Day 10, Wednesday, July 20: Victoria, British Columbia

I got a five second call from Katie last night. She was totally out of breath and sounded excited. They were shopping(!) in Victoria and she needed a purchase authorization - "bye mom!" was the last thing I heard.

YES! She was so happy and clearly having a great time. She had texted earlier in the day as she was desperately trying not to watch in the "in-coach" movie, "Harry Potter" because we agreed we would watch the movies until we read the books and neither of us has read them yet - so she was working hard not to compromise our agreement! What a kid!

PS: I did find our copy of the first Harry Potter book. I think I know what we are doing when she gets home.


Here's the note from Lyly about yesterday!

Today was another long bus ride to Vancouver Island. We did stop at Bridal Falls for lunch. 

Bridal Falls is actually in the middle of a Canadian rainforest. When all the sack lunches had been consumed, the entire group headed for a hike up to the waterfall. Along the way, Chelsea gave us some facts about the rainforest. 

Fun Fact: Did you know that the Canadian Rainforest weighs three times the amount of a rainforest in South America? The falls themselves were beautiful. Seeing the water tumbling down over the side of the mountain was absolutely breathtaking. 

We reached the ferry crossing by mid afternoon and most students were surprised when our entire bus drove right onto the ferry. They seemed to really enjoy the experience of riding a ferry across to Vancouver Island. 

After dinner we had some extra time, so students were able to do some shopping in downtown Victoria.

People to People Itinerary

Your first adventure is Tree-GO, an amazing climbing activity set high above a massive Douglas fir forest. The course takes about 2 hours and includes ziplines, suspended bridges, scramble nets and swinging logs.

Afterwards, visit the nearby Petroglyph Park where you will learn about petroglyphs and the early First Nations people who created them.

Venture off to see the amazing sites at Ocean Discovery, in Sidney, where you will learn about the unique ecosystem of the Salish Sea at the tropical aquarium and marine education centre.

Tonight's dinner theme is 'Pizza in the Park'; this is a light but fun evening of games, making new friendships and of course, PIZZA!

Following dinner, head out onto the Straits of Georgia to search for pods, (or family groups), of Orcas also known as Killer Whales! During your time on the boat, you will learn about the habitat and behavior of these majestic creatures while seeing them in their natural environment.

TreeGo!

I think this is the entrance to the Petroglyph Park they are touring.

We can only hope they get to see something this amazing!