In-Between House Sits Plan B

We had our post house-sit transition with our Victoria home owner on Monday.  We were glad to welcome them home but were sad to leave two of the cutest pets ever — the indefatigable Charlie who could play catch all day long even while battling a pancreas issue and Baxter, the purr monster.  

We are now in-between house sits until 1/20.  We knew that we had a hole in our schedule coming out but thought something might come open that would work out for us both in terms of time and location.  One in fact did, and the homeowners (in Chiliwack, BC, a little over an hour’s drive from Vancouver) indicated that they would like to have us.  However, after sending an initial note of acceptance, they didn’t follow up for a few days and then, when contacted again, said they had selected a couple from Germany.  Ach!  How chiliwacky of them!  They are missing out.  Anyhoo, we are now moving onto Plan B which is exploring more of Vancouver Island and the greater Vancouver area.

Since the house sit, we have been in a hotel in Victoria to see a bit more of the area and catch up on some personal business.  After we transitioned on Monday and checked into our hotel, we walked to Uptown, a new shopping district to see a new part of Victoria but mostly to get me (Beth) a much-needed haircut.  My last one was in France in October!

On Tuesday we had a great walk-about on the Galloping Goose Trail and along the harbor in pretty chilly and windy weather.  We toured the BC Parliament building and learned a bit about the building, the BC coat of ATMs, and the governmental structure.  One fun fact is that the provincial governments are unicameral while the federal government is bicameral like the US.  Also, the Lt. Governor acts as the Queen’s Representative for the government.  We also hit a happy hour at the Chateau Victoria Hotel downtown for great sunset views of the city.  

 

On Wednesday we took a bus to the very cute little town of Sidney, just north of the Victoria airport.  We poked around the shopping district on Beacon Street, walked through the lovely Beacon Park and waterfront, had French onion soup and rosti at Bistro Suisse and had a tasting flight at the Victoria Distilleries.

Thursday, we checked out of our hotel and took an afternoon bus up to Nanaimo, a city of about 83,000 which lies on the Strait of Georgia and is one of two locations on Vancouver Island from which you can take a ferry to Vancouver.  We are staying in a lovely private suite that we found through Airbnb.  We will be here until next Thursday.