Victoria * 16 - 18.05.17

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Last week, when I had my days off, I decided to go to Victoria. I went hitchhiking all the way. It didn't take very long. I don't think I've waited more than 10 minutes anywhere. First, some cool ozzies with a van picked me up from the centre and drove me to McKenzie Road (not that far, they were camping at Bella Pacifica, but every little bit helps!) Next, a girl who lives in Ucluelet picked me up from there and left me at the junction. There I was picked up by a truck driver, who drove me until Port Alberni. Although it was out of his direction, he even drove me all the way up the hill so it would be easier to get picked up again and so I didn't have to walk all that way up. That was very sweet. Then a really nice audi sportscar stopped. It took me a while to realise he stopped for me because I didn't think a car like that would stop for a hitchhiker. The guy was a pilot and a diver and had some interesting stories. He drove me until Nanaimo. Almost the second he dropped me off, I got picked up by 2 guys who just came back from skateboarding. they were pretty chill and didn't have to go outside of Nanaimo, so they dropped me off at the end of the road. There I got my last ride from a guy who just came back from Nicaragua, so we had some common things to talk about. He drove me all the way up to the house I was staying that night (couchsurfer). The last part of the trip was so amazing! The sunset was orange/pink/purple and because we were quite high, you could see the mountains of the Olympic National Park in the US. Just after I arrived, Stephon, the couchsurfer, showed me around the city. It's such a different world if you compare it to Tofino, that has 2 streets and the next big town is Port Alberni. Victoria has amazing buildings. They are old but still look so intact. The parlement building lights up at night, which looks pretty cool. Stephon knows so much about the city and being a couchsurfing host for a few years, he knew all the best spots. There is China Town, the oldest of Canada, with the narrowest street of Canada: Fan Tan Alley. He also showed me The Empress Hotel and the amazing chandlier at the entrance. We met up with 2 more couchsurfers and went to Mile 0 before we went home.

The next day, my colleague from Middle Beach, Marie came to Victoria to join me. We went for a walk through the city and the fisherman's wharf. After he finished work, Stephon picked us up to go feed the seals at the Oak Bay marina. Then we went home to pick up 2 new couchsurfers before we headed to the Goldstream Trestle. This was the main reason why I came this way. It was a nice trail. We first went to the waterfall before we went up the hill to the bridge. It's a little scary on top of the bridge because it's pretty high and there are no railings. It was really nice and I'm happy we did it.

The following day, me and Marie hitchhiked back to Tofino. It took us a little longer since we were two and we got picked up by many people that drove only to the next town or even just the end of the road of the same town, but still smooth enough. We were home before dark. I had a great time and it was nice to see something different on the island.

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