We kicked off our Canadian Adventure in the beautiful city of Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

There is a wonderful ferry service (Black Ball Ferry Line), that departs from Port Angeles, WA and drops you right off in Downtown Victoria. Getting Tom on/off the boat, and clearing customs was a breeze. Less than 20 minutes after getting off the boat, we were pulling into our hotel. Yes, we decided to stay at a hotel, even though we have a camper van. But every now and then, you just want a real shower and a king sized bed. Plus, we wanted the full “Victoria” experience, and decided to stay in the city.

We walked 8-10 miles every day, never had a bad meal, went whale watching, experienced high tea at the Empress Hotel (may have drank more than just tea…), and truly enjoyed this amazing little city. We explored Butchart Gardens to see one of the most impressive flower displays I’ve ever seen, and Beacon Hill Park where there are Peacocks just roaming around and strutting their stuff.

The most memorable part of our visit was the massive solar storm the Northern Hemisphere experienced that week. I don’t usually make it a point of photographing solar phenomenon, but we needed to walk the dog, so I brought my camera. Glad I did because the aurora was spectacular.