http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , Canada , British Columbia , Vancouver Island , Victoria en-us Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:53:46 BST Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:53:46 BST Packing for the Future Instructions by Lorna CrozierTake the thickest socksWherever you are going you'll have to walkThere may be water there may be stonesThere might be high placesYou cannot go without the hope socks bring youThe way they hold you to the earthAt least one pair must be new must be blue as you wishHandknit by your mother in her sleepTake a leather stachel a velvet bag And http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-319941.html Here I am now soon not to be here later http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-318371.html We took a trip to vancouver island on monday to see Victoria and visit my mums cousin Gordon and his family in Sooke. We caught the bus to the tswwassen ferry terminal and the ferry to swartz bay then another bus to victoria. Gordon picked us up off the bus and drove us out to their house where we were introduced to their neighbours and their llamas all of whom were very nice we had planned to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-318110.html They're going to be awesome and IN VICTORIALocation Fernwood Community Centre 1240 Gladstone Ave VictoriaDate Sunday Aug 24th at 730 pmWhat they are and what they doJust incase you DONT know.. The sunshine coast tour is the Otesha tour thats running parallel to ours. And their final performance is in Victoria They've been touring up the sunshine coast and all over the island fo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-315117.html Yikes We leave tomorrow. I am including a few pictures that talk about where we are coming from for those readers who havenrsquot been lucky enough to visit Victoria and the Gulf Islands. They are also there to remind us of home.We were in Vancouver recently for orientation. The principals and support staff for our new schools were there to tell us about some of the things we need to know befor http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-313582.html At long last I have made my way from my Vancouver Island home of Sooke and am headed out to explore Canada with pussy cat who is if not exactly happy at the moment mostly quiet and calm in his carrier. Things were soon to change.One thing about living on an island a bit of water must be crossed to escape from it be it by ferry plane or in some cases a bridge. In my case it was the BC Fe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-311864.html Well I'm taking the ferry to Vancouver in a couple of hours followed by the PCL to Vancouver Airport for my flight. Taking a bus in Van should be an intersting experience given what happened to Tim Maclean last week. Anyway I fly at 830 tonight on British Airways then watch bad movies and try to do school work for 9 hours until I land tomorrow afternoon at Heathrow Airport in London. My pa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-310570.html Today is my last night in Canada for the next four and a half months which is pretty unreal to me. Tomorrow I will be driving down to Seattle and flying out to Taipei and then to Bangkok. I arrive Sunday afternoon and then have my first day of schoolorientation on Wednesday. I will be taking Business courses at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok highlights will include getting to wear a un http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-309598.html What's hot Deep relaxation What's not Long day at seaTravel lesson of the day We live in a tshirt nation. from KathyFrom a Ketchikan departure at noon on July 31 until noon on August 1 we traveled 470 miles at a speed of more than 20 knots. Nonetheless we were still hours away from our last port visit in Victoria British Columbia. The mood on the ship changed from laidback to lastdaym http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-308837.html ok gonna try photos now so if there's nothin after this just ignore it... http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-308404.html I'VE COME FULL CIRCLE. After six weeks of travelling old Europe being shown around Tallinn Rostock Halle and Hamburg by city tour guides I'm back at my job as Victoria Harbour Ferry skipper now telling tourists about my town. But things have changed. Travelling alone one cannot fail to learn about the world and about oneself. Of course much of that will still take time to absorb and digest http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-303845.html July 16Victoria to Harrison Hot SpringsFrom Victoria we drove to Butchart Gardens at Brentwood Bay. But first we had breakfast at a quaint little caf called the Seadrifter with the locals. Butchart is divided into several gardens including the Rose Gardens the Formal Gardens the Japanese Gardens the Sunken Gardens and the Totem Gardens. Jennie Butchart developed the gardens on a played ou http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-301666.html We got to the ferry at 10 in order to insure a spot on the 1245 ferry to Victoria. We walked around the town and had lunch at Rick's American Cafe. The ferry ride was about an hour and half and was very scenic. Arriving at Victoria we found our hotel The Delta another Priceline find and very very nice. We walked over the draw bridge to the main part of the city. First stop was the Parliam http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-301259.html Today was scenic. I realize I haven't been having a very cultural holiday thus far but I suppose that's fine.I woke up one minute before my alarm was supposed to go off. Nice timing. After breakfast I looked at some cultural brochures about Victoria decided I wanted to see the Chinese Temple and wandered to Chinatown. Well the temple is actually in a small building nothing that would made http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-301235.html We havenrsquot put anything up for a few weeks now mainly because we have been working a fair bit and have been essentially living the lives of shift workers. Wersquore keeping the bar staff at our local wondering why we are so weird rolling in at about midnight dressed from head to toe in black our work uniform requirements carrying backpacks dark bags under our eyes ordering a coup http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-301110.html 13 July AND THE LIVIN' is easy... Up at 445 a.m. off on subway regional train and express bus to Hamburg Airport yes that's what the sign says not Hamburger Flughafen as it would have years ago. The trains are busier than one would think with early workers and late night revellers. But then this is a port city that never sleeps and public transit runs around the clock.Hamburg Frank http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-300806.html Despite my room being pitch dark and my body ohsoverytired i woke up at 745am after 7 hours of sleep. i showered realized i thought the hostel would give me a towel but didn't and used my Tshirt I slept in.Turns out i somehow lost my toothbrush...i swear i packed it. I had breakfast bought coffee and started walking. I guess I'm attracted to shops even though I don't like to look at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-300776.html So it turns out I was supposed to wake dad up this morning at 600am. But I didn't realize I had to because I thought he had his own alarm. But we only left ten minutes later.Graeme was a wonderful young man and bought us latte's.The flight went fast enough. The flight attendant was nice and gave me two packages of Bits n Bites. There was a lady beside me sleeping and the weather was gorgeo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-300268.html Dianne retired from her job as an elementary school principal in June 2007. She wasnrsquot really ready to retire just not willing to keep up the pressure of being a full time principal as well as teaching two days a week. During her ldquoyear offrdquo she managed to keep busy as International Student Coordinator one day a week as well as completing a seven week project as Literacy Coordina http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-300208.html It is going to be quite an adventure our two year trip to teach in China. There are some downsides however. As grandparents we will really miss our grandchildren and also the birth of the newest grandchild scheduled for October 2008. Thank goodness for Skype and web cams so we can at least see the new arrival. The plan is to return to Canada during the Winter Holiday so we can visit with all th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-298200.html Viva VictoriaDespus de una noche de sueo reparador me encontr totalmente recuperada de los estornudos que me haba contagiado pequeo animalillo roncador...As que ah estaba yo dndolo todo y tratando de conocer Victoria en un da...La primera misin del da fue tomarme un caf hasta que me top con Serious Coffee Cuyo lema es quieres caf Pongamonos serios y bebamos caf serio lo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-297817.html What would you do if your high ranking 'intheknow' Chinese friends were able to get your visa extended right up to the 6th of August 2008 just two days before the ever controversial Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony and free of charge at thatWould you a spend time traveling around China's gorgeous southwestern provinces b get one of your best friends to come visit you from nearby thailand http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-296896.html La que prometa ser otra tranquila noche...se convirti en una maxi quedada en la entrada del hostel y todo porque alguien se dej el horno encendido y empez a sonar la alarma antiincendios...as que despus de or a alguien decir gat ar yu doin mai fren Saba que tendramos que salir todos a la calle...el ltimo fui un kiwi neozelands arremangndose le ropa y quejndose de que por fin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-296818.html 5th July 2008We arrived at our hotel in Seattle at 11pm last night but for us it was 2am East Coast time and as we were all hungry and thirsty we had to find a 24hour diner the Hurricane Cafe where it seems that Punk is still alive and thriving and we were served by Goths. It was very noisy in Seattle as all over town there were fireworks exploding to celebrate independence Day 4th July. T http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-296817.html 752008The ferry Victoria Express left dock at 815 so I had to up at an ungoddly hour of the morning to go to Canada. It was worth it though. The ride there was 60 min. It was so foggy that you couldn't see five feet in front of you but it was a very smooth ride. When we got there we got on a bus that was going to the Buchart Gardens. The bus driver gave us commentary and history of the city. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-296229.html It has taken a few days to get this first entry up but later is better than never. We set out as planned on Wednesday morning from Princeton BC after spending a few days visiting with friends and getting our motorcycle up and running and licensed. As expected our Chinese work visas were not ready to be picked up on our way through Vancouver that day because of the Olympic backlog. But it wou http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-295493.html Eric left yesterday so I'm on my own now. I've gathered a few photos to show you. I've found it more fun to check out the photos on travelblogs than reading the entries. But I will write more later. Cheers. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-294025.html Walking off the plane in Vancouver Ben and I were feeling a little apprehensive. What if Matt and Amber didn't show What if we got the times wrong What if... and then we saw him. Matt jumping up and down legs and arms flailing in that unnatural way that can only be achieved by Matt. After the initial hugs and jumping and yelling Matt and Amber looked a little confused and questioned why http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-293822.html So I made it so far.Quarda Island ain't seen nothin like me they likely have. A cyclist full of crraaap. My bike she's a heavy beast. She rolls and is excellent at picking up speed going down hill but does not really climb so well. Tuesday June 24th day one102km after 4.5 hours of travel time. I camped just south of Nanaimo in between two fields of very tall grass. Was exhausted http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-292658.html