Postcard #3 – 10080 Minutes, give or take a few

After leaving skeeter (a scout camp) I headed with a friend up to Campbell River. I was meant to spend the night in Nanaimo but I decided to head straight for Toffino, the western most point of my trip. Toffino is a very touristy town, with some awesome beaches but everything there is overpriced and to tell you the truth I was glad to get out of there. I stopped in a quaint little town on the way back Nanaimo called Port Alberni, which I keep pronouncing wrong, because I speak like an Aussie! Lots of cool things that you really needed a car to access but I was able to visit the train station & visited the water front and the museum. Unfortunately as its low season the steam train that operates in the town wasn’t out and about but such is life sometimes.

I then spent a few days with brad in Nanaimo. Nanaimo is curious. It’s the gateway to the island in a lot of ways and is the hub to the tourist destinations but there isn't a lot to see in the town it’s self. But it’s a nice place and the surrounds and the area it is in is beautiful. Well actually I recon most of Vancouver Island is quite spectacular and reminds me a lot of back home, in the hills just outside of Melbourne, you around Marysville and healseville.

I went to a small town called chemanius, whose two main claims to fame are their theater & the murals that are though out the town. But there was also a quite fabulous little sweet shop which had all kinds of wonderful things. But the main thing there is the murals.

I spent the weekend in Victoria, BC the capital of the province. It’s odd. The capital of provinces seem to not always be the main city (Edmonton in AB, Victoria in BC and so on). Any way because it’s the capital, all of the strikingly beautiful buildings that come with a province of this age and the house of power and government houses are here along with all of the trimmings. So that makes Victoria a place to visit. Interestingly you can see the USA from Victoria on a clear day and you can take a ferry from the downtown core of Victoria to the states, you can even take your car on one of the ferries. I recon it’s kind of cool. There are lots of nice parks, a cute china town area and some beautiful gardens in Victoria and is quite a nice place to go visit. Interestingly they have a massive cruise ship terminal, which seems to be fairly well used.

Well it’s back to Vancouver today, via Nanaimo, and I am headed through the Rockies on Wednesday and Thursday, and headed up into the heart of Alberta on Friday. I will write again soon and will call soon.

Richard

Authors note: I’m addressing postcards because I think its fun, and are indeed to make them feel different to my regular postings about where I am in the world.