We have heard so many wonderful things about Vancouver Island we thought we had better come and visit. We will only do a quick few days travelling the southern part of the island but keen to see what all the fuss is about.
We arrived by ferry from Port Angeles. Like a lot of old ferries a bit of a dunga!
To be honest arriving into Victoria didn’t exactly knock my socks off. There were lots of high rise and modern buildings.
However when we stepped on shore and saw Parliament building it was impressive.
We had to check it out and have a look inside.
We stayed just behind Parliament. The house we stayed in was built for the mayor back in 1860 and has been converted to an 8 room B & B.
Victoria is an easy city to explore on foot.
We took a walk around the older residential areas where houses were built around 1850s. I loved the architecture.
We exchanged numbers with a lady who lived in a lovely home. She would love to swap homes with us in NZ! Of course it will never happen but she had a lovely home. She was painting her front gate.
Victoria is a colourful place. They love their flowers.
Like many colonial cities the Chinese arrived in the 1850s for the gold rush. Chinatown in Victoria is the oldest in Canada.
Everybody recommends going to Berchart Gardens. It is over 100 years old and was developed from an old quarry into a magnificent garden by the Berchart family.
We then headed about 4 hours to the Northwest of Vancouver Island to a small town Tofino.It sits at the end of a peninsula with the ocean on one side and the inlet on the other.
We took a lovely forest walk to get to the ocean.
Around the peninsula of Tofino and Ucluelet are lush forests, rocky bays and some long sandy beaches. It is a popular hiking, cycling and surfing area.
After 2 days up and around Tofino we headed back to Victoria.
I found the contrast between the old and ugly modern day rather confronting.
After just 5 days it was time to leave to Vancouver Island for Vancouver and then off to Europe.
For me Vancouver Island and Victoria doesn’t live up to the hype. I am pleased we went but was probably expecting more beauty – I think modern day construction has sadly destroyed it!
Explore The World 