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The day started early indeed, we were both out of bed before the alarm at 0600 and we were due to leave the ship at 0840. The reason for the earlier morning is that the ships captain had told us that we would be passing under the Lions Gate Bridge (the entrance to Vancouver Harbour that leaves the city via Stanley Park). We both wanted a picture of this moment as we passed right under the bridge exactly at the time that the captain had told us that we would. It was breezy out on deck and the City of Vancouver itself was shrouded in low cloud, it felt like it was going to rain. We went to breakfast and then tried to kill time back in the stateroom. By the time the ship had docked at Canada Place Cruise Terminal which is right on the waters edge of the city we were both itching to get off so ignoring our call time we just joined a queue and jumped ship.

The downside of this decision is that we had to wait another twenty minutes or so for our luggage to arrive. Bags in hand we rolled them towards canadian customs expecting a full on investigation as to why we were going to be here for another 28 days etc. Every other time we have come into Canada it has always felt like an inquisition but this time nothing. They took our custom declaration from us said have a nice day and we did not even pass through any form of passport control, unbelievable!

Having been to Vancouver twice before ( Jonathan twice, Trevor once) it did feel a little like coming home as we know the city enough to get around. This meant that there was no need for a taxi as we wheeled our suitcases through the busy rush hour pavements of downtown Vancouver to the rental car garage. It was starting to spit rain by now so we were both glad that we made it the shortish five block uphill walk to the garage and found it first time.

By now we knew that we were running way ahead of ourselves, we had booked a ferry to Victoria for 12:50 and it was only just 09:00 now and the ferry terminal was only a 30 minute drive away so we picked up the car keys, dumped all our luggage in the boot and left the car why we went for a coffee and a free dose of Wifi.

Back in touch with the outside world (we really had not missed much) we decided to just get in the car and drive to the ferry port and hope that we could get on an earlier sailing.

The drive out to Horseshoe Bay was uneventful despite having sat nav for Canada the signs were really good and the roads were vaguely familiar as they had been traveled four times before on the way to Whistler. We got to the ferry port and we were told to join lane four which meant if the boat had room after all the bookings had been loaded we would get on if there was still room.

The great news was that we got on by about three cars....Victoria and Vancouver Island here we come!

The British Columbia Ferry that took us out to Vancouver Island is much like a cross channel ferry. These ferries are not small and the one we were travelling on had four decks for cars, a number of cafes on board and all the other usual things you would expect. It took us an hour and a half to get to the island and all with out a hitch.

The hitch came on our way from Nanaimo down to Victoria. Traffic from hell. We were held up in a queue for the best part of 45 minutes so a journey that should have taken us and hour and a half turned into the best part of 2 and a half by the time we reached the hotel.

Take the traffic out of this equation and it was actually like stepping back into civilisation compared to the relatively small and historic towns of Alaska. The road was full of familier brands and malls and out of town developments. Ok this is nothing to be excited about at all but after two weeks away from the likes of this is was different being back in the middle of it all again. The drive down was not all shops and houses though, we passed some stunning national parks and scenic waterway views and we are hoping to go back and see some more of those during our time here on the Island.

Our hotel is the Rialto a recently totally refurbished four star place that has a great location right in the heart of downtown Victoria. We dumped our stuff, parked up the car and headed off into the heart of downtown.

Victoria is a fantastic place. The architecture in the historic downtown area is a mixture of stunning french chateau type buildings like the government Offices or the famous Fairmont Chateau Hotel located right on the harbour front here. The other end is both Victorian and post war victorian inspired american flat iron brick built four story mansion blocks all stone glad and huge loft like windows. The city itself has a real bohemian buzz about it and it feels bright and colourful and free spirited. The lower part of downtown wraps around the natural harbours and creeks that flow in and out of the city. There were some truly amazing $$$$ boats in the harbour and the sky was full of float planes bringing people in from Vancouver and Seattle both about the same distance away from here.

We walked up and down a few of the blocks taking in the tows vibe and it really sold itself to us, everything about just seemed great. What the town also has it great parks and green spaces all immaculately planted and its something that Victoria the city is world wide famous for. Jonathans mum would kill for some of these double headed geranium's that fill the flower beds here, put that all together with the stunning buildings and it really is a fantastically handsome city.

Our walk took us as far as Fisherman's Wharf a floating village if you like full of crazy imaginative houseboats and floating restaurants all with amazing vies of the surrounding pine forrest filled islands.One half of this village was very much a working fishing port full of trawlers all waiting to go out to see for the next catch, the other, peoples homes and a really quirky place to eat. You can guarantee that we will be visiting here again before we leave!

We headed back into the downtown area walking along the waters edge and through the park ending up at the tourist information centre to glean the best places we should be heading for over the next two days. Maps and a bit of info intact we headed off for a cold drink and the moment that we finally sat down a wash of tiredness really hit us both.

It was time to call it a day and head back to the hotel. With neither of us particularly feeling the need for a big meal we sat and had a Nando's chicken (small portion dad, honest!!) and then back to the hotel to catch up on the blog.

Its been a long travelling day today, we are safely in our third country of the trip so far and Victoria feels like a great place to be.

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