Travellingman reisverhalen - - Victoria
Day 5: Woensdag 2 september 2015
Victoria

I was awake again later, now at 6:45 AM, despite the traffic (and siren) that had woken me earlier. Obviously a disadvantage of a room which is adjacent to a busy road and has windows that do not insulate well. After some work on my travel site, I had breakfast. I had a conversation with a couple from a small town in the Rockies. Their daughter begins her studies here in Victoria and as devoted parents they helped her on the way. I talked to them about all kind of things around 9:30 AM I left to begin my hike to the city. From the hotel that is slightly more than a kilometer.

I began in Chinatown, which should not bear the name of town because it covers one and a half street and one block. It is the oldest Chinatown in Canada (which of course has to do with the gold rush). I zigzagged through the streets from the town hall to the market (which lies between the buildings and consists mainly of shops, although there is indeed a place for a market).

After that I walked along the waterfront passing the harbor with yachts, operators offering whale watching trips by plane or by boat. It was still quiet. When I arrived at the Parliament that was quite different. Here you can see a portion of the inside for free. It's a (for Canadian standards) old building. Many English-style stained glass windows and several old photos and of course the parlement chamber itself.

After that I went to the British Columbia Museum. After paying CA$ 23 I walked two hours around here. The temporary exhibition about the search for El Dorado was the first part that I visited. British Columbia was after Australia and California in 1958 the third place where people went in large masses to find gold. This led to many problems and discrimination, especially Asians who simply also wanted to participate.

Furthermore, an exhibition on the warming of the earth and climate changes (and the associated life) through the past millions of years. One floor up was an exhibition about people. Close attention to the original inhabitants of British Columbia (the 'first nations'). Before Westerners arrived there were 80.000, but that number was quickly reduced by disease and murder to 20.000. Now there are often only small communities left what for example leads to the extinction of languages. You can also see how the groups are adapted to their environment. The people on the coast used different tools than the groups who lived inland. Clear displays explained everything neatly. There was also a section dedicated to the period after the Westerners had gone ashore, even a whole street is reconstructed, but also many machines that were used in the past few hundred years.

After two hours walking around and absorb knowledge (which is not easy) I went back outside. The sunny weather gave way to dark clouds and occasionally it started to drip. To the left of the museum are two original buildings. One was a doctor who was later also member of parliament and even speaker and ensured the connection of BC in the federation. The other is a school. It was the first in Victoria. It was also a house first. When they wanted to start, there were no teachers and it took two years (in 1850 there was no good transport and communications) that four nuns were willing to give lessons. In those two years, the population was multiplied and soon there was need for another building.

After all this history I walked along The Old Spaghetti Factory to Quadra Street. Here are four churches, the Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest.

The rain started to become heavier and at the St Andrew's Cathedral (which lies at the Blanshard Street) I sat on the steps and waited until it became dry, in vain. After walking past the other churches I started to walk back to the hotel. However, I ended up on the wrong street and therefore walked more than was needed. Eventually I was around 4:30 PM I was back at the hotel, where I gave my legs a break, because I start to feel the muscles. Of course the sun started to shine.

After watching some TV, I went across the road for dinner, again at ABC Country. Food is good, but the menu is somewhat limited. After some work on my trip I went to sleep.

Initial publication: 06 september 2015
Last update: 08 september 2015
© A. Heeroma

  • Travel route

Canada tour
ğDay 1 Home - Vancouver
ğDay 2 Vancouver
ğDay 3 Vancouver
ğDay 4 Vancouver - Victoria
ğDay 5 Victoria
ğDay 6 Victoria - Tofino
ğDay 7 Tofino
ğDay 8 Tofino
ğDay 9 Tofino - Port Alberni
ğDay 10 Port Alberni
ğDay 11 Port Alberni - Squamish
ğDay 12 Squamish - Whistler
ğDay 13 Whistler
ğDay 14 Whistler - Kamloops
ğDay 15 Kamloops
ğDay 16 Kamloops - Clearwater
ğDay 17 Clearwater - Prince George
ğDay 18 Prince George - Dawson Creek
ğDay 19 Dawson Creek - Vallyview
ğDay 20 Valleyview - Edmonton
ğDay 21 Edmonton
ğDay 22 Edmonton - Hinton
ğDay 23 Hinton - Calgary
ğDay 24 Calgary - home

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