Ladysmith and Victoria

On my weekend in Ladysmith, I only did two short hikes as the weather was still not great. The first hike was through the forest up a hill to Heart Lake. The lake had the shape of a heart as the name suggested. I underestimated the hill I had to climb and I was exhausted when I arrived at the lake. So, I decided to walk back the same way and not complete the loop, which would have taken about 2 more hours.

The second hike was the Holland Creek Trail Loop, following the creek and coming back on the other side.

On Monday, I traveled to Victoria. I stayed in downtown with a view of the harbor and right by the street with the bridge that could be lifted to let larger ships pass through. I got to witness this process once, perfectly timed with the sunset in the background. Due to the great location of my accommodation, I was able to comfortably wander through the streets of downtown on foot or walk along the harbor. Near the Inner Harbour, there was the Royal BC Museum and the British Columbia Parliament Building. Just outside of downtown, there was the Craigdarroch Castle and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Right around the corner from my accommodation was Victoria's Chinatown, the oldest Chinatown in Canada. In Victoria, there were many options for sightseeing, whether it be taking the hop-on bus, a panoramic flight over the city in a seaplane, a harbor tour in a water taxi, or a horse-drawn carriage ride. However, I always walked as I had plenty of time and also extremely lucky with the weather. Only on Monday when I arrived in the afternoon, it was raining, and a local told me that it often rained in Victoria. But for the next four days, it was very sunny. On Friday, I took a trip to Butchart Gardens. Over 100 years ago, Jennie Butchart started to create the garden. Although it was mid-October, many plants were still in bloom, and along with the fall color of the trees, it was still very colorful. On the way back to Victoria, I stopped at Thetis Lake for a walk around the lake.

On Saturday, the rain returned to Victoria, but it didn't bother me as I left and took the ferry to Vancouver, where I will spend my last week in Canada.