I wonder if the local eateries realise how good the Hop on Hop Off bus is for their business....we usually pick a venue that we see on the way. We have been spotting the Swan Inn on our rounds and so we settled on this as the brunch destination of the morning.We did call in to the Fudge Shop and Chinatown to stock up on supplies for tomorrow's ferry adventure. Our Chinatown adventure was made complete with a walk down Fan Tan Alley - the narrowest trading all...

We had been getting around from place to place on the red bus but today we were committed to getting a closer look at the harbour surrounds on foot. Lucky the map didn't have distances on it or we may have been daunted. Endomodo and UP keep us honest and credited us with 25 000 steps and 14 kilometres of tourist heaven. Ironically we started the day by organising some transport for upcoming events - a shuttle bus to "the" gardens and a dusk carriage ride for ...

The dash across the street to the big red bus was completed as scheduled. But it seemed like all the other tourists were early birds as well and it was a shuffle and a squeeze to get a seat on the first shuttle. But with a bit of creative seat rearrangement by the tour operator a spot was secured for us.The hour trip dropped us off at The Oakes Inn for a leisurely breakfast and a little bit of relaxation in the sun until it was back on the bus for a return trip t...

Location, location. You can't beat it. Perched right on the Inner Harbour in Victoria it seems that all roads lead to The Empress. The boats, yachts, skiffs, ferries, kayaks, paddle boards and cruise lines, the sea planes, the buses, the bikes and scooters, the cabs and even the horse drawn carriages are at our front door. And right across the road is the Visitor Centre. And after doing a very very happy dance because we have an IRON at last (who would have t...

Our first round of Whistler fun has come to an end and now we have left our Friendly Guides to do our own thing on Vancouver Island at Victoria.We started the morning with packing and headed down The Aspens hill one last time for a quick breakfast snack at Portobello. We were only gone for 45 minutes and by the time we returned Mindy and Ian had transformed their apartment to its former glory....all the furniture had been returned to its apartment-for-two configu...