On the way to Victoria a storm delayed our flight and we had a layover in Seattle for a day. It happened to be SeaFair weekend with a lot of activity to take in downtown which was fun. And we did the Underground tour which visits the previous ground level of the city before they built it up one story to construct sewers and such. It was pretty neat down there.

Then we made it to Victoria!

It was BC Day which is British Columbia's summer celebration. This combined with Canada's 150th birthday made it more special. There was a fireworks symphony on the waterfront and lots of people enjoying the weekend.

BC has these cute little water taxis to take you around the bay.

We rented bikes and rode out to Hatley Castle which wasn't too far from downtown and gave a European flavor to the place.

We also visited the impressive Butchart Gardens.

There must be an army of talented gardeners tending to this explosion of color.

Then it was on to the west side of the island where we took on the West Coast Trail. Since we started midway on the trail, it required a speed boat ride from one of the Nitinat Indian village.

It ended up being a challenging trek. This was as steep as it got and it tested you a bit.

Many sections of the trail are on boardwalks to keep the mud managable during the rainy times. It was very dry for our trip though.

The trail alternates between hikes on the beach and along the bluffs above. The connections are marked with buoys so you can spot the exits.

A cool sea arch along the way.

There were many big slugs along the trail you needed to be careful for.

On the beach we wore gaiters which kept the sand out of our boots.

Tsusiat Falls drops right onto the beach.

Then we started our first of dozens of ladder segments. They make getting up and down the bluffs and ravines easier.

And they've installed fun zip line cable cars to get across wide rivers. There are 5 in all throughout the whole 75km trail.

More ladders! Some were very, very long.

There are also suspension bridges.

Campsites are on the beach for nice views.

The tides vary significantly through the day and you have to time your beach hikes accordingly since some areas are not passable at high tide. But when it goes out, you can explore pools filled with interesting sea life.

The Pachena Point lighthouse provides nice views out to sea.

A fun soul before us left many smileys along the trail for us to spot.

It was a scenic visit to Pacific Rim National Park

On the drive over to the east side of the island, we came across Cathedral Grove with has some big old trees to gawk at.

On the last day we stayed in Nanaimo which is famous for the quintessential Canadian treat, the Nanaimo bar. They have a "trail" set up where you can visit places to sample various concoctions of the treat. Tea lattes, soaps, cupcakes, martinis, and of course the bars themselves. Yummy.