Victoria – Getting to know our surroundings :)

Sept 2

First thing in the morning, we made a good breakfast of eggs and potatoes.  Then we worked on setting up the house for the first part of the morning.  Then we were off to explore Victoria our new neighbouring city and provincial capital.  The distance to Victoria is only about 110km but the speed you travel the roads at is actually quite slow because it goes through several small towns and the roads are very windy so it takes about an hour and half to two hours. 

Nice to meet you Mr. Mountie Bear

Victoria was buzzing since it was the long weekend and very difficult to find parking.  Once we did, we started walking the downtown streets looking for somewhere to eat some good sushi.  After a very appetizing meal of sushi and looking at maps over lunch we decided where we wanted to go.  Solly really wanted to see seals, so we decided to walk towards the fisherman’s wharf.  To get there we would walk past the parliament buildings, so we wandered the yard and looked at the architecture of the building. 

Down by the harbour

The walk to fisherman’s wharf was quite long.  Sam and Solly thought I was leading them in the wrong direction but we arrived with no difficulties.  We browsed docks and checked out all the house boats.  We even watched a few children feed the seals with small fish.  Once we wondered around a bit we decided that we would take the water taxi back to the downtown area.  It was only $5 each and we had a nice little boat ride that showed us the harbor. 

On a house boat – all the cell phones they have found in the water

 I had visited Victoria a couple of summers ago and had tried to see the Craigdarroch Castle but it was closed when we arrived.  So I told the boys that I wanted to try and see it again.  We took the long walk up to the castle and made it just in time.  The building was absolutely beautiful and we all loved exploring the building.  The wood in the castle had been had carved and in some rooms had famous quotes carved into the wood.  I love old buildings and loved seeing how each one use to be kept, it was just missing a secret passageway.  The house belonged to a family that was in the mining business in Nanaimo, who moved to Victoria.  They actually barely lived in the home and it became a military hospital and the first building for Victoria University.  We felt that it was money well spent and really enjoyed it..  We walked back downtown and sat on a patio for some apps and beers.  It was getting pretty cool, so once we were done we were ready to head back to Nanaimo.

 

We first stopped at the grocery store on the way into town for some snacks.  Then, when we got back we ate some ice cream and played some jegna  It was a great day and we were glad we got to see Victoria before getting into our busy lives in Nanaimo. 

Solly likes Mr. Moose too much