Ho's, horse drawn carriages, milling around the streets and some more English style buildings here and there. Victoria also had Canada's first Chinatown which was only actually one block but still quite nice to see. I saw a nice park, Beacon Hill and Craigdarroch castle was a nice looking castle but there wasn't too much to see in Victoria beyond a day trip.

On Vancouver island I stayed with the Bland's in Lantzville a village that basically merged with Nanaimo, the second largest city on the island. The house I was staying in was right on a beautiful stony beach with the snowy peaks of the Rockies on the Canadian mainland appearing in the distance. I kayaked to Maude island, a tiny, uninhabited rocky outcrop with Ollie, one of the three Bland sons, a few times. On the island it was easy to escape reality and believe we were exploring territory never before set foot on by man.

While staying here I went on a couple of walks, one around a lake in the forest where I saw a racoon and enjoyed the fresh air and scent of pine needles. The other walk I went on was at Piper's Lagoon in Nanaimo which was another nice walk. A blast from the past was going to see all the Bland kids going to soccer and tennis practice which reminded me of when I was involved in both more when I was younger.

Another activity I engaged in, in Nanaimo was a bungy jump. After not doing it in New Zealand mainly due to the cost I decided to do it here for nearly half price! I didn't realise it would be a problem but since the age of consent is 19 in British Columbia I had to email the form to my parents to sign to get permission! Standing at the top and the very start of the jump I don't think I have ever felt so scared. The skydive being in tandem took the element of me being the one to actually make myself jump away and so this was an order of magnitude scarier. It was incredibly exhilerating when I did it and it took a while for my hear to slow down once I had done it but it was definitely worth it.