Next Stop: Victoria, BC!

10.02.2018 and the following days After reluctantly giving up our car, we walked around Victoria. We visited downtown and the harbor area. Compared to Vancouver, everything in Victoria is smaller, somehow cozier. However, it doesn't make the place more walkable. The public transportation is okay, but you can understand why everyone drives. It's just faster. Anyway, we explored the city center. There are many old brick buildings here and few real 'skyscrapers'. We liked that. From the harbor, it is just a stone's throw to the Parliament building. Because Victoria is, what many don't know, the capital of the province of British Columbia. The building has a certain resemblance to the Reichstag in Berlin. Not surprising, since the Parliament building was built between 1893 and 1897. The Reichstag between 1884 and 1894. After this short excursion, we strengthened ourselves and walked home via Chinatown and a stop at the supermarket. 6.5 km uphill and downhill. A little exercise is necessary after all (Team 'Earnyourcanadianbacon').

Arriving home in the north of Victoria, we met our three roommates for the next few days. Nice people, all 10 years younger than the two of us. And all Germans. So we don't forget our language. We spent the evening, as well as the following ones, watching Netflix and exchanging information about our previous trips and the future ones, as well as potential jobs.

Sunday looked similar. A little walking around the area, a little shopping (because you don't want to starve), browsing the internet for cars, and talking to the recently met people about everything ('What, you're from Berlin? Nice!').

12.02.2018 On Monday morning, we set off to another sightseeing 'highlight' of Victoria: Craigdarroch Castle. A 'castle' built in the château style. Whatever. We would call it a big house, which stands out pleasantly from the gray mass of suburban wood architecture due to its architecture. However, we only looked at it from the outside. On the one hand, we had limited time that day. On the other hand, we had heard that the interior design was a wild mix of history and the 80s (and it even charged an entrance fee... um, no). We continued by bus towards Fisherman's Wharf: about two dozen floating houses in the bay of Victoria. Most of them were permanently inhabited. The rest were restaurants or souvenir shops. One of these floating wooden islands was even for sale. We considered it for a moment, but then decided against it, but now we had a new housing idea. After a quick refreshment in a nearby café, we got back on the bus and... not home. We had a viewing appointment for a car. After all, we needed something to get from A to B faster. It takes too long to get anywhere by public transportation. Instead of a 40-minute bus ride to downtown, it only takes 15 minutes by our own vehicle. Besides, the purpose of our trip is to take a little trip across the continent. And with a rental car, that would be very expensive. More expensive than with our own car. However, it also carries a higher risk. Since our arrival in Canada, we had been thinking about whether we should buy a car and if so, what kind it should be. In the end, we came to the conclusion that we needed a car. And preferably, the car should have enough space to sleep in. Since vans/mini buses are very popular among backpackers and therefore a bit more expensive, and normal SUVs do not provide enough space for the two of us (and the bigger ones are unaffordable), we looked at... a pickup truck. Fortunately, it had a hardtop over the loading area, so you could sleep in it. It was a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 with a single cab and a long bed. All-American powered by a 5.2L V8 engine. After a brief conversation with the owner and a test drive, where we didn't notice any abnormalities, as well as a look under the car, we made our way back home. Should we really buy this monster? Yes, the interior didn't look fresh anymore and yes, the hardtop still needed some work, but other than that, we couldn't find anything negative about it. And it was available at a very affordable price of $1,600. In the evening, we told Kyle, the owner, that we would buy the car. We arranged an appointment for the next afternoon (Tuesday).

13.02.2018 To make good use of the time until the purchase on Tuesday, we went to a temporary employment agency (called Rhino), which was recommended to us by one of our roommates, to introduce ourselves and register there. We were supposed to show up no later than 6:30 am the next day to get the good jobs. More on that later. Since it took less time than we had planned, we went to a nearby shopping mall and an insurance broker to get an idea of how much our future truck would cost. After completing the tasks, we walked to Kyle, about a 45-minute walk (a little exercise is always good). He gave us the key and we drove together with him to his insurance broker. Since there is only one insurance company in British Columbia, the insurance premiums are always the same. The lady who took care of us made every effort to answer our questions about 'if we insure this, but not that, how much does it cost then'. In the end, we more or less decided on the all-inclusive package. Slightly more expensive than the other packages, but the difference was marginal. We're talking about $100 more compared to the low-budget package. You never know in which desolate areas you will be driving and how well the car will hold up. We received our license plates and handed the money for the car to Kyle. Happily and a few bills lighter, we attached the license plates and drove home to the shared apartment.

14.02.2018 After a short night and a quick wash, we got into the car and drove to the temporary employment agency, where we introduced ourselves the day before. We entered the office shortly before 6:30, signed the attendance list, and sat down, curious about which job we would have to do that day. It should be noted that Rhino primarily assigns physically demanding jobs. The main focus here is on day laborers and students. At around 8 am, when almost all other day laborers/students had already been assigned, we were given our job. We were supposed to help a trade fair organizer set up exhibition stands on a military base. So, back into the car and off to West Victoria to the barracks. But beware: Marches have the right of way. We didn't know about that as civilians. After a short briefing, we started unloading the truck. Primarily, these were carts weighing at least 100 kilograms, loaded with metal bars or metal plates, which had to be unloaded using an aged and too narrow loading ramp. The rest of the work was easy-peasy and it went quickly. The two Germans were also the fastest. Canadians are generally more relaxed and not in a hurry. We also received help with the setup from some marines, and we noticed that during every short break, everyone was on their smartphones. Just like the other helpers, by the way. After four hours, we were done and all exhibition stands were set up. We received a signature on our permission slip and drove back to Rhino. We received our first paycheck. Wow! Each of us received a little over $50 for 4 hours of work. That's almost $13 per hour ($1.65 more than minimum wage), which is equivalent to €8.35. Not much, but at least something.

The next day, we were lucky not to have to get up so early, as we were supposed to start in the afternoon. Again, at the same company as the day before. Only this time, we didn't set up exhibition stands, but dismantled the ones that were set up the day before. This time we were done after 2 hours. But we were paid for 4. Also good. Another $100 in our pockets. A purchase was financed with that. Sad.

16.02.2018 Unfortunately, we had to leave our AirBnB shared apartment because it was already rented out to someone else. We packed our things onto the pickup and drove to the workshop to make an appointment for a check-up. Not that there was anything wrong with our car or anything that worried us, but after all, we want to travel a long distance soon. After that was done, we continued to a specialist for pickup truck hardtops. Here too, we made an appointment, this time to make the roof of the loading area weatherproof and suitable for sleeping. Because at the moment, our future home is still a bit incontinent. After making a detour to various stores to complete our camping equipment, we drove to our new accommodation, in the far east of Victoria, near the university. A huge house, whose rooms are mostly rented to Asian students, would be our home until March 1st. Since our host couldn't clean our originally rented room, we received a free upgrade: a separate small apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom. So, let's keep going...