The other Victoria

We are now able to be articulate about our long haul flight. The flight was 14 hours after a 3 hour departure wait. Despite all attempts to sleep, it eluded me. Ross just closed his eyes and he was out to it. I was so jealous. I was treated to several movies. I watched "Book Club" which was very predictable and not terribly clever which was a disapointment given its illustrious cast. I also watched the cartoon "Ferdinand" which was equally predictable and somewhat wearisome. I also watched "The Avengers: Infinity" which was an enjoyable couple of hours of explosions and chases. It was good to catch up with adolescent Groot again. He made me laugh. The ending was annoying because good did not triumph over evil. It seemed evil won the day, year and the universe, as Spiderman, Black Panther, Dr Strange, dear little Groot and other superheroes dissolved into dust. The rest of the superheroes were sitting around looking pretty unhappy at the end and the credits rolled. Clearly there will be a part two.

Other temptations on the onboard computer let me win a game of trivia, search for hidden objects in a complex picture and play a few games of Sudoku. They were useful time takers.

I would like to introduce you to our travelling companion in row 37. Her name was Param. She is from Toronto and has invited us to visit her in that city. I doubt we will be able to fit it in but if any of the readers of this blog ever get to Toronto, I would invite you to catch the nightbus and say hello to Param who will be your driver. She had been in Australia for two and a half weeks visiting her two sisters and her brother. They live in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth respectively: a family settled all over the place as part of the great Indian diaspora. Param has two daughters, aged 11 and 8 and they have been with her lovely and much appreciated mother-in-law while she has been away. She is looking forward to seeing them and as I write is probably pulling up at home right now. She was friendly and chatty and when either of us wanted to visit the loo during the flight, we went together like all good females. It was a good excuse to get up and move as well, so on several occasions Ross had to get out of his seat, let us clamber our way over pillows, blankets, headphones and armrests to go for the short walk to the cubicle and back.

After farewelling Param at Vancouver airport we moved through Customs and to the transfer lounge to wait for our second flight which would take us to, of all places, Sidney, Victoria. Yes, Sidney is the suburb of Victoria, Vancouver Island where the airport is. The flight itself was only 12 minutes long in a two engine turbo prop plane that took us out of Vancouver, across the mudflats, fishing lanes, channels and myriad of small islands; Chatham, James, Sidney and many others that occupy the Haro Strait, and on to this island. We flew across Cordova Bay to land at Victoria airport where we were met by our Evergreen representative.

She drove us to our hotel, The Doubletree Hilton, along some very familiar looking roadsides. Dotted with overgrown blackberries in full flush of fruit and Queen Anne's Lace, the side of the road looked quite like home. The difference was with the trees. At home they would be wattles and melaleuca and hakea, while in Canada they were a vast array of conifers, birch and of course, maples. The maples are just showing signs of changing so I am hoping that before we leave we will see a maple forest in full colour. We were informed that deer are a major problem here. While largely native, they are feral creatures that are happy to live close to humans and eat their gardens and crops. Likewise we were warned to watch out for aggressive bears that like to infiltrate suburbia in search of food. I doubt if downtown Victoria would have a problem, but apparently on the north of the island which is less populated and is supported by the primary industry of logging, the wildlife is more prolific. We passed a lake called Elk and Beaver Lake to be told that no elk nor beaver might be found there. I would be delighted to met a beaver, but I believe them to be creatures that enjoy their own company so I suspect it will be unlikely.

I noticed also that most of the housing tends towards the alpine look, reminiscent of Swiss housing designs. Building materials of the earlier houses were mostly wood with slate roofing tiles, consistent with a timber rich community. I noticed also that they have significant bluestone deposits that would give them another material. Later homes have used brick and ceramic tiles. It is generally an attractive appearance and probably very sensible given the heavy snowfall they tend to get each winter. Our Evergreen representative said that snow can be waist height after a sustained snow storm. I don't think I would care for that.

Anyway, we finally arrived at the hotel to find our room ready, three small bags of still warm cookies awaiting us and the delicious prospect of a shower and a nap. We took advantage of all of these things and arose refreshed. A bit of tidying up, washing smalls and studying the potential sites within walking distance and we have arrived to the current time.

Soon we will wander across the road to go to the Millos Tavern where we plan to have a yummy Greek meal and perhaps a short wander before we come back to a good night's sleep.

We just got back from dinner. As we were leaving our room on the second floor to head out, we heard a porter trying to inform some guests where they might be able to get a meal. They had just arrived, had had no food since breakfast and were ravenous, but also longing for a shower and bed. I told them we were heading off for Millos Tavern over the road and so they joined us. We have now met Graeme and Pat, who come from Kapunda in the Barossa. Graeme was a farmer who, as part of his slow transition to retirement, reduced his farming exposure and went into support services such as seed grading, carting and assisting other farmers when they needed an experienced and skill aid. His wife, Pat, a registered nurse, retired last year after 40 years in nursing. They have travelled quite a bit but are looking to reduce their travels from now on. This may be their last big trip overseas. The pension will not give them the liberty to do big trips any more. They were pleasant company. They are also part of a large group of South Australians on the tour with us so our fortuitous meeting may give us an introduction to many in the tour with us.

We have now begun to plan our activities for tomorrow but we will wait until we have done our touring before we tell you more.Read more