Vancouver Island: A Beautiful Summer Getaway

We really only had a few days on the island, which turned out to be much larger and with more to do than we planned for!

We stayed pretty close to the capital city of Victoria, which was really a lovely place, and did short day-trips to the surrounding areas of Sooke and Saltspring Island. Both of these are definitely recommended highlights.

Spend a day wandering through colorful Victoria, enjoying the sunny harbor with its street performers and craftspeople selling jewelry and paintings.

Hike through the amazingly dense and green state parks of East Sooke and Roche Cove, both of which have an abundance of short and much longer trails to choose from.

And make reservations at some of the excellent restaurants featuring fresh local cuisine, much of it grown organically by local farm collectives.

Quick Tips:

I'd suggest plannig to be on Vancouver Island for at least a week if you really want to get a true sense of all it has to offer. We heard that some of the most beautiful scenery and towns were halfway up the island around Tofino, a 3-4 hour drive from Victoria. Too much driving for just a day-trip, so we skipped it.

Best Way To Get Around:

You definitely need a car on Vancouver Island, without question. I'd imagine that a mountain bike would have been a great thing to have for some of the parks, whose trails could definitely accommodate walkers, hikers and bikers. Ferries are the other obvious common form of transport, and the ferry rides themselves were some of the highlights of the trip, with amazing views of the water and woodsy green San Juan Islands.

Abigail's is a special place, located away from most of the major hotel chains in Victoria which ring the harbor in the center of town. It's about a 10-minute walk from the harbor, and is kind of nestled in a residential area, which gives you as a guest the feeling of being a local.

The accommodations themselves are very nice: spacious and comfortable rooms with tasteful provincial-style decor, not too flowery or lacy like some charming hotels can sometimes be. One of my favorite things about the room (aside from the fabulous fresh-baked cookies that awaited us on arrival) was the deliciously-scented soap, shampoo, lotion and candle in the bathroom. Citrus and woodsy smelling, evocative of the surrounding forests and beaches of Vancouver Island itself.

The breakfasts at Abigail's are apparently famous and one of the hotel's most touted features. We enjoyed the breakfasts, which change daily and offer a choice between two main dishes plus fresh fruit, a selection of croissants, muffins and other pastries, fresh-squeezed juice and coffee. But the service was very much on the slow side - understandable, as there was just a single chef cooking for what must have been 15 tables, but still inconvenient if you're trying to get the day started!

Other nice amenities include a relaxing library area which offers coffee and assorted teas all day long, a light tea service in the late-afternoon, and a pretty front garden patio.

Overall, I'd recommend Abigail's for a few nights' splurge. If you're willing to pay the relatively high price, you'll have a special experience.

For more information, check out the Abigail's Hotel web site.

Victoria, the capital city of Vancouver Island, is a bustling city that revolves around a bright, sunny harbor filled with sailboats, small yachts, ferries and a floating underwater museum. The harbor is surrounded by some of the most characteristic buildings of Victoria: the imposing and regal Empress Hotel, and the massive Parliament building which lights up like a Christmas tree every night after sundown. The city is full of excellent restuarants and what seemed to be a lively nightlife scene with lots of bars and live music.

We spent a full day wandering around the city and checking out the sights. A highlight was a crafts fair on a sidestreet off the main avenue, which had hundreds of little stands selling handmade jewelry, picture frames, soaps, scented oils, painted silk scarves and other assorted trinkets and baubles. Around the harbor are also dozens of little stands selling jewelry and souvenirs, buskers doing magic and performance art, and those ubiquitous spray-painted lunarscapes you see in so many touristy areas, painted in minutes while the enthralled crowd (ok, including us!) looks on.

Victoria has a small but colorful Chinatown - about 2-3 blocks it seemed, full of Chinese vegetable stands and massage shops and a few dim sum parlors. The one at which we had lunch, Don Mee (538 Fisgard Street) was huge and seemed very popular with locals. The service was typical for a busy Saturday afternoon dim sum: rushed and not especially attentive, but the food was quite good. We arrived toward the end of the dim sum service so there wasn't much variety left, but overall it was a good meal.

Aside from the harbor, the most outstanding physical characteristic of Victoria is its architecture. Art deco facades painted bright reds, blues and yellows are at every turn, decorated with splashes of fresh flowers, giving the city streets a cheery feeling.

Saltspring Island was definitely a highlight of the trip to Vancouver Island. It's a gorgeous 30-minute ferry ride from Swartz Bay, and the ferry allows cars which is a good thing, as a car is definitely useful on Saltspring Island. Although we did see a few people hop off the ferry and immediately stick their thumb right out to catch a ride, presumably to Ganges, the main town.

For info on the ferries including schedules and maps, check out the BC Ferries Official Web Site

On the ferry ride over you're surrounded on all sides by lush green islands, and the sparkling clear water is filled with seals popping their heads up to say hello. Upon arrival, the slow pace of the island is immediately apparent; it's kind of one of those "land that time forgot" throwback sorts of places, with a hippie-ish community feeling.

Highlights include Ganges, which I've written about elsewhere in this journal, and Mt. Maxwell lookout point, a long and winding drive up to the highest peak on the isalnd which affords some amazing views of Vancouver Island and the mainland in the distance.

Saltspring boasts what seems like hundereds of artist and artisan galleries and studios, many of which are in Ganges and the other small towns, but some of which you have to drive to. We didn't, but if you want to do a driving tour of local artists' studios, there's a great map which you can pick up at the Information Center in Ganges.

Ganges is a very quaint little town filled with dozens of art galleries, cute cafes, a lively harbor and let's not forget - a great ice cream shop! We spent a few hours there, first eating at the excellent indoor/outdoor Currant Cafe which sits right on the harbor, then wandering around to check out some art and the other shops. It was in Ganges we learned that Saltspring Island has its own currency, hard as it may seem to believe! It's designed by a local artist and features beautiful paintings of local scenery and famous folk. It's actually recognized and used as money only on Saltspring Island, which is characteristic of this little place that seems so apart from the rest of the world.

We took a walk out on a spit of land to a rocky outcropping and sat for a little while, admiring the green-blue water and clear blue skies. After checking out some local art and munching on some delicious ice cream cones, a few hours after arrival we were ready to head back out. Ganges is a nice place to spend part of an afternoon - quiet, mellow, picturesque and very full of character.

East Sooke Park has some incredible scenery, and features hikes ranging from the short and simple to what seemed like they'd be much longer and advanced routes. We chose a 60-minute round-trip hike, Iron Mine Bay, which was quite easy and very rewarding. It opened up to a rocky, deserted beach with a huge outcropping which we scrambled up to the top of, for some stunning ocean views.

From the top of this small mountain of boulders and trees, we could see for miles in almost every direction. Seals popped their heads up and bobbed around every now and then, and huge sea birds soared overhead. In the distance we could see a few unnamed empty islands with the sinking sun illuminating their form.

The color of the ocean close to the beach was unbelievable: shades I thought only existed in the Caribbean. Green and turquoise crystal-clear water lapped up onto the beach and made a soothing, drizzle-like sound as it retreated over the shiny, polished rocks at the shore.

All in all, a gorgeous, meditative place to spend part of an afternoon. Check out the East Sooke Park Web Site for more information on the park.