Groggy eyed, I reached for the phone, to find a few messages waiting. A few brief conversations later, I gently parted the curtains to realize it was pouring outside. The sky looked overcast and there didn't seem to be any chance of it ceasing anytime soon. "Should have gotten one of those umbrellas from London Drugs", I thought, as I got ready hurriedly.
Checking the schedule then made me realize that I had 8 minutes to catch the bus or wait another hour. I made it on time after a quick dash through the rain. It wasn't until I reached the 'Departures' zone at the Ferry Terminal I realized how huge these ships were. I was expecting them to be dingy ferries, like the ones shuttling between Manhattan and Staten Island, but boy, oh boy, did they prove me wrong.
These were actual cruise-liners with 4 stories of seating, amenities ranging from coffee shops to fancy dining options, play areas for kids, business stations with wi-fi, spotless clean restrooms and a sun deck if someone wanted to enjoy the ride watching the surf.
The captain made the departure announcements, went over the security procedures and lifeboat protocol and off we went, so silently and effortlessly that I had to check windows in both directions to confirm that we had actually set sail. By now, the rain was gone, leaving just a few clouds behind. The course of the ship took us through picturesque places, blue waters dotted with green serene mountains, greeting a few other ships and boats passing by and seals playfully swimming along. I chose a spot by the window at the 5th deck, iPad in hand, catching up on the outside world.
Met a Canadian man onboard, who insisted on taking the next seat on the bus when I got off the ship. He apparently trades in high-end watches and lives in Mainland China. For reasons best known to him, he also thought I should have his email address, which he scribbled on a tiny piece of paper and shoved into my hand. The man smelt of alcohol and had the word 'dog' in his email address. Enough said.
An hour's bus ride later, I was in Downtown Victoria. I walked a block to find a hop-on/hop-off tour about to start in a few minutes and since it was mid-day already, I thought this was my best bet instead of trying to explore the place on my own. I did one entire tour of the city on the same bus without hopping off, so that I could decide what places were best to hop off at later.
It started off at the Market Place, lined with little shops bustling with activity, the Royal Theatre, where they have plays being performed regularly for decades now, St.Andrew's Cathedral and it's beautiful architecture and then proceeded towards Inner Harbour. They have ferries lined up here, mainly sailing to Seattle and Port Angeles and it is also supposedly a major stop for a lot of tourist cruises from around the world. There is a drawbridge connecting this part of the island to Victoria, much like any other drawbridge from elsewhere. Several mansions and marvellous homes with beautiful gardens facing the waters form an exclusive community here. The guide informs that some of these cost as high as 20 million dollars.
The tour then took us through the exotic China town, the second in North America, after the first China town in SFO, which was a by-product of the Great Gold Rush from the beginning of the 19th century. The entrance gate is a gift from Victoria's sister town in China and is guarded by 2 stone lions which apparently shall spring to life if an honest politician passes through them. How metaphorically appropriate! In return, Victoria sent the Chinese city two Totem poles.
There is also the Antiques Row consisting of little boutiques with unique merchandise, opposite which is the much modern Bay Center housing the latest trends from prominent brands. Then there was the Craigdarroch Castle, built by Robert Dunsmuir for his wife. He died before it was finished and his dear wife insisted the castle be finished, even though the bills weren't paid.
Oak Bay Marina was next, home to seals and whale watching, Gonzales Beach, sandy, blue and secluded, Mile Zero, Thunderbird park with the 128ft Totem pole, the tallest in the world were all that followed. But the high-point of the day was the beach with a breathtaking view of the towering American Olympic Mountains in the far distance hazy mist, across the teal Pacific waters of Foul bay lined with a 100 year old stone wall, serene, mystical and out-of-the-world. A place where decades ago children would find human bones from washed up coffins (perhaps because they couldn't have found a better resting place).
A little sojourn at the local bookstore, some souvenir shopping and a few pictures in front of the British Columbia Parliament Building, which immediately reminds one of the Kolkota Victoria Memorial, trying on expensive pretty hats (which if I might say so myself, for once, instead of making me look like a clown, actually went well with my polka dotted dress) and a ride back to Vancouver as I am typing this out will all be memories I'll carry around for many years to come.
