100620041725 Vancouver, Canada

I didn't even write about Victoria. I probably can't even remember what happened. I stayed at a hostel there for two nights and met some Brits who I had a great time with, going out to dinner in dodgy pubs and driving out to a regional park to see some potholes (which were actually holes carved out of rock by the passing river and pretty cool really) and hanging out at the beach at Sooke. The third day I wandered about town, went to the beach, dirtied up my shoes & pants really well and then met up with Jeff for a drink. A drink turned into a few when we ran into some of Jeff's friends and we ended up at some dodgy hard core metal / punk club cause they had cheap alcohol (we didn't stay long). I ended up checking out of the hostel at about 3am cause Jeff figured I might as well stay at his place. Tuesday he gave me a free pass to Butchart Gardens (which was great since it costs nearly $20 to get in) and it was beautiful. The weather down there was fantastic and I even burned a little (oops, no sunscreen). In exchange, I set off the fire alarm when I was cooking dinner in his apartment later on that day (I didn't know that the alarm was super-sensitive until after all the guilt). I hung out at Jeff's friend SJ's restaurant later on, and then there was a lovely lunch the next day before heading back to Vancouver.

Lasting impressions of Victoria: Sunshine, hot guys (yes, finally, even working in the deli at the supermarket!), wannabe Britishness and talking about golf (which I know nothing about, but Jeff scored a 73 on his course which apparently was kick-ass).

Since getting back, I have spent some time staying at Crystal's place (the receptionist who I covered holidays for), been offered a job which I accepted, and moved into Clarissa's where I'm happily sleeping on a rent-free couch (she scores again).

Last Wednesday Michelle told me that she had Monday off, so I suggested she use her BC tourism contacts to see if we could get some money off a weekend to Tofino. Luckily my newly flexible job meant that I could take the day off on short notice. By Thursday afternoon Michelle magically came up with the following free things:

1) Tofino bus (usually $70 return per person)

2) Two nights accommodation at the Maquinna lodge ($250)

3) Whale watching with Jamie's Whaling Station ($59 per person + tax)

4) Free Harbourlynx ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver ($25 per person)

5) Free shuttle from the ferry terminal to the hostel in Vancouver (dunno about prices for this one).

So all we had to pay for was bus and ferry to Nanaimo ($11.75 per person) and food for the weekend (way too expensive since Tofino is a tourist town). I think this may have been the best score so far this year.

The weekend was pretty tiring though since we had to leave before 7am on both Saturday and Monday (after drinking reasonably late on the Friday and the Sunday). The weather was horrible on the Saturday so we stayed in our hotel room for most of the afternoon (please don't pay to stay at the Maquinna Lodge by the way). Whale watching on Sunday was pretty cool - we saw a few grey whales (including a mother and baby ... awwww ...), some bald eagles and some beautiful scenery. The wind was up and the swell was pretty high, so I was pretty happy to be leaving the whales by the time we turned to go back. The Beach Bus shuttle had a ridiculous schedule which allowed us to go down to Long Beach (too far away to walk to) at 2.30pm, but there was no return shuttle til the next morning. ??? We didn't get it either. So we walked down to a closer beach and although it was pretty sheltered (the rest are rugged surf beaches), it was very pretty. That night in the pub I realised that I'd met the guy who was drumming in the open jam session (met him at Global Village in Vancouver where he told me his claim to fame was having shagged Erica Tokach - don't know how to spell her name, I'm sure it has a Z in it - from RTR countdown). Was about to leave the pub and stopped to have a chat with him outside and then ran into a friend from Vancouver who we'd been hoping to run into (yes, the town is that small). So we hung with Ian and his friend Jay for a couple more drinks and a chat outside by the Big Anchor (yes, it's just a big anchor). Tofino was a great little surf town, and, especially by comparison, Nanaimo is pretty sucky. I think it's redeeming feature is that it has a Wendy's (at the worst mall I've ever been to).

The next thing I have to look forward to is Cirque du Soleil. Yes!! I bought tickets today for the second to last performance in Vancouver. I've been looking at the tents for a while now and decided to keep my promise to Rhiannon and Symon (although I think maybe Symon should be sponsoring my Cirque experience). So I will be stunned and amazed all Sunday afternoon. Can't wait!