By Delight ☆ ～('▽^人)
Hello! Since I've already recapped my time in Vancouver in my last post, today I'll write about my experience on Vancouver Island (week 2) and random stuff I did in the metro (week 3)!
It was my first time on the BC Ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria and I'd expected to get seasick as I usually do, but I'm happy to report that there was minimal turbulence :) We were also super lucky to sit by the windows and observe an orca whale come up for water; it was so cute and the kiddies were so excited!
Victoria is so cute! It also has a bunch of niche touristy things like giant animal statues for people to take pictures with. Here's one from outside of our hotel:
The next thing I noticed is the carriage culture! Especially near the dock, horse-drawn carriages are always available for a sightseeing ride. They literally gallop on the streets with cars and stuff. Not just horses make up the tethered pullers of trolley carts, but also bikes and humans! It was 8 pm when my sister and I went scavenging for food and lo and behold there was a line of trolleys down the street of men pulling trolley carts full of humans. I was quite surprised at their speed but also like is it safe for them to run on the street?
Random travel tips for next time:
Another funny thing was the street music battles LOL like there would be a musician every 100 m down the street and all of their sounds would overlap. The bagpipe players play from 11am to 6 pm ish non-stop and there are guitar singers everywhere and a Darth Vader who plays violin in front of the gift shops - just to name a few. One time, the bag pipes had a match off with an Erhu across the street, aka they were trying to play over each other.
Also there are just peacocks and deer that roam around the park fyi.
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Then we went to look at tide pools at Holland Point! I didn't find any sea stars, apparently they were all wiped out due to a sea star disease 5 years ago TT. BUT! there were still tons of sea anemones, keyholes, and hermit crabs. Also these paleontologic looking horseshoe crab things.
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OK that's about it lets get onto Nanaimo!
I absolutely love Nanaimo. Reasons:
I visited the trestle swimming spot under the highway on the way to Nanaimo and spotted a crayfish! Water is super shallow and clear but a little cold.
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Just north of Nanaimo, there was a small town called Coombs... and there were goats that lived on the roof, farmers markets, and cozy bookstores.
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Just north of Coombs, there lied the Oyster potholes... and there was beautiful, crystal-clear water, paired with stunning rock formations dating back millions of years.
PS. the water was freezing cold!
Wise words overheard at Oyster River Potholes 07/27/24:
"I'm gonna go on bake in the sun, Imma become a baked biscuit!" - an 8 y/o boy.
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*SO GORGEOUS MUAH
They have little bathtub boats. They race. Amazing.
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