Yesterday (Sunday) we finally made it to Victoria. I say finally, we came here 31 years ago but that doesn’t really count as we only remember bits of what was a rainy, brief visit. We both agreed that Victoria is absolutely lovely and well worth future visits. Maybe next time we’ll stay in the centre and tick off another Fairmont Hotel in our list. We also got all day parking for only C$10 which if you compare it to many cities/large towns is really good. The inner harbour is a lovely place where you can book whale watching trips (when in season), or even seaplane rides. Also it’s a nice place for an amble. The buildings surrounding it are magnificent and we decided that after a bit more exploration we’d go to the Royal BC Museum. We walked to Chinatown, the oldest in Canada, and Amanda bought some Christmas decorations…of course she did. I took a bunch of pictures and then we strolled back towards the museum. We happened upon a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and it’s basically against (our) rules to not go in. About C$25 later we went to the museum.

I mentioned this on Facebook yesterday but we forget in the UK how lucky we are that we get free entry into world class museums and art galleries. I remember being taken aback how expensive it was to get into the Art Museum in Toronto and the Royal BC Museum was the same. For two adults (no concessions) it cost almost C$54 which is almost £32. We get this FOR FREE at home with a suggested donation of £5 per person. Click here for a list in London alone. The Labour government introduced the current scheme in 2001 and long may it continue.

The museum is excellent however and well worth a visit and great coffee and salads too (Amanda had a Moroccan chick pea soup which also smelled delicious). They currently have a special exhibit on the Maya people of Central America which was very cool.

On the way home we decided we needed petrol/gas (whatever floats your boat) so pulled into a petrol station and it was FULL SERVICE. There were two young men running around cleaning windows and filling tanks. When we came here 31 years ago, George, who we were staying with, would always and only ever go to full service stations. His reasoning was that when he was young it was a good job for people his age and he wanted to carry that on. He point blank refused to go to self service stations so we were happy to do the same. I think I over tipped him by his reaction but what was the cost of two coffees in the hotel for us gave him a huge smile. Win win.

I’m writing this as we pack to leave Brentwood Bay and head to the ferry that will take us to Vancouver. It’ll be nice to stay downtown, opposite the art gallery and on top of an Apple Store <cough>. We have a few plans but nothing set in stone so we’ll see what happens. We do have hockey tickets on Tuesday and Thursday nights so we’re really looking forward to that and it’s only about 15mins walk from the hotel.

Better finish my packing.

Special bonus fact

All lumberjacks are actually called Jack and have to leave behind all of their previous identities behind as they venture into the great northern forests where they stay forever. I may be mixing this up with the Nights Watch I’m not sure.