards – all the tourists walking past your house looking in the windows EVERY DAY. You can also get fresh fish, a bit of a feed, and, according to one sign, the coldest beer in Victoria.
There are about 33 floating homes occupied by full-time residents. Built on concrete hulls or polyethylene-covered styrofoam billets, making them stable and buoyant. They are hooked up to town water, power, and (thankfully) sewage. Some a super tiny, but others are really quite impressive. Even with the little dog on the front porch. I hope that sucker can swim.
It does not take too long to explore the wharf and when we get back to the water taxi it is still Captain Dan, who brings us back to town.
It has been a really long day of sightseeing and we just cannot be arsed heading out tonight, so we grab some snacks for a picnic in our room, chill out and watch some trashy TV.
What a great day. Tomorrow we catch the ferry to Seattle. It is goodbye to Canada.
We don’t want to leave.
Wednesday 25th September – Victoria
Well the weather has finally caught up with us. We look out from the balcony and is raining and cold. Hopefully this will clear up in time for our seaplane adventure.
For now, its time to hit the gym, we have done nothing but eat and drink, a bit of exercise is most definitely called for.
Speaking of which, once we are exercised and refreshed, we head to Jason’s new local, Frankie’s Diner.
We take the advise from yesterday ordering breakfast at 850am and mimosas at 855am for delivery just after 900am – when alcohol is allowed to be served. James, with a new bowtie today, remembers us seats us at our “usual” table. Jason is chuffed.
After breakfast the weather, stubbornly, continues to be shite. We zip up our waterproofs and walk around the town killing time until our flight. Except, we get a text message, no go today. Very sorry, they will reimburse us. DAMN, the company (Harbour Air | North America’s Largest Seaplane Airline) was amazing though and they did a full reimbursement within days.
Jason does not want walk around getting unnecessarily wet, so we head back to the hotel and prepare our bags for Seattle. The lovely, competent, and amazing Summer organised a late check out for us. Informing me to join their loyalty program, free of charge, so I won’t be charged for the late check out.
Today we are getting on the FRS Clipper, which will take us from Victoria, BC to Seattle in 2 hours and 45 minutes. How cool is that. The port is just down from the hotel, walking distance, and Jason wants to do some reconnaissance to ensure we are prepped and ready for the operation. I normally scoff at this, as it generally leads to extended times spent at airports, train stations, etc for no benefit. But today, it worked out perfectly. The very helpful staff said we can bring our bags anytime and check them in which will 1. Cut down our boarding time, and 2. Mean it is done and dusted so we can spend our afternoon bag free.
We walk our way back, thank goodness the hotel has umbrellas, grab our suitcases and promptly check them in. Wahooo.
With midday looming we check out and boom, they cut off our internet access faster than an unpaid drug dealer.
Now, with a hankering for beer, Jason does not mind getting wet and we head out to the local brewery, Whistle Bouy. Jason really liked their beers but we were a bit iffy about the menu and decided we would head back to Frankie’s Diner for a late lunch. Did I mention that Frankie’s has the earliest Happy Hour in Victoria. You can order discount drinks and food items between 200pm and 530pm.
If you are travelling around Canada and want to eat out or have a few drinks on a budget, look up their happy hour menus. You can save a lot of money and if you don’t mind a late lunch or an early dinner it works out really well. Usually items from their standard menu.
Our ferry departs at 530pm, and we need to check in at 430pm. This leaves us with another hour to fill in before we head down there. So we head back to our hotel to maximise their happy hour offerings. This is very fortuitous because I had spotted a lovely handbag in the shop there, so, of course I bought it. Well, that’s not true, I bought two, whilst Jason enjoyed his bourbon.
Talk about successful and perfect timing, we finish up and head to the ferry. Its time to leave this beautiful place, it just does not seem we have had long enough. Hopefully we get to come back.
The check in goes relatively smoothly, especially considering we had to go through American Customs to get on the boat. Finger prints, I struggled to get mine to register – fourth attempt the charm, Jason was the pro though, scanned successfully on the first try. In case you are wondering, American security do not crack a smile. Don’t try it.
On the ferry we have “comfort” seats. More leg room, free snacks, a complementary glass of prosecco (yes Jason drank mine).
Turns out comfort class generally means you are 70yo and can’t move any faster than 1kmh.
There were lots and lots of beautiful rainbows to bid us farewell. Onward, to the good ol’ US of A.
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