Sooke and Victoria

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Sooke is a district municipality situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada. About a 45 minute drive from the city of Victoria (the capital of British Columbia), Sooke is considered the westernmost of the Greater Victoria region's "Western Communities." It Sooke's popularity as a scenic tourist destination has existed for generations. Well-known destinations in Sooke, such as Whiffin Spit Park, the Sooke Potholes Regional Park, and adjacent Sooke Potholes Provincial Park attract visitors both locally and from around the world. Sooke is also home to the Sooke Region Museum and Visitor centre; where visitors and locals are able to get information on regional attractions and history. The area's popularity has increased as a base for visiting the wilderness parks of Vancouver Island's southwest coast — the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park which includes the now highly popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.is situated to the north and west of the Sooke Basin.The Galloping Goose Regional Trail, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, runs through Sooke and is a popular cycling route to Victoria. (www.wikipedia.com)


Sooke and Victoria







Kyle woke up early to finalize plans with his friends and plan the day. One of his friends was at Sooke and biking would take him 2 hours and me 5 hours and we did not have much time so we decided to take Kyle´s uncle truck and drive there (45 minutes). Along the way we passed Kyle´s old practicum high school. The road to Sooke was two ways and through the mountains. Every so often there would be a house or a few , but not too many. We passed many parks along the way. Around 9 we reached Kyle´s friend´s home, which had a very tiny Toy Poodle the cutest little dog I had ever seen. We drove for a awhile until a parking lot of a park where we stop to walk, hike and explore the area. The entrance was basically a prairie, with lots of grasses, but it ad trees in the background. We walked a few meters to a stair and got to a little secluded beach. It was so beautiful white sands and deep blue oceans with snow capped mountains in the background. We walked along a path climbing on logs, rocks and wood through a little forest occasionally Kyle´s friend had to carry the dog because it was too little to step up the logs. The hike was absolutely beautiful. We got to a little sightseeing spot were we could see the US from above. We hiked for about 2-3 hours, saw birds, butterflies, little rodents, and tried to catch a few snails in the rock tide pools , but they were all dead. Finally we headed back , drove Kyle´s friend and went back to Victoria for lunch with another friend.







We reached Victoria around 1 o clock and spent about 15 minutes looking for a place to park a car. This is why Kyle (and now I ( do not like cars and we bike so much). We found one a couple of blocks from the restaurant and parked there and headed to the South East Asian place. His friend was waiting, a young Indian girl finishing college. She was really friendly. They catch up on their lives and then Kyle included me in the conversation, we talked about China, India and out travels. We drove her back to UVIc and Kyle showed me around. The campus was beautiful with lots of green spaces, tall trees and flowers and occasionally you could see a deer or two. We drove back to Tim Hortons and grabbed some iced coffee and doughnuts . It is a very Canadian style coffee house. Back at the house, Kyle checks his messages to figure out the next meetings and we got our bikes and rode back to Victoria downtown. The most of the way was downhill so we went pretty fast until we reached the path and from there it was the same way we had biked the day before. We reached downtown and quickly found a bike parking right in front of the restaurant we were eating dinner. It was a bit early so we wandered around the streets. I bought some postcards from a photo studio whose owner new Venezuela and Angel Falls. Finally it was time to meet his friend so we went to the restaurant, which turned out to be Japanese. Asian bound haha!!! We ate dinner and chatted for a few hours and then the three of us walked around looking for souveniers places for me and making time pass to meet with his third and last friend for the day. At around 10 we said good-bye to Kyle´s friend and biked to the pub we were going to meet his other friend. It was a Canadian type of pub, loud music and people drinking and having fun. We got some beers and chatted for hours. It was a pleasant evening. T 12 we headed to the house, we had to bike for at least an hour and by this time it was really dark. I struggled a lot but Kyle as so supportive and he drove either by my side or in front so he could lead the way. We got home and crashed soon because we had to ride our bikes early tomorrow to catch at 8 am ferry o Vancouver, so we only slept like 4 hours. What a trip!!!!

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