We were having such a nice time on the island that we set our alarm at 6am so that we could see just a bit more of it before we had to leave. We set an alarm. On vacation. While camping. That’s how much we liked the place.
But we didn't have long before the cab driver picked us up. It was actually the same driver that took us to the campsite the night before, and we had made arrangements with her to pick us back up that morning. By that point, we were on a first name basis with Suzie. We learned that she was one of just a few drivers on the island, and she and her husband made a pretty decent living shuttling tourists from the ferry station to their hotels. But that day, she kept complaining that her husband didn't fill up their gas tank when he took the van to the mainland. I took a minute to think about the challenges of living on a tiny island (like getting fuel for your car), but Aimee and Suzie just talked about the challenges of husbands. I was going to need some more coffee.
But we didn't have long before the cab driver picked us up. It was actually the same driver that took us to the campsite the night before, and we had made arrangements with her to pick us back up that morning. By that point, we were on a first name basis with Suzie. We learned that she was one of just a few drivers on the island, and she and her husband made a pretty decent living shuttling tourists from the ferry station to their hotels. But that day, she kept complaining that her husband didn't fill up their gas tank when he took the van to the mainland. I took a minute to think about the challenges of living on a tiny island (like getting fuel for your car), but Aimee and Suzie just talked about the challenges of husbands. I was going to need some more coffee.
We were going to Victoria that day, and we had to pass back though Sidney. So we made a point to swing back by our favorite bakery in North America. One last donut stop.
The bus ride from Sidney to Victoria was a testament to public transportation. The bus was spotless, the driver was friendly (unheard of, I know!), and the entire ride was $2! Plus, the passengers all knew each other, and chatted the entire way. It was like Cheers on wheels.
We pulled into Victoria a little after lunch, and checked into another hotel I booked online. But this one turned out to be worlds better than the last.
This is the Empress Hotel. This is not our hotel. But it is the centerpiece of a beautiful Victorian city center that reflects the wealth of the area. The city got its start in the 1800s as a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, and then became a key port during the gold and logging booms. It later became (and still is) a major base for the Canadian Navy, and is now an important tech hub. But the main draw of the city remains its waterfront.
All this water (and eating nothing but camp food for the last three days) had me craving some fish and chips. Barb's Fish and Chips down by the waterfront had one of the best reputations in the city, and it was well deserved.
I was in fried cod heaven.
But as you can see from the photo, it was starting to rain. That, plus the fact that we had been sleeping in a tent all week, made it pretty easy to justify an early retreat to the hotel. We watched a bit of soccer on TV, and crashed before the sun was all the way down. It was wonderful.
