Reaching Victoria

"Selfie" on the ferry

On the ferry

Flowers outside the Access Inn

The Internet connection isn't very good on board the Spirit of British Columbia, so I'll post this later. We're crossing a grey stretch of water from Tsawwassen and then we'll get among the islands, where it appears to be raining.  Never mind. This is a more restful way of travelling than yesterday's flight from Ottawa although I enjoyed that too, watching films about Stephen Hawking and Margaret Keane.

We spent the night at the Access Inn, where we've stayed before. It was tipping with rain as we climbed out of the shuttle bus, but the entrance was surrounded by spring flowers.

The "Spirit of British Columbia" at Berth 5, Tsawwassen

Having slept well, we had breakfast at the neighbouring IHOP, the healthy option for me with scrambled egg whites and fruit salad, very American. The shuttle bus drove us to Bridgeport station where we were able to catch the 260 Translink bus to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen with a crowd of students, two of whom gave up their seats for us. Chris got talking to the Swiss girl who'd offered him her seat so that she-could sit on her boyfriend's knee. Despite the crowded conditions the busride was good value: only $1.75 (on Saturdays all transit fares are valued for 1 zone only; this was the senior's fare).

View from the ferry of the container port at Tsawwassen

We are among the islands now, very beautiful, with rain showers veiling some of the hills, and other ferries passing by on the smooth water.

Continued later ...

The 11 o'clock ferry that we took was two hours earlier than the one we should have taken. We thought we'd be able to find a place for lunch on arrival at Swartz Bay, but this turned out to be wrong. There was a restaurant, but only accessible to people in cars, the other side of the barriers. 2nd class foot passengers merely had access to snack dispensing machines. However, the sun had come out and it was warm enough to sit on a bench outside, the first time I've been able to do this since last autumn!

The view from Sidney's waterfront

A visiting deer in the garden

What a welcome! Jill and John took us to the house they're renting via a seaside town called Sidney, where the sun came out in earnest and the temperature rose to 15 degrees. The house is in an attractive part of Victoria, surrounded by Garry oaks, rhododendrons and tall firs. The men went to the local gym for a workout while Jill and Jill and I sat in the garden with a glass of wine each, listening to and watching the birds, some of which are hummingbirds. Jill put a jazz album on while she cooked us a delicious supper--pork with mushrooms.