Victoria: Whale Watching and Some Great Food

Long layover at DFW, so a good excuse to compose the next installment in the Victoria Chronicles.

Bruce booked only one excursion when planning the trip — a whale-watching expedition. After a quick breakfast, we boarded the Ocean Magic II for a trip out to the bay.

The waters around Victoria host a large number of orcas year-round. We took a 30-minute boat ride out to prime watching grounds. Even as warm as Thursday was, this smart cookie remembered to bring her windbreaker. During the speedy trip out, Bruce regretted leaving his back at the hotel.

In addition to running the larger boat (with an enclosed cabin and small snack bar), "Prince of Whales" also runs open Zodiac boats for whale watching, seating sixteen. Bruce wisely chose the less adventurous but more comfortable enclosed boat for our trip.

We spent the morning tracking several pods of orcas. The above video shows three surfaces, the last one being the best. (Forgive my lack of video skills; this is the first time I have used my new camera to post a video, and I have a lot to learn.) After about an hour and half, we headed back toward land, but not the harbor. Turns out other boats had sighted a gray whale at one end of the island, and we saw that animal a few times.

After docking at the inner harbor, we took one of the handy water taxis across the bay to Spinnakers, a "gastro brewpub" recommended by our travel guide. It did not disappoint. I selected a "flight" of their microbrews: Scottish ale, nut brown ale, a hefeweizen, and Spinnaker Ale (the best). Their menu is extensive and nearly all locally sourced — a hot British Columbia food trend, we came to learn. Bruce had a seafood chowder (the best I've ever tasted) and a marvelous fish and chips; I enjoyed a lentil soup and smoked fish.

After lunch, we took the water taxi back to the inner harbor and enjoyed an afternoon of shopping along the roads leading out from the harbor. We found an Irish store, a hat store (two new hats to add to the collection), and several stores featuring First Nations (the Canadian version of "Native American") art, making several purchases along the way.

Our dinner deserves its own post; more on this later.