Victoria: Bournemouth goes west

We set off early on the Saturday morning, bright clear and hot again, for Victoria, the capital of British Columbia and the main town of Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, half of Vancouver has decided to do the same thing. We catch the skyline train to a remote bus terminal and just manage to squeeze on the bus (Canadians are very good at queuing I’m glad to say) and then to the ferry that crosses the Gulf to the Island. This is well worth doing as the ferry weaves through the many islands of the Gulf before arriving at the terminal at Swartz Bay. Then we have another very crowded bus journey don to Victoria.
This is a very pleasant little city, with a huddle of civic buildings and hotels around a small harbour. There is something rather sedate and ‘Bournemouth’ about it all, with municipal flower displays, clipped lawns, tasteful lighting and many late Victorian buildings from the city’s boom period. The mild climate seems to attract people who are retiring and there are many new condo blocks and long term rentals. The provincial parliament building lights up at night like Brighton Pier, and is fronted by a statue of Queen Victoria. She gets everywhere! I saw her last in Sydney, Australia.
On the first night, the centre is rather overwhelmed by cruise boat tourists. There are three docked at the same time, and buses constantly running between the centre and the piers, with even the local school bus being pressed into service. Mostly they hang around the harbour, getting in the way, watching the jugglers and bad mime artists that miraculously appear wherever these boats drop anchor.
The other nights were much quieter and more in the rhythm of this laid back place, where the talk of ‘Island time’ – roughly the equivalent of mañana.
Weather continues perfect and for the first two nights here we could sit outside well into the night until late.
We took a car the day after we arrived and drove up the coast. Once out of the peripheral sprawl of Victoria, the road rapidly narrows, winding through pine forests, mile after mile with hardly a house or even a passing car. Deep, rocky gorges are spanned by rickety single lane bridges, and the trees tower up on each side, with glimpses of a dark impassable forest floor beyond. Port Renfrew is the end of the road, although long distance walking trails can be followed from here on for many days trekking. A short (2.7km) trail for the less ambitious is well laid out and took us to Botany Bay and Botanical Beach. Botany Bay in particular, is beautiful, like a Japanese print, with twisted, bonsai-like pines clinging to the rocks, shaped by the wild winter winds; and huge piles of storm-driven driftwood. On the final day, we toured the peninsula, visiting the incredible (to look at – and the entry price!) Butchart Gardens.
We only managed to explore a small corner of the Island, and it would repay a longer visit.