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& Canada
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Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and lies on a large island
(bigger than Holland) off the west coast of Canada. We went with Grey
line. The tour costs CDN $99 inc. ferry but plus 7% GST tax.
I believe that all of the tours will pick you up from your hotel (around
8:30 am). You can pay by cash or credit card.
The great cloudless skies weather broke late Friday night and the weather
was dull and overcast for our last full day in British Columbia.
The coach driver gave a good commentary on the way which makes the journey
seem a lot shorter :-)
Victoria was made the provicial capital (last century?????) when Canada
was formed as it's on the southern tip of the Island and just over the
49th parallel (??). This gave the Canadians an edge in negotiations
with the Americans and they managed to the the 49th parallel 'moved' to
go below the southern tip of the island and hence keep the whole island.
Remember this is negotiations with Canadians! They're sneakier than
they look!
Victoria houses the provincial government and due to the fact that it's in the
rain shadow of the Olympus mountains in Washington State, has half the annual
rainfall of Vancouver. Victoria seems to be the equivalent of Eastbourne in that lots of oldies go here to retire due to the very mild climate.
The lifestyle is very sedate and relaxed in Victoria whereas Vancouver is alive
and buzzing in comparision.
