September 6, 2005 | Tips from Us > Victoria, Sightseeing Tours
What a day! I have officially become a tourist in my own home town. Today we took
Victoria Harbour Ferries from Westbay Marina in Esquimalt across the harbour to Fisherman’s Wharf. Our entire group waited anxiously at the ferry stop but when the ferry put-put-putted to the dock we were informed there was not enough space for all of us.
Lesson #2: Harbour Ferries can only take up to 12 passengers so it is quite possible large groups may have to split up. Luckily they go about every 10 minutes or so.
Our driver informed us “this time of year, you will never find a ferry with 7 empty seats”. Well, some of us waited for the next ferry and…low and behold…8 empty seats! Ah, we’re on vacation, whatever.
Fisherman’s Wharf is where it’s at. Besides the famous
Barb’s Fish ‘n Chips stand where we stood in line forever and drooled while the smell of fresh seafood cooking wafted through the air, a tame seal provided entertainment as people bought fish scraps and hand fed the lucky guy.
Tip: be prepared to wait in line at Barb’s. Don’t worry, it is worth the wait…I’ll admit though, I started getting really envious of that plump seal.
We strolled along the harbour walkway into downtown and burned off about 50 of the 8,000 calories we had just consumed. It is a short, level walk that you can easily do in sandals. How short? None of the kids asked, “are we there yet?” once. The
Royal London Wax Museum was our next stop followed by a show at
IMAX – Coral Reef. An awesome experience.
Tip: Perhaps IMAX and greasy food shouldn’t be experienced too close together….no need to say more.
My family loves fudge. It is kind of like a tradition and dependency all wrapped up in one. We stopped at