A Little Taste Of Victoria, British Columbia

July 2, Day 35  was Victoria, BC day.  Since we are extremely bad at rising early, we made it to the ferry docks at the crack of noon for the 12:30 ferry.  Our camp host had advised us that going by foot was the best way because taking a car was not only expensive but a hassle as well. The ferry ride was about 90 minutes and some of the water in the Juan de Fuca Strait were pretty choppy with the ship listing at times by 15 degrees or more.  Fred measured it in degrees, I measured by the quantity of  puke in the women's bathroom left for my viewing pleasure. Ick!

The ship, the M/V Coho, was built in Seattle in 1959 and has been making this crossing for its entire life.  I'm surprised it even needs a captain at this point.  It was an unusual ferry in that cars entered from the rear and exited out the right side on the outbound trip, and reversing that on the Victoria to Port Angeles leg of the trip.  Despite the tight turn inside the boat, we saw several large trucks and semi-trailers as well as a big RV make the trip.  We don't know if the Zed could make it but there were several large busses on the island and some of them must have come on this ferry.

Victoria was beautiful and the weather was picture perfect.  Sunny, t-shirt weather that was at most about 72 degrees. We walked the town for a few hours, stopping for a meal at a Scottish pub that was one of the most ornate and handsomely decorated that we've ever seen, and we've been to Scotland! The food was great but as usual, Fred ate fast, gulped his locally produced beer and then ran around snapping pics of the pub while I continued to chew....on camera.
 

The town had a European feel, right down to the crappy dollar exchange rates.  The Canadian dollar is worth more than the Uncle Sam and their goods are quite expensive in comparison.  A cigar that costs $7.00US at home was $27.00CDN there.  I had a lively conversation with a young man who worked at the tobacconist about taxes, health care and the cost of education.  Quite enlightening. He thought goods that cost four times as much in his country as in mine were worth it because he got to go to college for almost no investment on his part. We didn't buy anything except a meal that day so no one will get very far in school on our inflated $35.00 lunch.

The Fairmont Empress hotel was stately and elegant with beautiful grounds.  In one area there were stacks of bee hive boxes right out in the open.  Lots and lots of bees.  I guess that is why all the flowers looked so happy.  There were many street vendors and eclectic  entertainers along the waterfront that were amusing. The town plumb tuckered us out so we were ready to board the ship at 7:30 for the ride home.  The ship was late, and we waited... it arrived back in Port Angeles, late, and we waited...then we still had to wait another half hour to get through US Customs. We had already gone through customs when we boarded back in Victoria, where we waited... but I guess extreme caution is merited in these dangerous times.  We were the very last ones in the line so we were two very sleepy old tourists by the time we got back to the trailerhood at 11:00 pm     Click here for more pictures...

from the road:
-robin