May 27, Day 17, 4th and Last Full Day in Vancouver – Visiting Vancouver Island

Our pilot gives a talk before we fly to Victoria (Vancouver Island), British Columbia

We started this day early. We had to be at the seaplane terminal – next to the convention center and the Olympic Caldron (see entries and photos from May 24 entry) – by 8:20-8:30, to check in for our flight. We have been to Vancouver three times previously, but we had never been to Vancouver Island and its largest city, Victoria. Patrise really wanted to get there during this trip, and so, two days ago, I made the flight/bus/ferry reservations for us to go today. I was concerned that she was not feeling well, but with a night of antibiotics and good sleep, she was feeling strong enough to go on with the day’s journey. It would be a long day. We left the hotel at 8am and would not be dropped back off until 8:20pm.

Many people think that Vancouver is the capitol city of the province of British Columbia. However, that is not so; the provincial capitol is actually Victoria. George Vancouver was a key officer for James Cook on Cook’s second and third voyages. He later led his own voyage of discovery to North America and mapped much of its coastline on the northwest coastal areas. It was on his voyage that Vancouver “discovered[1]” the island that now bears his name. Likewise, the city of Vancouver is where Capt. George Vancouver and his crew first set foot on the mainland of what we now call British Columbia.

The seaplane flight to Victoria was a first for us. It was short – less than forty minutes versus the ferry ride that would have been over three hours – and comfortable and scenic, giving us aerial views of Vancouver and outlying islands that we could not have gotten by other travel modes. When we arrived in Victoria, we were deposited in the heart of the downtown and historic area. After a quick stop at a seaside souvenir shop, we walked to the location for the Hop On Hop Off tour bus. The location was in front of the Empress Hotel, one of the oldest hotels and buildings on the island and it is currently under the Fairmont Hotels flag. (We concluded that Fairmont must lead the luxury hotel segment of the market in Canada. We stayed in and/or saw six different Fairmont Hotel properties on this trip and they have all been luxurious facilities.)

Our bus tour was fantastic, and it provided an excellent opportunity for us to see several of the major historic sites and find out more about the history of the area.  This is a large island, and it has 13 municipalities other than Victoria. The tour lasted an hour and a half.  After the tour, Patrise identified a restaurant that she wanted to try called the Bard & Banker. We had a great meal, sitting outside and enjoying the warm, and we had more than either of us could eat.  After lunch, I insisted on getting ice cream from a local shop.  We then walked to the bus station downtown to wait for our transportation to the ferry that we planned to take to return to Vancouver.  The ride to the ferry terminal crossed from the southern tip of the island to its eastern edge and took slightly more than an hour. We observed suburban and rural communities.

Then we arrived at the ferry terminal, BC Ferries. Our ferry was HUGE!  The crew were able to load our entire bus, several trucks, and hundreds of cars for the trip to Vancouver. The ferry ride took almost 90 minutes.

When we returned to Vancouver, the bus driver dropped off nearly everyone on the bus at their hotel before he dropped us off at the Fairmont.  Needless to say, we were both tired, but Patrise wants the official record to note that she made it through the day and persevered, so that the journey would not be spoiled. By the time that we returned, her cough was much worse.  She decided that she needed some cough medicine to add to the list of other items that she was taking. We went to dinner at a local seafood restaurant called Coast.  It was delicious.  We both had clam chowder as an appetizer.  I had sable fish with miso and noodles and Patrise had a Spicy Tuna roll for her entrée.  I ended up eating half of her roll, because she had to leave and get to the drug store before they closed.  I finished up my meal at the restaurant and then returned to the hotel.  Patrise had just arrived as well.  We backed our bags so that we would be ready for pick-up at our hotel at 6:05 am.

When we finished, we both hit the sack and dreamed about our return trip home. It has been a wonderful excursion across central and western Canada, and we hit our goal of having visited ALL 50 states, but beginning the trip in North Dakota.

[1] Any time I use the word “discovered” it is from the European colonizing context. Obviously, in all of the places, there were indigenous peoples who had truly discovered, settled, cultivated, and otherwise inhabited these lands for thousands of years. Today, every Canadian-led tour provides an acknowledgement of the specific indigenous peoples who lived in the areas, before Europeans arrived.