A busy day

Up early at 06:30 (getting up before 07:00 is so uncivilized) only to realize the we should have gotten up at 06:00... Thankfully we had most of our stuff organized the day before so no worries. A quick shower and an apple with our coffee and we were ready to head to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal for our 09:00 sailing to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. We pulled into the terminal waiting area and got comfy for a half our wait. This is when the phone rang, it was Frank, our realtor in Victoria; his seminar for today was cancelled so he would be at our hotel at 11:30 to pick us up for a tour of the city and surrounding areas and to show us some condos he had lined up for us. We were really excited because we had planned just an afternoon by ourselves scouting the town. However that day by ourselves will now happen on Tuesday. The crossing is just an hour and thirty minutes and we were disembarking on schedule at 10:30. We drove southbound for Victoria but stopped first at the Golden Arches Supper Club for some egg McMuffins. When we arrived at the Ramada Victoria Hotel we walked up to the counter just to get a parking pass because check in is not 'til 15:00. Just as we were arranging this, Frank walked into the lobby and after some introductions and a general chat about the city we were on our way.

We headed north to Saanich and checked out a development where condos come on the market regularly and this is one area we will return to tomorrow on our day cruising through the area. Then up Mount Tolmie Park for a view over the city. Some pictures for you...

In Active Pass en route to Swartz Bay.

On top of Mount Tolmie.

We spent the next nine hours touring various neighbourhoods in the greater Victoria area and were treated to dinner at a restaurant that Frank co-owned with his sister. Such a generous, kind and patient man, who's aim is to get to know all about us over the next few days so that he will have a very clear image of what it is that we are looking for in our next home. For me it is peace and quiet, this may not be possible in or near the dowtown area, for both of us it is a newish and clean condo, both inside and in the common areas. A tall order for our budget, and it may not be possible. It might result in us looking for a home further north in the Cowichan Valley... Time will tell.

Like I do every morning, I start with coffee and Google News and learned about the horrible event that occured in Las Vegas... It's a sad world in which we live...