So... once again I have been remiss in updating my blog. Well. I'm going to use the summer as my excuse: no-one wants to stay inside and update a blog on one of the few days the sun is shining in Vancouver, that's what the rainy winter is for! Actually recently the summer has been turning into winter: the highs are generally under 70 (25) and it has been raining off and on...

 

Well, I guess I'll start where I left off. In July I went with a group of friends to Vancouver Island. The theory is that we should go to places near Vancouver in the summer while it's sunny and warmer places in the winter. We had a four day weekend, I think it was over Canada day, and took off Thursday evening and came back Monday evening. Thursday night was in Victoria and on Friday we drove to Tofino, where we spent the rest of the weekend.

Vancouver Island is a large island off the coast of British Columbia, stretching halfway down the coast of the province all the way down to Seattle. The most notable cities on the island seem to be Victoria, the capitol of BC, and Tofino, the surf capitol of Canada. http://maps.google.ca/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&ll=49.823809,-122.915039&spn=3.962064,11.975098&z=7&om=1

 

We had a great time on the ferry from Tsawassen and in Victoria. We stayed in the Swan hotel and brewery and bought some of their beer on our way out of town. Victoria is a lovely city filled with cafes, restaurants, shops, and large, English-style buildings. The drive to Tofino the next morning was quite picturesque and some members of our group even saw a black bear! The token Greek was lectured by the Canadians when she decided to get out of the car in order to take better photos.... We stayed in a cabin in the middle of the rain forest outside of Tofino for the next couple of nights. The days were filled with kayaking, whale watching, hiking, wandering on the beaches, eating outstanding fish tacos, hugging trees, and lighting fires on the beach. Nobody had the courage (nor the drysuit) to try the surfing... The evenings were filled with excellent food, barbecues, and the crazy games of the Greek version of the scouts. We reluctantly packed up on Monday and made the drive to Nanaimo for the ferry ride back to civilization...