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KOA Victoria West, Malahat, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 8195

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We spent the day in Victoria after waking up really late this morning. Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and at the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island. Named after the longest reigning monarch in the UK (63 years till 1901), this is a lovely town.

By the time we drove into town and parked it was almost noon. There was an antique car show in downtown and half the tourist streets were closed to traffic. The air of festivity was highlighted by 750 cars, many from 1932 (75 year anniversary of the Ford Deuce model) and some even a bit older. Music from the 50’s and early 60’s played loudly from speakers placed in front of the parliament house. It was like being in the movie “American Graffiti”.

We walked along the waterfront and had a good lunch at a hip restaurant called Sauce. On the way to the washroom, I noticed they had posters of famous alcoholics like Churchill and Janice Joplin. The food was good and of varied origins (American, Asian). The children couldn’t get enough of the sweet potato (Batata) fries.

After lunch we headed to the Royal British Columbia Museum, which is considered an excellent one by worldwide standards. The first exhibit we saw was Artifacts of the Titanic, explaining about the famous ship, its maiden voyage and tragic ending. There were many artifacts from the ship on exhibit. Ron was impressed by the real ice used to create a large iceberg in the final chamber of the exhibit.

The second part of the museum was a natural history exhibit, focusing on the British Columbia area. They had outstanding replicas of various wildlife habitat, including some extinct species like a wooly mammoth. The children enjoyed this section very much. Every time Shir and Orr saw an animal they identified, they yelled its name until we acknowledged.

The last exhibit was the least exciting, perhaps because we were getting tired. It displayed the human history of the First Nations people that inhabited the area for thousands of years before the white man. It then continued to life in BC 100 years ago, by taking us down a street with local shops and houses as they would have appeared back then.

After the museum we strolled around town a bit more, checking the Helmcken House (oldest house in BC), Bastion Square in Old Town, Federal Street, and Chinatown (actually China Street).

We had dinner at another hip fusion place called Cactus Club Café which had great food as well. It was getting late so we walked back to the RV and drove to a nearby supermarket to load up on some groceries. There was a playground nearby so while Paola shopped, the kids played. We then showered them and got them ready for bed, and by the time we got back to the campground all three were sleeping. Bliss.

Good Night,

-Hemi

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 12:06 am and is filed under Big Trip, British Columbia, Canada, North America RV 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.