Victoria, British Columbia

Everyone told us that a trip to Victoria, BC was a "must see", so yesterday's day trip was a ferry boat ride to Vancouver Island to explore Victoria. Although Victoria itself is a large town, a lot of the main tourist attractions are within a few blocks so walking isn't a big problem. Of course, they have carriage rides and double-decker bus tours and harbor taxis and even pedicabs, which are like rickshaws pulled by a person on a bicycle rather than a person on foot. That clarification is for any word purists among you.

We missed the tall ships exhibition that occurred over the weekend, although we did pass two of the ships returning to Port Angeles for display. Unfortunately, a marine layer was settling in as we passed the ships so they appeared as "ghost ships" in the distance, which was a neat effect to see but made for a poor picture. Of course, this way we also missed all the crowds!

We passed on the Bushart Gardens tour which takes about four hours. There are any number of combinations of tour packages ranging from the Grand City tour lasting an hour and a half to overnight stays with tours of the Gardens, the city, the Craigdarroch Castle and more. In town there's the Miniatures World, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Royal London Wax Museum, the Undersea Gardens and more. We wandered through the main streets of town, stopping in Hudson's of Hudson Bay fame, watching the glass blowers at Starfish Glassworks, picked up a very expensive ($12.50 for two) pair of ice cream cones after a very tasty lunch at Milestone's Inner Harbor restaurant on the wharf. The buildings in town are beautifully restored and many have been rebuilt to look as if they were built in the 1860s. There are shops for anything you could possibly want, including the Rubber Rainbow Condom Co. shop. I kid you not-it's even listed in the tourist guide!

Victoria is a marvelous place to people watch; we heard many different languages and accents being spoken as we sat on a wall on the wharf before boarding the ferry to return to Port Angeles. We decided that Victoria is definitely a city we'll come back to explore, but the next time we'll bring a lot more money! It is can be quite expensive if you want to take any of the tours, although just wandering the streets and exploring the shops will keep you entertained for hours.

The ferry ride back in the evening air was quite cold, so take a warm jacket if you go. Hot chocolate on our return to the rig tasted wonderful!