April 13, 2010 by Rae

First Impressions of Victoria

Victoria has thus far presented herself as the graceful fair lady I expected her to be.

Of all the major Canadian cities, only Victoria ever stood out as a possible forever home city for me, if only for its climate. I have wanted to walk her streets for a long, long time. I have now visited the capital city of all the provinces and territories I have visited and only have Yellowknife, St. John’s, and Iqaluit left.

Mrs. H and I pulled into town mid-afternoon and she directed me to her favourite hotel, a Traveler’s Inn located in a convenient location. I quickly left her to take a nap while I set off on foot to scope out downtown, about fifteen minutes away.

I was surprised by how many people were out and about and I found the crushing crowds a bit shocking. I haven’t been surrounded by so many people since the last time I was in downtown Vancouver, almost a year ago! It was exhilarating, with all these different types of people from all social classes hurrying about and the most amazing smells spilling out of the restaurants. I was a tad overwhelmed, but it was pleasant because Victoria isn’t that big. I wouldn’t have done so well in a truly populous metropolis!

I bought an ice cream cone and enjoyed it as I scoped out the major landmarks I hope to visit in the next few days. I will be doing a lot of exploring on my own, but Mrs. H will also be showing me ‘her’ Victoria.

Some parts of downtown felt very old, like what I imagine streets in the 17th and 18th century might have been like. Other parts felt very modern. The city has a nice skyline where the diverse architectural styles complement each other. I look forward to exploring!

a palm tree outside our hotel 🙂

This brewery has tours; so this picture is a note to myself to try to book one. 🙂

entrance to Chinatown

I love the expression on this lion’s face

a street in Chinatown

dragon statue in Chinatown

a street near downtown Victoria

downtown Victoria

Empress Hotel

downtown Victoria

visitors’ centre

downtown Victoria

Empress Hotel

plaque about the James Cook statue

statue of James Cook

Netherlands carillon

the carillon ringer has to climb this staircase and then climb a ladder to ring the bells

Royal BC Museum

dinosaur footprints (moved from the Peace River Valley)

Thunderbird Park

all the electrical boxes in town are covered in pictures to prevent grafitti

Thunderbird Park

behind the Empress Hotel

cool bike rack

this condo complex is called The Waterfall

another electrical box

cherry tree

April 13, 2010 by Rae

Chemainus: Town of Murals

My neighbour has given me permission to refer to her as Mrs. H in the blog, so I shall be doing that from now on. 🙂

Our next stop was about an hour north of Victoria and definitely off the beaten path. It was Chemainus, the town of murals.

This is a town that was apparently brought back from the brink and is now a bustling community with all the services within easy walking distance. I think it could be a potential for a ‘forever home’ for me should I ever get to the point of wanting to find one.

downtown Chemainus

Chemainus theatre

both Mrs. H. and I thought these trees looked like sinister people!

a shameful moment in our history

Croft street!

We walked around for a spell and saw the majority of the murals, went back to the car, and drove to the waterwheel park for a picnic lunch.

The road into Chemainus was sinewy and narrow, but okay for RV travel and the town has easy to follow directions to dedicated RV parking.

February 2, 2010 by Rae

Tofino

I’m not sure what to say about Tofino as it really hasn’t made much of an impression on me. It’s a small village of some 1,600 souls which exists at the terminus of highway four (the Pacific Rim Highway). It attracts surfers, nature lovers, and artists. Coming into town, I felt like I was in southern California (Huntington Beach, especially) since every other car had a surfboard strapped to its roof. The main reason to come to Tofino in winter is to see the storms.

February 2, 2010 by Rae

Tofino Evening

I returned home, sopping wet, mid-afternoon changed into dry clothes, and had a late lunch as I uploaded my pictures. That done, it was still too early for dinner, but I was very sleepy, so I decided to head out and see if there were any shops open

Tofino is incredibly compact, so everything is within walking distance. ‘Downtown’ comprises about four square blocks. There is a street called ‘Main’ but the real main street is Campbell Street. I strolled down it until I came to the Mermaid Tales bookshop which had lights blazing. I spent about a half hour browsing the small selection of quality books. I really don’t like to spend full price on books, but having worked in the book business I know how tough it is for independents to compete against the big chains. So, I bought a reasonably priced novel before heading back out; the cashier (possibly the owner?) thanked me for supporting the shop.

I’d been told that the Dockside Pub, on the edge of town, as good nightly specials. I wish I’d known about them last night since they had an all you can eat salmon buffet for only $16. Tonight’s special was $6 burgers (veggie or beef) and $3.50 sleeves. A veggie burger sounded good and would have been a nice frugal dinner, but it sounded so mundane. I decided that I could afford one nice meal on this trip and splurged on the ‘caramelized bourbon salmon’, served with a basmati/wild rice mixture and a nice serving of grilled veggies for a very reasonable $17. Add the sleeve (which turned out to be a wonderful Okanagan pale ale) and a 20% tip and the meal came to an acceptable $27. The salmon was sooooo delicious. 🙂 After seeing the outrageously priced offerings of the other more visible restaurants I was especially grateful to find this place.

Coming home, I stopped at the Co-Op to get lunch fixings for tomorrow and a pint of ice cream for dessert (Ben & Jerry’s half-baked, for those curious about such things 😀 ).

I got in around 7 and planned to spend a couple of hours updating the blog, but I was interrupted by a German gal who had noticed my licence plate and wanted to know if I could tell her anything about Dawson. Much gabbing with her and another gal (the one who greeted me last night) ensued. 🙂

It’s now past eleven and quiet hour has started. Just about everyone has gone to bed but one of my roomies and me who are sitting in the atrium updating folks about our lives. I’m just about ready for a shower and then I’ll read a bit before retiring (all the bunks have a nightlight that doesn’t really illuminate the room).

Since I’ve exhausted my list of affordable things to do in winter in Tofino if you don’t surf, I will not be spending tomorrow in Tofino….

January 31, 2010 by Rae

The Pacific Rim Highway

Today, I drove the Pacific Rim Highway, which starts just north of Nanaimo, all the way to its end in Tofino, where I’ll be for the next three days. More on that later. 🙂

By RV, the PRH would suck. It is a narrow, winding road with one steep downhill after another. In a subcompact with a manual transmission, however, it was like being on a rollercoaster. Wheeeeeee! 😀

While the distance between Campbell River and Tofino is small, just a couple hundred kilometres, the time is great. It took me over five hours since I made a few stops and often could drive no more than thirty or forty klicks an hour.

Donna suggested I visit Little Qualicum Falls, so that’s where I pulled over first and did a little bit of hiking. I didn’t dare stay long since parking for an hour was a dollar and the only coins I had on me totaled seventy cents.

My mother suggested my next stop, Cathedral Grove. This is the site of one of the last old growth Douglas Fir forests on the west coast. Some of these trees are more than 300 years old. Some are at least 800 years old.

This place had an ethereal quality. I stood there, craning to see the tops of this handful of trees that has survived logging, disease, storms, and fire and I wept. It was a profound experience. I challenge anyone to stop at Cathedral Grove and not be moved.

Next, I discovered Sproat Lake. It was so clear that, well, it brought to mind a quote from Forrest Gump:

… that mountain lake. It was so clear, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other.

I pulled into Tofino around 2:30, but could not check into my accomodation until 4, so I parked and walked around a bit, covering the entire, tiny, community. It’s the off season, so very little was open. I dabbled with the idea of having a dinner out instead of cooking, but the only options within walking distance would have cost over $50, more than my budget could cover, especially when I know I could get an equivalent meal in Campbell River for half of that.

You’ll need to come back for the next post to find out where I’m staying. 🙂