Continuing up Puget Sound we enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then enter Canadian waters, a little east of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
A naval vessel patrolling the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were too far away to determine whether this was Canadian or USA.
The shore is the eastern end of Victoria, BC, perhaps Oak Bay or Tenmile Point.
Sidney, BC. And that spelling is correct, even though different to the one I know! Sidney is located at the northern end of Saanich Peninsula, and is the location of the airport for Victoria, which is located some 20km (12 miles) away. It is also the destination for the Washington State ferry run from Anacortes through the San Juan Islands to Sidney.
After going through Canadian Customs and Immigration, we left the boat and were taken by bus to our hotel. There was a hiccup in the accomodation arrangements, and Kelly and I were not on the list of people requesting rooms. It wasn't really a problem - we ended up sharing a suite, and had that been a problem, there was another motel next door anyway!
It was quite fortunate that we had the suite, as Brad had the suite next door, and there was a very lively and funny drinking session on the patio which the two suites shared. This was a fine introduction to a number of people on the cruise, and has been the source of a number of running jokes ever since.
The crew, and a few passengers, slept on the boat. It has no formal sleeping spaces, so these folks slept in the upstairs area, which was the designated "quiet" zone on the trip - go up there when you wanted to escape for a snooze, quiet reading, navel gazing, or whatever.
Kelly and I, independently, went on walking tours of Sidney, specifically down the main street to the water. Our hotel was located on the main street, so this was not difficult! I used my ATM card to obtain some Candian currency, and just generally enjoyed being out and about. I had visited Sidney once before, well over 10 years ago. I don't recall much, and I'm not even sure I actually stopped to look around.
Apart from finding a number of fine looking restaurants, I was amazed at the number of book stores - both new and used! I definitely took too many books away. On the other hand, we didn't stop in many of the ports I was told - I suspect that was because of the number of people on this journey, which was considerably more than previous sailings.
Of course I forgot to take my camera with me during the walking tour. I blame it on all the excitement!
Up Puget Sound
