Lovely Week in Victoria

ToG tucked in at The Causeway Marina in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria Harbor from 9/5 to 9/11, and what a wonderful week it was! We are now at Van Isle Marina in Tsehum Harbor, but more about this amazing place next time.

Originally we were going to stay in Victoria just three nights but as we were trying to line up future destinations with friends, and since the weather was so nice and the city so enticing, decided to stay longer.

On our first walk, we had to wait for the Johnson Street Bridge to open for an incoming towing maneuver. Never seen this up close and personal. Walkways/bikeways on either side go up with the bridge. The whole up and down thing happened in about six minutes and was amazingly quiet...no squeaking grinding mechanical noise at all.

Our walk through China Town yielded this find. I've been wanting an elephant table. Not an elephant!

We took many walks, lunched out most days (sushi, seafood, ramen [Ghost again!]), rode bikes to Oak Bay, visited Fisherman's Wharf, and shopped. Fish and chips recommendation by a marina staffer was disappointing. Finest At Sea had extremely good seafood chowder but the F&C was greasy and tasteless. Other than that, so much good food to be had!

The Causeway Marina is a great location and run very efficiently. It's a bit of a walk to the laundry facilities but the price was right at 3 bucks a load Canadian. Got that out of the way.

One of the many things we enjoy about Victoria is its many distinctive and charming neighborhoods. James Bay, Cook Street Village, and others, provide nice walking and shopping. The whole area is wonderfully accessible, with walking trails, biking paths and parks aplenty.

We unexpectedly caught up with Dave and Jean Thompson (Salish Nomad), who had ridden the bus from where their boat was moored in Sidney. They are slowly making their way home from their annual trip to Alaska and it was fun to hear about their adventures.

The marina was sparsely populated when we arrived but completely filled up by Friday, mostly with a group from the San Juan Island Yacht Club. And then almost empty again by Sunday afternoon. A group of Ranger Tugs showed up, as they had just departed Roche Harbor after their fall Rendezvous event. We all had dinner at the Irish Times pub on Sunday evening.

We made a note to ourselves to check in with the marina after the first of the year to see if we can make a reservation for a week around Labor Day weekend next year.

A plus on our cruise yesterday from Victoria to Tsehum Harbor...orcas! It's been a terrible orca/whale sighting year for us, so a very welcome surprise.

It is Malcolm's birthday today. Yesterday was the four-year anniversary of us abruptly leaving Victoria to race home for his birth!

Missing these guys: