Vancouver Island is quite a large island just west of Vancouver. Our journey there involved catching a bus, ferry, train, bus, ferry, bus and finally another bus to Ben's digs, a CouchSurfing host who had kindly agreed to put us up for a few days. We arrived on Friday, 27 April and were welcomed by his housemates who we chatted with for a while before Ben got home. Monique & I popped down to the grocery store to get some things for dinner, and then the three of us made a yummy roast chicken! Afterwards, Ben invited us to join him at a nearby club where some friends of his were playing. They are a kindof a folk/ band, which was a bit wierd for us, but a fun night out all the same. At about 01:30 we walked home, exhausted, and collapsed into bed.

Saturday we got to sleep in, which was great and very much needed. Later we walked to the downtown area and wandered around for most of the afternoon. Victoria seemed a bit touristy - I think quite a few people come over from the mainland for a weekend getaway - so there were quite a few street vendors along the waterfront area which were cool to look at. On our way home we walked through Beacon Hill Park (the main park on the island) and then stopped for some dinner groceries on the way. Back at the house we ended up pooling food and having dinner with Ben's housemates that evening - a delicious pasta dish. We were pretty tired from all the walking that day so headed down to the basement for an early night.

Sunday morning we were up pretty early and made our way to the small town of Sooke, about an hour and a half West of Victoria. The main thing to see there is the Sooke Potholes, which is basically a bunch of eroded rock formations in a river. It takes about an hour and a half to walk there, but the scenery was pretty cool so it wasn't so bad. You walk along a section of the Galloping Goose trail - a multi-day trail named for the old railway line that used to run there (they basically just ripped up the tracks and called it a hiking trail.) We had lunch and explored the river before setting off for the long walk back to the bus stop. A cup of hot chocolate went down so well while waiting for the bus. That night we cooked and ate with Ben, said our final goodbyes and headed down to pack.

Monday morning we were up early again - ready for a full days travel. We were aiming to get the 9am ferry back to Vancouver, but didn't get the bus in time so had to catch the one at 11am meaning that, once again, we would be rushed for the rest of the day :-/ We should have known though that the Greyhound would leave late, so in the end everything worked out ok and soon we were on our way to our next stop - Seattle!