Victoria, BC. Our first stop in Canada

Where we camped

Sailish Seaside RV Haven

The Sea Planes and a water taxi

Victoria has water taxis. A water taxi is a small boat that will charge a fair between two docks. Often the trip is point to point, other times it can be point to multipoint if fares at inline docs are present. In the end you only pay the amount from point a to b even if you visited points c, d, and e, along the way. The water taxis traverse the same water ways/paths as the sea plane. We had a plane take off from our port side less then 100 Meters from our taxi. Doowee Can become NooWee when it comes to riding in vehicles. A water taxi is a vehicle and he was not happy about being put in it. He was a trooper. His dislike of the water taxi allowed us to use the service once.
The Sea Planes are abundant in the Victoria harbour. I would say every few minutes during the day a plane is landing or leaving. The planes are fun to watch. It is impressive the amount of power/thrust they have. Consistently the planes can gain altitiude from idle in under 30 seconds. The Sea Planes flight path is near the Salish RV Haven and the traffic and noise from them was noticeable. Although it did not bother us, a few of our neighbors commented on the frequency/abundance of air traffic.

Vicoria is excellent for cycling

Cycling in Victoria was a joy. The first indicator I would enjoy the city for cycling was that everybody on a bike looked over their shoulder before they changed their line. It was also common to see cyclists indicate change of direction with hand signals. This type of cycling behavior is a welcoming sign for me. It indicates that riders are active in maintaining safety for all. I honestly have never felt safer while cycling. Knowing that your fellow cyclist has safety on their mind is refreshing.

Bike culture is prominent in Victoria, it was evident to me, that drivers cared about cyclists safety. Vehicle operators consistently made good choices when interacting with other road users. I live and cycle in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, witnessing road users respect each other refreshing.

Cyclist first signage: Where I live we have share to road signs, which have a picture of a bicycle. I have always felt these signs were confusing, as a cyclist the sign indicates that cars should share the road. As a vehicle operator the sign indicates that bikes should share the road. A confusing communication which says, “share”. In Canada it seems that they have solved the problem with the following cyclists first signage. Another indicator of cyclist first road usage is that when coming upon a construction site where a flagger was present, the flagger would always move the cyclists to the front of the line and hold traffic a few moments allowing safe passage through the construction area.

Cyclist first signage

How to cross the border in a RV

1. Read the rules about what is not allowed in Canada. Take pride in not breaking the rules. Don’t try to take any contraband into Canada
2. Know how much alcohol you are carrying. Canada has tax rules and will let you bring a certain amount of booze across the border.
3. Don’t bring firewood.
4. Bring your honesty, don’t be dodgy or have a snarky attitude at the border.
5. Have your passports and documentation ready. Roll down your windows, make yourself and vehicles easily observable
6. Use clear and concise statements. Answer questions asked, don’t add extra commentary. Know your itinerary.

Entering Canada was easy

The process of getting into Canada was easy. A subset of questions from the Border Services Agency. Mainly about our visit, if we had any firearms, firewood, and what produce we had. We were prepared as we had read up on what was allowed to come into Canada. We were not trying to hide anything and were excited to visit the country. All in the ferry crossing was easy and customs felt streamlined.

Food

• poutine We went to a breakfast place that had many morning poutine plates. Poutine is a staple on many menus and was enjoyable. Although good and filling, eating potatoes, gravy, and cheese curds daily is not advised.
• happyhour We went out a few times for happy hour. Enjoyed ourselves, the dogs were always welcome. I felt like the city was dog friendly. It’s common to see dogs off leash. Much of the signage reads that dogs must be under owner control. It didn’t seem that leashes were required.

Dog walking

The beach/harbor where we stayed was exceptionally dog friendly. We were able to walk paths along the beach multiple times per day. The neighborhoods were walk able and we all had a good time enjoying the city and the beaches on foot.

The harbor (West Bay)

The West Bay harbor has many floating houses and boat houses. The floating houses appear to be modern marvels with all services supplied able to weather the changes a floating structure has. Their were also many homes that were designed on top of a boat. The boat however would not be seaworthy.

The Gardens

Victoria has some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. The tulips and many other flowers were in bloom. We visited the Butchart Gardens. The grounds are amazing, dogs are allowed and we had a wonderful day exploring. Amazing stop and worth the time and cost to visit.

Victoria British Columbia

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