Monday, August 02, 2010

Catching up in Victoria

This entry will be a catch up for the last week - lots has happened.

We got on an early plane on Wednesday morning and arrived in Victoria at 8:30 a.m. Bernie Moss our good friend broke his rule (sleep in, don't do anything early in the morning) and was at the airport to pick us up. We went directly for breakfast.

Helene is determined that we 'be tourists' this trip so she has a series of events and sites to see. We started with the Abkhazi Gardens. We found these Gardens and wandered the grounds and the gift shop for a while. Not much is in bloom and we got bored fairly quickly. Bernie then suggested that we head to Ogdens Point.

Ogden Point is a long breakwater. It is a relatively narrow cement structure where you can walk a fair distance out onto the water. Near the breakwater is a scuba diving school and a cafe. We made our way through the security gate - a gate which ensure bicycles, etc. don't get onto the breakwater and then walked to the end - probably close to a kilometer. The problem I had was that there were no railings and although the breakwater was wide enough for three or four people to walk abreast it was still a bit disconcerting to see the drop to rocks and cement blocks on either side. For me, who can't swim and hates pain, a misstep and a drop off the side out be painful and likely fatal - needless to say I walked carefully and was the recipient of considerable teasing.

After that interesting adventure we went over to Fisherman's Wharf. Here we saw the little village of houseboats. Fisherman's wharf is not far from the inner harbour and downtown Victoria so it is conveniently located for people that live in the houseboats to bike or walk downtown.

Bernie was making dinner for us on Wednesday evening so we headed out to the supermarket, bought steaks, etc, and headed back to his house. A nap, a barbecue and dinner ensued. The evening was spent watching Bounty Hunters with Jennifer Aniston - don't bother!!

As usual, Thursday morning I was up early (I'm not so sure how bright I was) and had a few hours alone to read, surf and think - always good things.

We walked from Bernie's house down to the water and around to the little village below his place - the medium walk! Starbucks beckoned and we sat there enjoying the cool morning. Victoria has not been hot this time around but it has been sunny - good sweater weather. We discussed the activities for the day and decided on Craigdarroch Castle. But first lunch!

We tried for lunch at the Fish and Chips place downtown but the line was too long so we ended up at the Flying Otter which is in the float plane terminal - I had fish and chips anyway!

We wandered downtown for a while to let Helene see what the Bay had to offer and then I spent a while on the phone with one of the kids. By then the afternoon was gone and we had dinner arrangements with Bernie's sister and husband and another couple - Jeff and Edie. So back home for a quick nap (I love holiday naps) and then off to dinner. The night ended up with popcorn and taped Law and Order shows.

Labels: , , ,