Goldstream Provincial Park

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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 one go "Ooh," but there was a building close by that was pretty nice, and there was a store open. I got four apples for $1.77. Hooray for my budget-savviness!

I signed up for a shuttle bus to Goldstream Provincial Park, but I was rather indecisive about that or going to Witty's Lagoon, the other excursion offered. I switched to Witty's, but then when we stopped at Goldstream I got out there.

I don't know what else to say about it. I was with a pretty awesome bunch, we went to a small waterfall called Niagra Falls ("I want to see that so I can laugh at it," said one girl from Ontario). It was gorgeous, and I went wading in the pool there. It's crystal clear water, and rather cold.

I went hiking with another woman through the gold mine trail, which was pretty gorgeous. Lush is the perfect word to describe the place. Ferns growing everywhere. Arbutus trees stretching across the cliffs. 600-year old Douglas firs. Weird-looking white-vegetable sprout things growing on the side of the path. An overhead look of the railway trestle bridge I'll be going over tomorrow. Moss growing everywhere- ground, rocks, trees, on branches and leaves. Saskatoon berry-like berries. Maple leaf-like leaves. Stuff that could have been poison ivy.

Gorgeous.

We eventually came upon an old gold mine, and we ventured a tad into it before getting scared. It was pitch black and damp. When I exited out into the forest again, it seemed hotter.
At the end of the trail I decided to find the Miner's Spring, and my hiking friend started back toward camp. But after a bit I got scared of the unknown, and headed back to the main parking lot. to get back to it, I had to walk along the highway. Then I discovered I had to cross it to get back to the parking lot as cars kept coming seconds after each other.

Each time I tried to seize an opportunity, another car would come.

After a while, I prayed. "Please God, please God, let there be an opportunity..."

Then I didn't hear any cars coming. None came for several seconds. And I darted across, shouting, "THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD!" as I laughed.

I struck up an interesting conversation with a couple from Toronto, and they were encouraging me to take a gap year after university after I told them my desire to travel.

"Do it."

An girl from Sydney was a qualified lawyer, and she decided to go off and travel after she finished her courses.

They then told the group how, after working for years and married and on the verge of having kids, they realized that wasn't the life they wanted. So they sold their house, quit their jobs, and are now travelling.

We got back into the van at around 4:15pm, and I had lots of interesting conversations. The Aussie girl told me she loves to make kangaroo pie. (Kangaroos are considered food?) Nicky, who runs Get Around Travel & Tours and shuttled us to Goldstream from Ocean Island, has lived in Japan for a couple of years, stayed in Austrailia, and is trying to start up her own tour company. The couple from Toronto were very philisophical, very live-in-the-moment type of people. Patty would like them. My hiking friend is from California and has been to China a few times.

After getting back to the island, I looked for free stuff in the cupboards, found some pasta and Cup-a-Soup cream of mushroom soup mix, and had that for supper. A nice couple offered me their pasta sauce which they were going to put on the free shelf.

I like this hostel.

Then, in the evening, there was a good show. Some guys jammed out some Beatles tunes for the guests in the lounge.

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