Chris (new hostelmate from Toronto) and I roused ourselves early and made it to Tsawassan in time to catch the 8:00am ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. That's us on the ferry deck in pic one , I'm the one in the jacket - Canadians would call the weather warm but Gulf Coast folk would take issue. Hour and a half sail in comfort - BC Ferries runs a class operation. Good seats by the window. Beautiful view of some of the Gulf Islands as we slipped by. Short drive from the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay into Victoria. Made it into town in time to catch a 90 minute walking tour of Chinatown that was the best guided tour I've ever taken. The tour met at the Bright Pearl (pic 2) in Chinatown at the corner of Fisgard and Government Streets. The Bright Pearl is a stainless steel orb that depicts the Earth and floats free in water. You can't help but give it a spin. The Pearl honors the many people who immigrated to Victoria from the Pearl River Valley in China. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about Chinese immigration to the island and to Canada in general. In fact he's writing a book on the topic. He wove in a lot of interesting historical information about other aspects of Victoria and BC as well. Little known fact - during the years that opium manufacture, use, and trade was legal in BC, opium was BC's biggest export - now, per the tour guide, BC's biggest export is marijuana. Likely that statistic didn't come from an official Canadian agaency :-). Pic 3 is the Gate of Harmonious Interest which is the symbolic entrance to Chinatown. Next pic is a red dragon holding a golden pearl. In Chinese culture, dragons, the color red, and pearls all symbolize good luck. I hung out with the dragon a while hoping a little good luck would rub off. After the tour, had lunch at Mole on Pandora Street. I can't stop thinking about the food. I wish they would open a branch in Houston. Then, Chris and I saw Loot at the McPherson Playhouse - a play by Joe Orton that opened in London in the 1960s. It's a dark farce that satirizes the Catholic Church, death, and law enforcement and is pretty funny in 2010 but was not so well received in the 60s. Drove Chris back to the ferry terminal then drove back into Vic to the hostel where I had a reservation. No parking at the hostel so I had to find on-street parking and spent an hour driving and circling with no luck. As I was circling, I drove under a tree occupied by a gaggle of gulls who likely noticed the foreign plates and, in unison, pooped my car. Honestly, the hood, front windshield, roof, and all windows on the passenger side were covered. Sounded like a hailstorm. I had to pull over in a no-parking area just to run the wipers a bit so that I could see to drive. A cop glided up on one of those silent electric scooters, scared the daylights out of me, and rousted me sternly. I ended up canceling my really cheap hostel reservation in favor of a not-so-cheap dump motel on the edge of town. I should have hung around with that dragon a little longer. I miss Vancouver.
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