Unfortunately, it already has been quite a while since we returned home after our flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam.
We have had a blast touring, enjoying and experiencing Canada, and more specifically BC and Alberta and all the good things this country and it’s provinces have to offer.
We would definately like to see more, but our time was limited and all spent.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
After arriving in Victoria yesterday we decided that we needed a day without too many activities, a day of relaxing and taking it easy. And so we did.
After a breakfast at the hotel we started walking to downtown Victoria. As it was only a few blocks away we didn’t bother to take the car, as it would just be a hassle to park. Furthermore, the weather was lovely, so an easy stroll it was.
Walking to the city took us straight through Chinatown, the biggest in Canada, according to the leaflets. Its entrance marked by a huge gate, it stretches a few blocks in all directions and is as busy as you’d expect.
Walking further we encountered the old city with the harbour and the British Columbia Houses of Parliament with the official provincial Christmas Tree right in front of it. All built in the traditional Canadian style (of which I don’t know the name right now)
After taking it easy in the city and just sightseeing down there we were in the mood for a little action and drove to Victoria Butterfly Gardens to put the newly acquired 105mm macro to work. A great idea!
Home to about 6000 butterflies and a wealth of animals, it is a great place to just hang around. Which we did, obviously. 
Tomorrow the trip and flight home, tonight some ingenious packing to get everything in the correct bag!
Today had quite a long drive on our schedule, driving all the way east and south from Tofino to Victoria.
Our first stop of the day was (well, after breakfast of course) a trip down a piece of old growth temperate rainforest. It is called, not surprisingly, the Rainforest Trail and consists of 2 loops, each 1km long. Loop B is closed due to storm damage, but loop A is fully accessible. The entire trail is raised off the ground by a boardwalk which makes an easy stroll and a very low impact on the surrounding forest.
It is plain awesome!
The forest looks pristine, yet very cluttered and unordered, but that is just the way such a forest should look like. If a tree toppled over, it just lays there and becomes ground for the other plants and trees to grow on. Really fascinating stuff to see, and awe inspiring due to the where height of the giant cedars and the wealth of growth in the forest.
After that we drove straight to Victoria and did an evening stroll to see downtown Victoria by night. It is such a lovely city! Very picturesk.
Tomorrow a full day of exploring the city!
Other people might say we are nuts, I’d say we went out and made the most of it. Today was filled with water time, in total 3 hours looking at bears and over 6 hours looking for whales and such!
And oh my, we have seen the lot. From amazing birds like the Tufted Puffins and Bald Eagles to marine mammals like Sea Otters, Grey Whales, Humpback Whales, Killer Whales, Harbour Porpoises, Harbour seals, Steller Sealions, River Otters, and the likes to obvious land dwellers like the infamous Black Bear and wolves.
It has truly been the most amazing say of our trip, and are pretty exhausted now. And maybe a little sunburnt from all this being outdoors…
Tomorrow a trip to Victoria, to our final hotel. Tofino, we are going to miss you!
This morning has to be the most easy morning we had in quite a while. We started off by sleeping in, and around 9 we had an excellent breakfast in the restaurant next door. Compare this with our usual hours and you know why our spirits were up as the rain poured down quite heavily!
We were scheduled for yet another trip on a boat to see whales, this time from Tofino and to see Grey Whales and Humpbacks. Our trip was scheduled for 3 in the afternoon, but seeing the weather forecasts (heavy showers between 3 and 5) we really didn’t feel like it and asked the friendly people over at Jamies to reschedule our tour to the one before that. Luckily, this was possible and we embarked at 12:30.
Fully litter and suited up in our padded floatation suit, we stepped into the Blue Thunder, a rigid hulled zodiac. We were promised an exciting ride, and that is exactly what it was. Completely exposed to the weather, we were quite lucky for the showers to have lifted and to have made way for very light drizzle which even did not last long.
The trip down Clayoquot sound is great, fast, windy as the twin engines roar and definitely not as wet as you’d expect. The first Grey Whales were found very quickly, and after gazing at them for some while we went on to find our humpbacks. We eventually spotted them breaching!
Unfortunately this was the only breach we saw, but it was awesome!
The ride on the zodiac was great, but not good for taking photographs at all as it is way too bouncy. Tomorrow a bigger boat, I guess!