Ferry to Victoria, Vancouver Island (15 November 2024)

 


I managed to slip up getting to the Bus Terminal that was going to take us to the ferry to Victoria.  The bus depot turned  out to be not down near the terminus of the Skytrain by the waterfront.  Fortunately we had enough time to order an Uber to take us to the depot which is what Bev had originally thought was a good idea.  I found out later that the Skytrain that would have taken us to the depot was near our hotel.  I was not very smart on that occasion.

 

The bus ride was uneventful, going through the suburbs to the terminal at Tsawassen.  It drove on to the ferry and we had a lovely 90 minute ferry journey not unlike the Cook Strait ferries minus the bus.  The turnaround was slick. One hour to get the trucks and cars unloaded and the new lot loaded on. The journey is quite picturesque similar to the Marlborough Sounds in some ways although channels are not as tight.

 

A ferry like the one we travelled on

On arriving in Victoria we looked for a bus to get to our accommodation and had a whole lot of helpful people including a bus driver get us on the right one which dropped us right outside the Robin Hood Inn.  Bev took one look at the place and wanted to check out.  It was a fifties hotel that had been upgraded and on the outside looked like one of those places people use for a clandestine rendezvous.  The room was pleasant enough and very warm but not having a jug for tea was a killer.  It turned out however to be better than anticipated with a more than adequate breakfast provided as well.

 

We took the bus into town and began exploring the Old Town.  Compared the number of vieux villes we had been to in France it did not feel that old.  There were some quaint buildings but that was it. It was overcast and getting dark quite early when we arrived at the waterfront to the sight of the Provincial Parliament all lit up. Nearby was The Empress, a chateau like building that years ago had been built for travellers using the railways in the 19th century.   Bev was impressed with what she saw on the waterfront and ended up with a much more positive impression of Victoria. I  think it was one of those crikey moments. 

Called "Welcome home"

 

We found a nice warm pub in which to have a drink and then a meal and end the day.



Some of the sights as we navigated through the islands

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Choosing where to go next (28 October 2024)

Image
  Canal St-Martin There is so much to see in Paris, which makes for an almost overwhelming number of places to choose from.   Graham had what he called “crikey” moments where something would just take his breath away.   The Pont du Gard was one of those moments but he had many more so the challenge was to find at least one on our last full day in Paris.     We were keen to go to Belleville which is the highest point in Paris and Graham had picked up a book in the apartment with graphic photos of its former self before and after it had been redeveloped in the 1970s and later.   The view from there on a good day is excellent as you can see the city laid out with its various landmarks.   It   was quite misty when we left but we still decided to go. Parc de Belleville   We entered through the Parc de Bellville and climbed to the lookout point.   The Eiffel Tower was not visible due to the mist but as it was coffee t...
Read more

Frankfurt am Main

Image
Looking toward the CBD We woke early and found that our apartment had a wide and expansive balcony that gave us a view from the west to the east.   It was a nice outlook.     Apartments' courtyard View from the balconey of apartment It was over twelve hours since we had last eaten and Bev wanted breakfast so we went looking for a place in the local area settling on a bakery/café.   The food was carb heavy but it did the trick.   (Comment from Bev: Yum! – there will be a few of these added comments throughout as she edits my blog)   Our tram stop - cycle lane on my right Just before we left New Zealand I had a message from Deutsche Bahn to tell me that the train we were going on from Prague had been cancelled and we had to find another way of travelling.   The website was optimised for German speakers of course so I think the translated version was not as clear.   I thought the easiest way to deal with it was to go to Fra...
Read more

The Causeway Coastal Route (2 November 2024)

Image
Carrickfergus Castle It was very damp when we departed for Derry/Londonderry, taking the Coastal route there.   Normally this would be done when going to the Giant’s Causeway but we had not managed to do so.     The first stop was Carrickfergus Castle about 20 minutes out of Belfast.   It is a Norman castle that was built in 1147 on a rock that has fresh water available.   Over succeeding centuries it was much modified to become the fortress that it is today.   It was a central player in the wars of control of Ulster.   Initially it was the main centre of Ulster but eventually in the 1700 and 1800s the centre moved to Belfast.   Halloween display in the Keep   We paid the small fee to have a look around.   It was interesting to go into a very different kind of castle to those we had visited in France.   The idea was the same but execution was different.     In the main Keep which is the large...
Read more