5th day Vancouver Island - Victoria

12. 04. 2023

People.... where should I start.... One highlight after another. The headline should actually be "Orcas & a room with a view" or "the day of upgrades". But one thing at a time.....

After checking out of the hotel around 10 am, a large Uber taxi took us to the airport to pick up our rental car at Alamo. Since the smaller SUV we had ordered was not available, we were upgraded to a large Ford SUV with all the bells and whistles. That was nice.

Then we made our way to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal where, since we were early, we could take an earlier ferry to Swartz Bay. The 1.5-hour crossing in bright sunshine through a breathtaking island world was already amazing, but when we went to the outside deck after a small breakfast, a whole orca family appeared out of nowhere. Brigitte was once again much faster than me and actually managed to photograph the killer whales🐳. A great experience..... fantastic!

After we docked, we headed to Victoria, not only the largest city on the island, but also the capital of the province of British Columbia. When we arrived at the hotel, we were offered an upgrade to a suite. At first, I wanted to decline, but the little luxury woman said that looking doesn't cost anything. And as so often, she was right again.... Apart from the fact that the suite was very beautiful and huge, the view from the living room and balcony topped everything we had seen so far and was worth every extra dollar. Unfortunately, the photos only roughly convey what we saw there.... Behind the spectacularly illuminated parliament building at night, we could see the high, snow-covered Olympic Mountains, which are already in the USA behind the strait. This view was breathtaking too and we couldn't get enough of it.

Speaking of getting enough.... for the evening we had a table reserved at "Finn's", a hip and very stylish fish and steak restaurant right on the marina with a cool atmosphere, very good food, and incredibly nice staff (like everywhere else). And with my buttery tender New York steak, I treated myself to a little prawn upgrade 😋. And they also had Kölsch there 👍🏻.

So it was a completely successful day, filled with highlights and wonderful impressions. This is how it can definitely continue 😊🇨🇦.

Tomorrow we will go to Ucluelet on the Pacific.