Victoria BC (UK)

My trip to Victoria was the traditional go-it-alone travel (aside from the lift Jen gave me the bus terminal). I purchased an all-inclusive bus/ferry/bus ticket (C$40) and headed off. The journey took just under 4 hours and the bus dropped me off a brief walk from the HI Victoria where I was staying. This hostel had an enormous dorm of over 20 beds, only 4 of which were occupied making it feel a little weird and unfriendly. The weather and atmosphere of Victoria reminded me the most of home than any other place I'd visited: overcast, drizzling and cobbled streets.

That night I wandered around the streets of downtown Victoria and treated myself to a rather pleasant Italian meal and glass of wine in the restaurant opposite the hostel. The following day it was still raining (the rain featured throughout the remainder of my time in Victoria) so I did what all good Brits do and tracked down a cup of tea. I found my salvage from the rain in Murchie's Tea and Coffee shop which quite simply rocked (their tiramasu was amazing) and pretty much spent my morning(s) in this shop. I walked the length and breadth of Victoria, saw the oldest China town in Canada, explored the market place and walked the harbour. In the evenings, I did what all Brits do and went in search of a pub; I got myself a local ale and I was happy.

All in all I found Victoria to be very quaint and easy to navigate, but probably best enjoyed in the summer as the drizzle and cold were a little limiting. My next destination was Seattle. I had considered going to the San Juan islands to do a spot of whale watching, but I was informed that this was not the best time of year for it, so off I went to Seattle. My first boarder crossing on the open seas. I had to get the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles on the West Coast of America in the Olympic National Park. This cost me the princely sum of US$13. The ferry took around 2 hours and I even saw a seal bobbing around in the ocean, so worth every cent.

I'd booked a place on the Dungeness (namesake of the local crabs) line bus service to get to downtown Seattle (US35) and this took 4 hours through some really picturesque countryside. I arrived in a slightly less picturesque Greyhound station and waited for Calyn (my travelling buddy from Panama) in a cave of a Thai restaurant attached to the station. Naturally it was raining in Seattle. Upon being picked up we headed to a local bar called The Comet which was a very fine introduction to the City, despite the continued rain.