Back to the Big Apple with a few stops along the way

[TheRealTMA]

Just leave the bottle please.

 

[Matt_01]

We were off to a zero dark hundred start this morning to catch our chariot to Victoria, BC. It may be a different form of transport however we are on the upper deck in R1 but there is not a bottle of Hennessy Paradis any where to be found . The ferry will take around three hours and is most likely quicker and more relaxing than flying SEA-YYJ.

 

[Katie]

Hmm, I need to note down most of your SEA adventures for our trip at the end of term 4!

One thing we've started to do to stop the interminable three-way-agreement-needed for meals when travelling en famille, is to take turns choosing. Sorry if I've mentioned it before. Gave each of us some feeling we weren't compromising all the time. Or taking flipping forever to make a decision and getting hangrier and hangrier in the process.

 

[Matt_01]

Hmm, I need to note down most of your SEA adventures for our trip at the end of term 4!

One thing we've started to do to stop the interminable three-way-agreement-needed for meals when travelling en famille, is to take turns choosing. Sorry if I've mentioned it before. Gave each of us some feeling we weren't compromising all the time. Or taking flipping forever to make a decision and getting hangrier and hangrier in the process.

Although we have been to Canada before and were planning to go in 2020 when working through this trip I remembered that you wrote a TR about Canada that covered similar places we are going to. It took me a while to find it but when I did I re-read your entire report to get ideas or dismiss if it was not workable in our time frames. I will read and follow any TR for a place we plan to go or have some interest in going and at times have changed plans to go back to a previous location it I have missed something I would have liked to have seen.

We do similar, for our current trip everyone was given the option to pick 4 places they wanted to go to, or callout at the time they wanted to go to some place on the fly and the one the fly places count as one of the 4 unless there is a 3 way agreement. It works for us as MrsM does not eat red meat, MissM does not like fish, and vegetarian options is something that will avoid like the plague.

 

[Matt_01]

So a few more photo's of the ferry ride once we got underway.


Just a couple of notes from the trip, if you choose comfort class, there is free coffee, tea and light snacks. Seating is on the upper deck in a section that is not accessible to others and the crew enforce this. When disembarking those without check luggage leave first and when it is announced that those with checked luggage can disembark you are the a long way from the exit. The 3 groups of travellers who were in R1 upper deck were basically the last 4 in the immigration line. We were 3 last, not a big issue but was not something I was expecting, live and learn for next time.

 

[Matt_01]

As I mentioned up thread staying in chains that I have status with is not a priority on this trip, so this hotel is also another that I was not familiar with. The room is larger and cheaper than the DT (HH Diamond) or Marriott (Gold) and both are over the road so location is of no concern. I did look at the Fairmont which is a block away however there were no platinum suite upgrades available.

This was a first for me the hotel had commissioned a Lego model of the hotel which is in the lobby.

 

[Matt_01]

After checkin just started to wander around and find a place to eat.

The Local it was.

Chicken and chips and a virgin coughtail for MissM

Brussel sprouts and the Pinot Gris (Mission Hill Reserve) for MrsM

Cheese burger and beer (Blue Duck) for myself

The servings were large and I mean large, there are no dinner photos this evening as it would just look like lunch left overs. That being said the food was very good, I am not one for brussel sprouts but after trying them they were good.

 

[Matt_01]

After lunch we just wandered around.

 

[Matt_01]

More wanderings

I came across an arcade centre with older games not sure if they were origionals that have been refurbished/ upgraded or just
knock off to look old.


Then a float plane landed, I had wondered and asked on this site how quickly they slow down after hitting the water and now have some idea. I will be on one of these in 2 days.

 

[Matt_01]

Arrived at fisherman’s wharf and meandered back to the hotel.

 

[Matt_01]

As I sign off tonight I am hoping I will be able to post tomorrow night and yes I am OK. Tomorrow I will be behind the wheel that is on the wrong side of the car in almost 30 years. I have all the required paperwork and even remembered to bring my hard copy license and thank goodness Siri or The Google will tell me to turn left or right.

 

[VPS]

As I sign off tonight I am hoping I will be able to post tomorrow night and yes I am OK. Tomorrow I will be behind the wheel that is on the wrong side of the car in almost 30 years. I have all the required paperwork and even remembered to bring my hard copy license and thank goodness Siri or The Google will tell me to turn left or right.

Good luck

 

[TheRealTMA]

As I sign off tonight I am hoping I will be able to post tomorrow night and yes I am OK. Tomorrow I will be behind the wheel that is on the wrong side of the car in almost 30 years. I have all the required paperwork and even remembered to bring my hard copy license and thank goodness Siri or The Google will tell me to turn left or right.

It’s a doddle. Just remember to keep the white line on your left! Turns at 4 way intersections can be tricky at first until you think about it.

Hopefully we will hear from you tomorrow.

 

[Matt_01]

I survived driving on the wrong side of the road and it was quite easy with Siri (Apple version) in the center console guiding me between locations. Siri (human version) sitting in the seat next to me was also providing guidance, I figured the mute button must be broken as this Siri (human version) insisted on letting me know when I should slowdown, change lanes etc. enough said.

First place to visit was Hatley Castle, it is now part of of a working university and we knew we could not go inside as it out side of the season it is open. We just like old buildings and MrsM wanted to see the X-man school, MissM was more interested in the peahen and her chicks.

 

[Matt_01]

From the castle we headed off to the Malahat Skywalk, it is quite new to the tourist places as it was only opened in mid 2021 and it is not the easiest place to get to (without a car) the highway is also being upgraded so be aware of the roadworks. Getting back to Victoria was also not that easy as there is no left turn available from the site and you need to turn right and follow the road to the next U-turn area. When you get there I would suggest that you follow the signs along the u-turn route as Siri has been updated. From the top you can see the US (Islands) from Canada. The adventure net saw me take 1-2 attempts before MissM finally convinced me it was safe to cross. I did use the slides to get down

 

[Matt_01]

We were always going to visit the Butchant Garden I have way to many photos to post, theses are just some.

 

[Matt_01]

More from the Garden. Trying to capture the humming bird and the bee took some effort, they are busy little creatures.

 

[Matt_01]

A few more.

A few shots of Craigdorrach Castle. I need to do a little more reading however I believe this building was owned by the father of the owner of Hatley Castle. The family must have liked this style of property.

 

[Matt_01]

For dinner we just when simple to a place called the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was the type of place that was cheap and cheerful however the food tasted good.

 

[Matt_01]

So it was the last day in Victoria so I went for a walk around Beacon Hill Park. The animals do not seem to be afraid to interact with people, the photos were taken with a standard iPone 13 mini so I was able to get up close.