victoria

we have just arrived back from a whirlwind weekend in wictoria with wonderhosts shareen and craig. sorry gillian and linda and whoever else we missed in victoria, but it really felt like we just got there and then it was time to leave.

we had a frustrating time on the way out to the ferries, with crazy traffic secondary to friday afternoon trafficloads and summer construction projects. then at the tsawassen terminal (where we had a reservation that they threaten to sell off if you are not 30 min early) the entry lines where a tangled mess of grumpy drivers cutting eachother off and complaining to the clerks. at one point after our lane was forced to randomly merge with the one beside us and 3 cars passed without letting us in, i actually had to get out of the 4runner and stand in front of the next vehicle so kylie could get back in line while the driver gestured angrily at me.

luckily bc ferries honoured our reservation and we made it to shareen and craig's in time to relax and watch the olympics before grabbing some noodlebox on the beach.


the next day was anchored by a trip to the calmingly clear and cleansingly cool sooke potholes.

we had never been there before despite 2 previous trips to sooke; it was probably the most beautiful natural swimming hole i have ever been to. the pools are so long that despite walking past the masses of cars in the parking lot and along the road, we were able to score a spot with relative solitude (we had to swim to the spot and the only casualty was shareen's camera... whoops!), and niko was able to roam off leash with only a few mishaps involving him trying to rescue people in the water (sorry craig).



shareen and craig introduced us to a surprisingly diverse sampling of their favourite restaurants, beaches and downtown hotspots in our 2 days with them. victoria is pretty dogfriendly, with a surprising amount of people stopping to pet niko without even talking to us.


also, people in victoria display an alarming tendency to walk out in front of vehicles without even looking or acknowledging that we are required to slam on our brakes to avoid maiming or killing them. people also tend to stand on the road and then when they decide to move they will amble over to another spot on the road that is also in your way. we witnessed this multiple times. perhaps this is just a summer phenomenon?? anyways, with this and other characteristics victoria exudes a decidedly laid back, laissez faire vibe. overall it was a great time.

it was fantastic to see shareen and craig for an extended period, and ferry waiting times aside, we hope to head to the island again some time soon. thanks you guys!