Our Fernie interviews weren’t till the weekend, and although Google images showed it to be a picturesque gem nestled in the middle of Rockies, it did not sound like it had a great deal to do until the season started, so instead of heading straight there we had a little mini excursion to Vancouver Island. Despite its name implying it is in close proximity to Vancouver… it is not. It takes 3 and half hours, or 4 and a half if you’re us, who apparently have an inability to run on time, even with Anna, the most punctual person in the world. We went for one night, which hardly sounds worth it when you consider we had to get the bus, sky train, a ferry and another bus to get there, all with massive gaps in between them due to our bad scheduling. We eventually arrived in Victoria on Vancouver Island, after a quick walk round, we realised there wasn’t actually a lot to do here. Victoria is very, very British, it proudly advertises ‘ English style fish and chips’, a English sweet shop, and very English grand hotel, basically the entire placed oozed quintessential British charm, which meant we has flown 5000 miles, got a bus, sky train, ferry and bus for an excursion to a Norfolk-like seaside town. Our intention was to have a night out, but as Vitoria wasn’t particularly ‘banging’ we put ourselves to bed early, only to be woken by midnight by the apparently raving club opposite our hostel.
The next morning we woke up early thinking we should make the most of our day in Victoria before we had to get a various modes of transport back to Vancouver, it seemed we had forgotten there was nothing to do. Over hearing our grumbles about the lack of activities an aging hippy came over and imparted his wisdom of Victoria on us, he suggested we take a nice RELAXING scenic bike ride along the something-or-other trail (I forget), which would take us through forests and lakes and along the sea, oh how wonderful it sounds. This is what we did. It was not wonderful. It was not relaxing. All started well, there were trees and there were lakes, even horses and racoons came across our path, oh what a great first hour, and then an excellent picnic lunch (Hungarian salami sandwiches, crisp, apples and biscuits…if you’re interested), and we still had of couples hours to spare to get back to the hostel, and catch our ferry. Then we got over-confident, we went off the trail. Never go off the trail. There is nothing pretty of the trail, there are roads, scary roads, with speeding cars, and hills, lot of hills, which for a girl who never really got taught to use her gears properly were an exhausting feat. What makes these cars and hills even worse is that they were not supposed to be there…or to put it better, WE were not supposed to be there. We were lost, our map was crap (because we went of the trail!), and cars were hurtling past us in a manner which suggested we would soon be road kill. It was terrible; we eventually found a route back, riding along the not-so-scenic views of concrete roads, and houses. This 4 hour ordeal resulted not only resulted in a few scrapes and bruises due to falling off the bikes in panic and fear for our lives, but also missing our bus and ferry meaning we had to wait 2 hours for the next one, which of course added to the obviously joyous moods we were in. So my tip for bike riding in Victoria is; STAY ON THE TRAIL.
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