I’m writing this post on my friend Will’s laptop at the University of Victoria. It’s true – this place is absolutely teeming with bunnies. Rabbits rabbits everywhere, it’s fantastic. They’re not tame but not really fearful either – I got a baby one to come right up to me by pretending I had something yummy in my hand. I’m big on bunnies, if you couldn’t tell.

I got into Victoria about noon Sundaym taking the ferry over from just south of Vancouver. A nice trip across the Strait of Georgia, great view of Vancouver island and the mainland, as well as some truly swank houses on some little channel islands. Once into port it was an hour and change bus ride into downtown Victoria and then another half hour to the University campus where I was meeting up with Will. Then some rabbit chasing and back into Victoria for some wandering and a whale watching trip.

Victoria is a really beautiful city – incredibly clean and immaculately kept. It’s got that big small town charm. Everything seems really new, as though it was built in the last five years or so. I’d like to see some pictures of what this town looked like 10 or 20 years ago, just to compare. I especially liked the harbour, with all the ships and sea planes and ferries coming and going.

One of the goings was our Zodiac heading out to sea to try and spot some orcas. We were quite successful out at San Juan Island, technically in US waters, when we came across a pretty large pod of killer whales heading south. There were maybe a dozen or so in total and a couple of them put on a show, breaching high into the air. I got a couple pictures that I’ll post when I get home. I think they turned out alright. Also spotted on the trip out were gulls, cormorants and harbour seals. Very neat. Being out in the Zodiac raft clipping along at 40 mph was quite a trip, it gets damn cold out on the water. This was my first time ever being out on the ocean (well, technically not the ocean but whatever) and it was a humbling experience. Not just seeing the whales, but the sheer scale of nature out there. Really amazing.

And then after marvelling at the wonder of marine life, we went and ate some for dinner. More sushi, but this time it was really fresh, like I had hoped it would be on the West Coast. I hope it doesn’t ruin me for the sushi back home…

I’ve got another day in Victoria tomorrow that I’ll probably spend wandering around downtown some more while Will is in class. I’d like to see more of Vancouver Island, but there’s not really time to get out there. It’s interesting being on an island like this – I’m very conscious of the fact that the only way on or off is through the ferry (excepting private boats or planes). I find it a little unnerving for some reason, and it makes me feel like the whole city is a sort of gated community (helped by the fact that it’s so clean and proper). I’ve just never been on an island city before, and find it fascinating. On one hand, in case of zombie attack on the mainland, you’d be safe and isolated on the island because the odds of zombie hordes figuring out how to run the ferry are pretty low. On the other hand, if the zombie outbreak were to occur ON the island, you’d be screwed since there’d be no way off. These are the things that will keep me up at night, I’m telling you.

That’s it for now. I may not check in tomorrow unless I get some more amazing insights (zombie-related or not) about Victoria. But after that, Seattle. Whoo.

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