victoria – Page 2

Jun 07 2011

Back to Mainland with BC Ferries

This time on BC Ferries was not as eventful as the first time, and the first time wasn’t even that eventful. Upon waiting in the ship yard for a good hour to board the ferry we ended up parking at the back of the boat, which was fine, it didn’t make a different.

As we were on our way up the levels with the hords of people we saw that “hidden” buffet. It was not really hidden, but not a lot of other people were heading that way, so we did. The Buffet runs all day and is about $24.00 a person at the very back of the boat. We reluctantly paid to get in and where happy with what we saw.

A nice setting as a restaurant with windows all around the back of the boat, so were could see everything and a buffet worth eating – I’m going to have another post of the buffet shortly. We thought this was great, we could eat supper and then sit in comfortable chairs at a table and use our computers. We ended up sitting there the whole time and then just walking quickly back to our vehicle when the time came.

The buffet room was only half full of people, at supper time. I’m assuming that the majority of people don’t want to spend the extra money after paying to get on the boat or go back and forth so often it does’t appeal to them anymore.

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Jun 06 2011

First time on BC Ferry

I don’t know if I have mentioned this yet or not, but this is my first time on “The Island” and no I’m not talking about the island in Lost, although that might be fun too. The island I’m talking about is Vancouver Island. This was is my first time in Vancouver and Victoria. Yes, they finally let me out of the north.

Well to get to the island I had to take the ferry over. This was my first time on a BC Ferry. I have taken ferries in Ontario and in Alaska, and of course the ferry crossing the MacKenzie River on the way to and from Yellowknife.

I have heard many people talk about BC Ferry on Twitter and not all good things, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Truthfully, because of the people I have met through twitter I was a little worried.

When I boarded the ferry though, I was pleasantly surprised. The ferry was clean, timely and accommodating. As I climbed the levels to the main decks, I found a lot of seating for all the passengers. It appeared there were more seats than passengers, so that is always good to see and the seats were relatively comfortable. Having been slightly sick earlier that morning and hungry I wanted to get something to eat. So we found the food area and got some food. Ferry Food as someone called it, wasn’t the greatest around. I would compare the burger I had to one that was left until the end of the day at McDonald’s. It was dried and shriveled.

As I toured around the ferry, I learned that they offered free WiFi, although it was slooooow. You do seem to keep cell service for the majority of the ride though, so tethering saved me from boredom. I also found a kids area and a private area, for those who wish to pay more. I made my way out onto the front deck, which was right under the bridge and I could see the captain. I was somewhat surprised we saw land for most of the trip, then again I didn’t know what to expect.

Getting on and off the ferry was actually a fairly fluid process. We drive on, park, rest and then drive off.

Jun 05 2011

Oak Bay Tea Party with Geeks

We ended off the Social Media Camp with going to the Oak Bay Tea Party, which was much more of a party than I was expecting.

Jun 05 2011

Crazy Oak Bay Tea Party

After dinner at this cool little Tapas place in Victoria, which I forgot to document (stupid Kyle, stupid Kyle), we needed to kill some time, so we went to the Oak Bay Tea Party. Oh and by we I mean, Andrew, Martin, his girlfriend Michelle and myself.

Honestly I had no idea what the Oak Bay Tea Party was, here I am thinking it is some really old tradition where everyone sits around drinking tea and eating crumpets. WRONG. This was one of the liveliest events I have been to, carnival wise. It was much like a fair, there were lots of rides, lots of food, lots of music and lots of people. Families, Adults and crazy people like us, all there to just enjoy the evening.

I have fallen in love with the island, I love the view of the ocean and the mountains in the background and the general vide of the place. While I was enjoying that, Andrew was bouncing around encouraging me to go on some of the rides. Me being very unenthusiastic towards rides, I finally caved and went on just the ferris wheel. Amazing, I know, the ferris wheel (see video). I did enjoy the ferris wheel though, as it gave an amazing view of the bay and mountain. I was smart though I opted out of the next two rides in fear of becoming sick, which was smart. Andrew and Martin thought they could handle it (again see end of video).

I really enjoy the vibe of the community, it just seems like it is always here and I want that. Nevertheless though, I am a northern boy.

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If photos don’t display correctly see them here on Flickr.