I've had a few run ins with the Victorian police over the past few days...
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I don't know if you can tell, but I am a big fan of the Popo! There is also no doubt that they feel like celebrities when I ask to score a photo with them. But all the police I have spoken to since being abroad have been awesome!
Now, onto a more serious topic. It has technically been a whole month since I left Australia (it is only the 27th over here). So three cheers for me!!
I have been a bit lazy with my entries, but that is mostly because I have been doing stuff! I made my way from Nanaimo to Victoria on Sunday, and since then it has been a blast!! This city is very nice, it's quite exquisite and I personally feel that it has a very European (specifically English) touch to it. Although, I have never been to England, there are just small things here which whisper "pommy feeling". For example, Victoria sports double decker buses! In addition, the architecture here also comes across as very European influenced (That's what my German friends said!!)
Fun fact: These are the British Columbia Parliament Buildings which were constructed in 1896 (Source; Wikipedia!)
Since arriving in Victoria, I have taken the time to walk along the harbour, which is really pretty, on a nice day. It was a bit wet yesterday, but that can't dampen my spirits! I set our with barely two t-shirts on and got lost in Beacon Hill Park, which again would have been beautiful on a sunny day. I then made my way to "the beach", which wasn't really a beach, more just where the rocks meet the water. It was still very pretty, as you can see:
Well I thought it was.
I climbed over some rocks, which was a big adrenaline rush for me, and quite the workout. There are few self-timer shots in the Vancouver Island photo album.
I made my way to the Ogden Point Pier after I was done playing amongst the rocks. This is a HUGE pier, which at the end has a pretty little lighthouse. It was again, a big rush for me, but it was also quite pleasant to be out there by myself in the rain. No sarcasm.
I don't think you can grasp the full length of the pier in this picture, but trust me it was long! And trust me, I know a thing or two about long.
Being at the pier was great, a local told me that you can see Washington/Seattle on the other side of the water, which I thought was pretty cool. He then informed me that it is a 3 hour boat ride from Van Island to America.
Following the pier, I took the harbour walk back to downtown Victoria, which like everything else that I have so far experienced in this city, is spectacular. I then found myself back in my comfort zone; the bookstore Chapters. I read for about 2 hours (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and then made my way back to the hostel to cook a mean vege pasta. On another note, I am really enjoying cooking. Despite the costs of purchasing all my own food, I enjoy being in the kitchen and preparing my own dishes. Even the other backpackers look over and envy me. Bad ass mofo!
My German buddies and I ate our fantastically prepared dishes together and then decided to hang out. We went down to Chinatown together, and went looking for the smallest alley way in the Northern Hemisphere (according to the local tourist centre). Now, I don't know if she was talking out of her a$$ but this alley was large enough to for my pecs and guns.. Massive!
Fan Tan alley in Chinatown, Victoria.
Eike, Max (my German pals) and I were severely disappointed and let down by the false promise. We decided to go and lodge a formal complaint with the tourist office, but they were shut. So we wandered aimlessly for an hour or so, made our way back to the hostel and had a drink in the downstairs bar.
This then led to a few more drinks at the local pubs in the area. These Germans have been legally drinking since the age of 16, and I couldn't keep up! But all in all, it was a very fun night and it was great to hang out with some guys of the same age, in similar situations.
Last shot for the night with my new German pals.
Today I rolled out of bed at 7:30am, with quite a headache, accompanied with massive dehydration and a bad belly (to many Oreos from 7/11). I made two glasses of warm lemon water to push those toxins out of my suffering body. Then went for a ghetto workout!
I intended to only run, but came across a park where I use the equipment to work my upper body. It felt great, and was very different. Following my enjoyable workout, I chilled out at the hostel for a bit, had a lot of food to eat (all super healthy, for the most part) and then went to the book store to chillax some more.
Then it was off to sort out my minor VISA problems, which meant I had to pay a visit to my dear friends at the police station. I was helped out tremendously by a lovely lady named Denise who instructed me to email the camp and tell them to get in contact with her. She doesn't believe I need ANOTHER criminal record check and said it would be a waste of her time and my money. That is the reason for my introduction on how much I love the policia!
And that brings me to here, and you up to date with my shenanigans. This hostel that I am at is a massive bump up from the one in Nanaimo, mainly because there are actually people here and it's more of a chilled out, fun environment. I am really enjoying myself and will be leaving Victoria on Thursday.
Time to go cook a delicious falafel spinach salad.
Loving the good life!
J-dog over and out.
