| Langford, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, | | | | open-air deck. When I woke up we were just |
| August 4, 2005, 5:05 am | | | | chugging through the narrows between Galiano |
| Hello from Victoria (1) - Reaching the West Coast | | | | Island and Mayne Island. The narrow channel is |
| Jetlag is an amazing thing. It's barely after 5 am | | | | embedded in between these islands which are |
| and I have already been reading for an hour an a | | | | covered by coniferous forests. The entire |
| half. So I figured I might as well use this bout of | | | | approach to the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal was |
| sleeplessness and record my first impressions of | | | | one of the most scenic waterways I have ever |
| British Columbia. | | | | seen. |
| My WestJet flight out of Toronto left a 7:15 am | | | | Punctually at 2:25 pm people headed back down |
| yesterday, so that meant I got up at 4:30 am, | | | | to the bus, at 2:35 the bridge was lowered onto |
| after 2.5 hours of sleep, to check all my luggage, | | | | the ferry and our bus was the first vehicle out of |
| eat a brief breakfast and get myself out to the | | | | the boat. Another 45 minutes later and we |
| airport. Sometimes a little travel savvy goes a | | | | arrived in downtown Victoria at the bus terminal, |
| long way, I had decided to use my Airmiles to go | | | | right next to the Fairmont Empress Hotel, one of |
| to BC and upon doing some research I found out | | | | Victoria's most famous landmarks. Designed as a |
| that WestJet had a special on that only required | | | | chateau-style luxury hotel, it was built in 1908 for |
| me to use 1600 Airmiles instead of the regular | | | | $1 million and was extensively restored in the late |
| 3900 Airmiles, so off I went and booked the trip, | | | | 1980s to the tune of $45 million. But more |
| saving myself 60% of the Airmiles that I would | | | | extensive exploration of this stunning building |
| have otherwise spent. When you travel | | | | would have to wait, since a local friend was |
| frequently, you have to look at every available | | | | picking me up at the bus station. |
| option of savings costs and my travel reward | | | | My co-worker Clare, who works with me in my |
| miles came through big for me. | | | | full-time business in new business development, |
| I was able to book a flight from Toronto to | | | | relocated to Victoria with her husband Haishan in |
| Calgary and another from Calgary to Vancouver. | | | | March of this year, and the two of them have |
| WestJet is always an interesting experience | | | | been graciously accommodating me since my |
| because its flight attendants are known for | | | | arrival yesterday. Both Clare and her husband are |
| cracking jokes over the PA system. The flight to | | | | originally from mainland China and have been calling |
| Calgary was actually really bumpy and for about | | | | Canada their home for the last few years. |
| an hour we went through what felt like a dirt | | | | Haishan came to pick me up and after a beautiful |
| road in the sky full of potholes, hitting the | | | | drive through Victoria and some of its suburbs, I |
| occasional air pocket and dropping a few feet. But | | | | arrived at Clare and Haishan's beautiful house in a |
| the WestJet crew brought us down safely and | | | | little hillside community outside Victoria. After a |
| humorously, something I was very happy about. | | | | couple of hours of rest due to my utter |
| In retrospect I actually felt pretty lucky, | | | | exhaustion, I got up to a beautiful Chinese dinner |
| considering that the very night before my | | | | complete with 3 different meat dishes and the |
| departure an Air France flight had crash-landed in | | | | most delicous chicken with chestnuts dish I had |
| Toronto. Fortunately, all 300+ passengers and | | | | ever eaten. |
| crew survived and only 43 people ended up with | | | | While we were savouring this gourmet meal, a |
| light injuries, despite the fact that the plane went | | | | deer made its appearance in the backyard, and |
| up in flames. Not surprisingly the newspapers | | | | Clare had already informed me earlier that deers |
| referred to this incident as the Miracle Flight. | | | | show up in the backyard on an almost daily basis |
| Well, my aerial transport went a lot smoother and | | | | and take care of all newly planted landscaping and |
| after about 7 hours of flight and transfers our | | | | flowers, much to the chagrin of the residents. |
| plane touched down in beautiful Vancouver. The | | | | After this delicious dinner we went on a little drive |
| natural setting of Vancouver is indeed impressive: | | | | in the neighbourhood and drove down to the |
| it is set in the Coastal Mountain Range, surrounded | | | | lagoon from where we had a perfect lookout to |
| by Vancouver Island and the Pacific Ocean. It | | | | the Olympic Mountain Range in Washington State, |
| certainly looked breath-taking from the air, but | | | | across the narrow strait from Vancouver Island. |
| my exploration of this city had to wait since my | | | | One of the mountains was snow-covered and this |
| first item of the agenda was to get myself to | | | | majestic mountain range combined with the |
| the City of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. | | | | waters of the Pacific creates one of the most |
| I located the Pacific Coachlines desk at the | | | | stunning sceneries this lovely planet of ours has to |
| Vancouver airport and for just over C$70.00 I | | | | offer. We had a view of a historic light house and |
| bought a return ticket for a coach and ferry ride | | | | the Esquimalt navy base and after a brief drive |
| across to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. I | | | | through the hilly coastal roads (and another close |
| only had about a half hour between my arrival at | | | | encounter with a deer) we drove back to Clare's |
| the airport until a comfortable air-conditioned bus | | | | beautiful house on the slopes. |
| whisked us to the Tsawassen Bay Ferry | | | | After another hour or two of shop talk I was |
| Terminal, following which the bus went onto the | | | | positively exhausted and dropped into bed like a |
| BC Ferries boat itself. | | | | sack of potatoes, only to wake up before 4 am, |
| The ferry was a very large vessel with 3 | | | | unable to sleep. Well, this early rise has given me |
| different decks for cars, trucks and buses. There | | | | a chance to record my first impressions, and I |
| are 3 additional passenger decks including an | | | | have avidly been reading my guidebook on |
| open-air sitting area in the front of the ferry. We | | | | Vancouver and Victoria, laying out a draft itinerary |
| slowly started our crossing of the Straits of | | | | for today. The sun is coming up now so I've got |
| Georgia and I thoroughly enjoyed the panomara | | | | another couple of hours of reading ahead of me |
| of mountains and water. Due to my lack of sleep | | | | in preparation of today's discovery. |
| my head got a little heavy and I fell asleep on the | | | | |