Victoria

It takes 4.5 hours to travel from downtown Vancouver to Victoria by light rail, bus, ferry and bus, and last night I realised that if we did it twice in the day, we'd have only 90 minutes in the city. So, impulsively, I bought two tickets to travel there in 35 minutes by seaplane!

It was every bit as cool and exciting as I'd hoped. The terminal is a 15-minute walk from our hostel, and when our flight was called 8 minutes before its 08:15 departure, the captain - in regulation long black shorts - introduced himself to the eight passengers at the gate, and walked us along the pontoons to the plane. Onboard, we watched the safety video on an iPad hung on the wall, paying careful attention since, despite being frequent fliers, we “hadn’t been on this type of plane before”. There was no procedure “in case of landing on water…” Indeed, as well as a seatbelt, we strapped into a floatation device for the whole flight and noted that one emergency exit was in the roof!

Soon after our “Turbo Otter” began accelerating across the waters of Vancouver Bay we were airborne. We were on the wrong side of the plane for the fine view of Vancouver as we swung west, but the better side (looking north) for the rest of the flight over the many small islands on the way to Vancouver Island. I could see the dials in the cockpit (see extra) and we never got over 2000 feet. The landing in Victoria was exciting, as we swooped down into the bay. After a brief taxi to the pontoon, all we had to do was get out of the plane and we were in the middle of the city! So cool!

If Vancouver is very American (in the broadest sense), Victoria has a strongly English feel, with its colonial-era buildings and red double-decker buses! After exploring Beacon Hill Park, with its oaks, water gardens and peacocks, and looking out south to the Olympic National Park, we paid homage to “Mile 0” of the 4600-mile Highway 1 to Newfoundland. We then walked through the city centre, visiting Chinatown – Canada’s oldest – and bought some gifts for people back home. Lunch was at an excellent seafood restaurant, and then we began the rather slower journey back. After the bus to Swartz Bay, the ferry was a joy, as it made its way through the small, wooded islands that we’d flown over in the morning (see extra). Back on the mainland, the bus and light rail trip into downtown Vancouver was mercifully swift.

Many thanks for all the hearts and comments on my Blip-versary yesterday: I'm now going to work through them!