Canada - days 4 to 7 Victoria and Housesit

On the Tsawassen to Swartz Bay ferry

Day 4 Thursday 

We'd booked the 12.00 ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island, which probably wasn't necessary as we were only going as foot passengers. Jackanoia set in so we left the apartment just before 09.30. We were ready anyway. Walk to the SkyTrain, done that bit before, but we had to change for the 620 bus. It was all pretty obvious but there was a lady doing the same thing so we just followed her, to a big queue for the bus. Not to worry, plenty of space, and plenty of time. We arrived at the ferry terminal to be offered space on the 11.00 ferry instead. Fab. We could then check our bags in, for free, which left us just with our day bags for the trip. 

After crossing the channel that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland, the ferry navigated a path between many smaller islands. On an isolated outcrop on one island a bald eagle is eating the fish it's caught. A tasty meal for him!

We spent almost the whole of the trip looking for whales, to no avail, but it was lovely on deck anyway. This meant we hadn't realised that you could buy bus tickets on the ferry. Not sure this would have helped though (except to disembark quicker) as the bus went in to Victoria and we wanted to go to the airport to collect our hire car. A taxi it was then, much easier.

Our car for two weeks. A brand new Toyota Prius. It's quite a nice car.

We collected the car which is never as easy as it sounds, we ended up with a brand new (38km on the clock) Prius hybrid, for £3 more a day, and about the same in extra insurance! It might actually save us money though if we don't use as much fuel!

The very impressive Parliament building in Victoria, the State Capital.

Drove to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia to the Strathcona Hotel, right in the middle, and quite posh, but we thought we wanted to be in the middle as we are only spending one night. Check in and 2 hours to have a look around before heading off to meet the Housesit people and cats.

Very impressive inside. This is the debating room of the elected members of parliament, equivalent to the house of commons in the UK and follows the same procedures, with our king Charles III ceremonial head of state. The speaker sits in the chair opposite and the mace must be present on the table. The balcony is the public gallery.

It began to rain just as we got to the very impressive British Columbia Parliament Building, where fortunately there was just about to be a 45 minute tour. It was a beautiful building, and he was interesting, but he did have a very irritating way of talking! We grabbed a slice of pizza to share and realised that the phone we are using as a Satnav on with Organic maps that doesn't need data, didn't know about traffic, or construction work. It was going to take a bit longer than expected to get to the house, so off we went.

Another impressive building, the Empress Hotel

A lovely couple and their kids and two very friendly cats, Roger, the old man and Ming-Li the whippersnapper. Ming-Li had had an exciting day, they are indoor cats but when John had gone out early that morning the door hadn't caught and he had become an outdoor cat! There are bears, cougars and other cats to contend with, but fortunately he was found by a neighbour scrapping with a local who had managed to take him in until he could be collected. He was keen to tell us all about it!

A walk round Beacon Hill Park. They have deer...

We spent about an hour before heading back for the 30 minutes or so to our hotel and a meal in the Sticky Wicket cricket themed pub attached!

Peacocks

Day 5 Friday 

The advantage of going over the previous evening meant we didn't have to be there before they headed off about 09.00, so after the best nights sleep so far we went out to breakfast and finished our exploration of Victoria. 

Turtles

We walked around Beacon Hill Park before back to the hotel, check out and walk to Chinatown which was much better than the one in Vancouver. Having ticked everything off on Brian's list we set off to the sit in a suburb to the west, via a Thrifty supermarket, as recommended by Tory. Difficult to know what to buy without knowing what's in the kitchen, or really what our plans were, so breakfast fruit and porridge, and a box of very good value prawns, garlic salad and crusty bread. 

Lots of Canadian Geese with their little chicks. Many people have said not to get close to mother goose and her chicks, she will attack ferociously and they are big birds with a big beak!

Then the liquor store, no alcohol in the supermarket, to look for some lower strength beer and some wine. A very friendly lady gave us tastings of what was on flash sale, that we'd actually already picked up, and then took us to the Canadian wine section to give us some advice. We didn't even know they made wine in Canada!

There were signs in the park telling us it's a greatt blue heron nesting area but it would have been easy to miss them. They were all high up in the trees in their nests, dozens and dozens of them when you looked, the only clue was patches of guano on the floor below. I thought this might have been a young one just out of the nest, but Jackie said it wasn't. There were a lot of broken shells on the ground from recently hatched and most adults were on their nests, so it's probably an adult

This all took a long time and we sort of wanted to get there ASAP as when we'd passed the hotel and connected to the WiFi I'd received a WhatsApp from Tory saying they weren't worried, but they had forgotten to lock the front door!

Here's Roger. He's 17 years old and was really missing his family when we arrived, looking very sad. He has come around a bit now

Everything was fine when we arrived, so there had been nothing to worry about as we let ourselves in and made ourselves comfy with the cats. Watching the rain come and go outside the window.

And this is very shouty Ming-li, much younger and always hungry! 

Day 6 Saturday 

Brian had considered going back to Victoria to do a park run, but the forecast for the day wasn't particularly good, better in the morning, so we thought we'd better get out and see things.

We went to Sooke for a coastal walk where the family had seen Orca from the shore last time they went. We were not so lucky, seals a bald eagle and some deer, but a good walk.

We have a lovely house to stay in. Not all of it, there's four houses there

Some lunch at a little food wagon before heading to Wiffen Spit for another short walk. Still no rain, but it's getting on for 16.00 so we headed home. 

Our plan for the evening meal was the local (about 5 minutes walk) Indian. Had to be done. Only to discover it was only a takeaway, but that's okay. A really good day, even if we didn't see any marine life. There is still time!!!

Our walk next day through East Sooke National Park

Day 7 Sunday 

The forecast for today was better, though yesterday was pretty good in the end, but we stayed a bit more local. Hatley Castle Gardens, which were beautiful and very impressive and only 10 minutes away. 

10 minutes back in the opposite direction we then went to Metchosin (named by the First Nations for 'stinky fish' for the whale that had washed up on the shore) for the Sunday farmers market. 

Things we saw on the way, this is a white crowned sparrow

I was hoping to pick up something for dinner, which didn't happen, there were more crafts, and sweet things, though we did manage to get lunch. It was just the thing for a Sunday, a lady was singing, people were sitting and chatting, there were a couple of local museums, one on settlers and one on the local school so we had a really nice time. 

A petroglyph

A bit more of a walk at Kitty's Lagoon Regional park where we looked at the falls, and walked around the lagoon rather than along the beach like all the families had been doing.

Stop to buy something for dinner, and back, blog and wash. Time is flying.

And a bald eagle high up in a tree, looking for his lunch!

Really nice coastal walk looking for whales, but we were disappointed on that front

Our furthest point was Beechey Head and, in the distance in cloud is the USA state of Washington. The USA/Canadian border is somewhere out there in the ocean

Lunch at truck in a car park

And then a final walk along the 1.3km narrow strip of land jutting into the ocean, Whiffin Spit, before hurrying back to see our charges

Ming-li was in a very playful mood!

Todays walk started off in the beautiful gardens of nearby Hatley Castle

Liked him and he posed beautifully for me. It's an American Robin, much larger than our UK one

The Japanese gardens were fantastic and I got quite a few great photos in there. We did think this would make a great jig-saw puzzle

I liked this one too

And this

We moved on. We stopped in Metchosin, but I neglected to take any photos there, even of the pioneer buildings, it had a really nice community feel. This was after lunch when we went to Wittys Lagoon and this, the Sitting Lady Falls

With a lagoon walk in relative isolation but for the odd few who hadn't gone to the beach

Lots of herons in the lagoon. This one's preening itself. I'm not clever enough to know if it's a great blue one or not. Well, that's all from the southern end of Vancouver Island, tomorrow we head 250km up the eastern side of the island to Campbell River, spending all day to get there, there's lots of things to see on the way

No wait, one more photo of the two pussy cats together on the bed. Jackie took this photo and has just sent it to me, hence the last minute addition

Canada - Days 1 to 3

The journey to Heathrow was uneventful but it's amazing how long it all takes. Flixbus at 13.30, so in theory the 12.32 train from Alvechurch should be fine, but there are often weekend cancellations so the 12.02 it has to be. 

Sitting on the platform at Alvechurch

This means leaving the house at 11.45! Got to the bus stop, which strangely was round the corner from the last time we got the Flixbus to Heathrow before going to Indonesia. Note to self, never assume you know what's going on! The driver however was the same one who took us down in November, weird eh?

Our Flixbus to London in Birmingham Centre

Off the Flixbus, and onto the local bus which dropped us off very close to the Ibis budget which was just like any other chain hotel except you had to pay £4 for the tea and coffee caddy for the room! Good Indian restaurant next door at a really reasonable price for London.

Our first view of Vancouver as we came into land

Canada Day 1 Monday 

A very long day. Woke as normal 06.30, breakfast, chill, leave the hotel at 11.45, straight onto the bus back to the airport. Check in before check-in opened as somehow I'd got us to the Business check in, which sadly we weren't going this time, but she had no other people so didn't upgrade us, but did take our bags and give us our boarding passes.

Flight departed on time at 15.05 and we arrived nine hours later, just after midnight, except it was only just after 16.00.

View from our apartment on 39th floor

Neither of us had slept much, though we had tried. Brian was so excited, he was sitting next to the Head of MAGIC, a man who works for the British Antarctic Survey as head of the Mapping and Geographic Information Centre. He was a lovely guy and so enthusiastic about what he does. I practically had to gag Brian in the end to give the poor man some peace. Good to know that we could still give him something to aspire to, a 5 day work trip to Canada, just didn't stack up against a 54 day trip!

We have a very nice apartment

Despite not much sleep we both felt ok, so rather than wimping out and getting an expensive taxi we braved the Sky Train and a short walk, which actually worked very well. The view from our Airbnb apartment on the 39^th floor of the Woodward Building is stunning and made it all worthwhile. We popped out to a nearby Mexican for tacos before stumbling into bed about 21.00 22.5 hours after we got up!

View of our building we are staying in with the rooftop garden. We're on floor 39 of 42. It's the first time the building we are staying in has featured on a city walking tour (and we've done a lot)

Canada Day 2 Tuesday 

We actually slept ok, ISH. I'd woken and read a bit, but that's quite normal really. Fight with the coffee machine before going out for breakfast and then getting to Canada Place for our 10.00 free walking tour. We have done these tours all over the world, not because they are free, because they are not, but because they are tip based the guides have to be enthusiastic and not just going through the motions. Daniel was very good, three hours passed in a flash. 

A seaplane lands in the harbour. They offer trips to places such as Victoria, where we are going next, Seattle in the USA on a 4 hour trip and sightseeing trips. We are considering a trip, they are expensive, but wouldn't it be good!

He answered everyone's questions despite actually being from the Czech Republic and not being local. It was a friendly group and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It's the first time we've been on one of these tours where when the rooftop garden was pointed out on a building we were able to smuggly say that's where we are staying, but sadly as non residents we don't have access to the roof top!

In the lobby of the fabulous Art Deco Marine building on our walking tour

What to do with the afternoon? The forecast for Wednesday was not good,  which was a shame, as it was lovely today, so back to the apartment to change into something more suitable to go and rent some bicycles to cycle round Stanley Park. 

On our cycle tour of Stanley Park with Vancouver in the background 

We bumped into Daniel leaving the hire shop with a group off on a cycle tour. As a student how does he do any studying? We set off at a very gentle pace along the sea walls, it's so popular, you can only go anti clockwise. 

At the totem poles in Stanley Park

We stopped at the totem poles and various viewpoints before leaving the herd and going cross country to Beaver Lake as recommended by Daniel. Lunch was an ice-cream en route, both still being full from poached eggs and ham on avocado toast. Maple walnut, trying to blend in with the locals!

Saw this very cute squirrel munching a nut while we ate our ice creams

A beer on the way home, we'll we'd earned it, and we were into happy hour, though we did only have a small one. It's going to be like the US, beers all brewed for strength! There only seems to be lager below 5%, so be careful what you order! A very spicy Thai meal and off to bed.

The other side of Stanley Park overlooking English Bay and the dozen or so cargo ships waiting their turn to dock in Vancouver harbour. Fun fact: Vancouver harbour (seen from our apartment window, photo above) is Canada's largest, Montreal, some 2300 miles east, is it's second. That has access to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence River and, together with the railway that connects the two, offers the shortest, quickest and cheapest way to get goods from Asia to Europe. We can see the massively long trains loading up containers, two high at the start of their long journey

Canada Day3 Wednesday 

I'd heard rain, as forecast, when I'd been awake in the night, but actually we've been ok, despite the 100% forecast for most of the morning.

We took the bus to Granville Island as we thought it would mostly be indoors. It had been recommended by both Daniel and the lady in the Tourist information. 

There's a train set ready for the journey. I zoomed in from our 39th floor window to take this photo

A market with lots of food to eat and lots of artisan craft shops. We shared a breakfast pie before buying an Eccles cake we'd spied earlier. This was not something someone from Eccles would have recognised, which was just as well really as I don't like Eccles cakes. This however was very nice, and provided lunch as well!

Arriving at Granville Island this morning. Originally it was an island of mud in False Creek, but has become an integral part of Vancouver after is was built up with mud from dredging the creek. It first became a dirty, industrial area, fell into disuse after WWII but saw a rejuvenation in the 1970's as an eclectic collection of artesian shops. It's now an attractive area

While eating our pie we'd seen the aqua buses coming and going and decided we could take one of them to get home. His plan was to see bits of Chinatown, which was a bit scary. A man we got out of the lift with on Tuesday morning had told us not to go two blocks that way as we left the apartment building, which was basically to Chinatown, and Daniel had echoed that sentiment. It's a bit rundown apparently and has a huge homeless problem right in the middle of it. This didn't necessarily make it a dangerous place to walk through during the day, just not a pleasant one! 

Inside the market hall on Granville Island

We carefully planned our route to see the things he wanted to see, the worlds thinnest commercial building 4'11 downstairs and 6' upstairs, and the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Chinese garden. Maple Square, in Gas Town before finishing up at the Steam clock, which we had seen yesterday. We'd assumed the clock was somehow responsible for the name of the area, but no, it was only built in 1977 and although it steams and pretends to be Big Ben on the quarters it is actually electrically powered. It was actually telling the right time yesterday, though it was a bit fast today. What is more confusing though is that it still whistles on the correct time regardless of what time it is showing!

We'd had a great breakfast in the market hall and then saw these. It's Canada's Eccles Cake. We had one between us and it still took us most of the day to eat it!

We've come back to blog and chill as tomorrow we have a train and a bus to Tsawwassen (yes that is how it's spelt) to get the ferry to Vancouver Island. Collect a car, have a look round and meet the Housesit family before they go away on Friday.

Walking round Sutcliffe Park on Granville Island we saw this very cute Canadian Goose nursery

There is still a cement works on Granville Island, but they have painted the silos to make even that an attractive place

Time for our little boat ride on False Creek towards Chinatown 

Its very cute inside - and driven by a 12 year old!

Coming into our final stop, The Village, by the Science Museum, with its silver dome top that has been decorated on top as a football for the forthcoming world cup with some games held here

Right next to the science museum is the football stadium where some world cup games will be staged

Walking round the Dr Sun-Yat Sen formal Chinese garden in Chinatown

Where a Canada Goose was quietly hatching it's eggs

Welcome to Chinatown 

The building alongside, behind the one with the pink lower half, is the one in the Guinness Book of Records as the thinnest commercial building in the world

Maple Tree Square in the oldest part of Gastown, near to where we are staying

This is a Velocette Vogue motorcycle that was originally manufactured in Hall Green, Birmingham UK. We saw it in an exclusive shoe shop we walked round. They had fabulous shoes costing upwards of £300 a pair. The motorcycle had been owned and rebuilt by an employee and renamed the Fluevocette after the original shop owner John Fluevog. We had not heard of the Velocette Vogue but the company was quite famous, winning several motorcycle races. They closed down in the 1960's

Such is the expansive view from our window, the area with the green roof on the left and trees in front is a zoomed in photo of the Chinese garden we walked round in Chinatown

If you look carefully, you can just see the dome of the Science Museum and the water of False Creek between the high rise buildings. The football stadium is just out of view on the right

And the other way is looking down to the harbour with some of the decorative metalwork on the outside of our building. Look at the narrow ledge on our building. It would be easy to hop over the railing on our little balcony and edge along it to the next room, 39 floors up, just like they do in the movies! See you in Victoria on Vancouver Island, our next stop from tomorrow...