Secker Goes Globetrotting
26th Jun 2012 Flying adventures over Vancouver Island Today was one of my favourite days of the Canada leg of my trip. We had booked a 35 minute sea plane trip over the island. This was a top of the list activity for the rest of my party but once they suggested they wanted to do it I was as keen as they were. If i had been visiting Victoria on my one I may not have thought to do it (the expense would have probably put it on the maybe list!). It was a clear sunny day again and the perfect weather for a plane ride. There was just 6 of us booked on the flight so we all had window seats. The couple who were first on, the man sat up front in the cockpit. He decided to move as he had a fancy camera and wanted to take better photos and the view was restricted so the pilot said does anyone else want to come up front. I barely hesitated and said yep. Wow, I've only been in a small plane once before and that was my sky dive so I was obviously occupied. I've been a bit obsessed with planes for a few years now and I couldn't really contain my excitement of being up front. I was Careful not to touch anything of course! Being up front the view was a little restricted but whatever, I got to watch him fly the plane. And, I got a headset so I could hear all the air traffic control chatter and the pilot gave me a bit of info on some of the places we flew over. We only got to a height of 2000 feet (and it was a bit windy out so that was as high as he felt comfortable to take us). The views over the islands were incredible. I loved it and taking off and landing on water was very cool. I would very much like to be a pilot I think. Maybe it's not too late for a career change? Having met a pilot earlier on in my travels I asked what did you need to do to become a pilot. He said well first off you need to be interested in Physics. That's me out then, science was one of my least favourite subjects at school and physics was my least favourite of all 3. He said I would also need to do an engineering sort of degree. Thats me out again then - my brother got the engineering genes in our family, I got the genes that make me interested in history and literature. I don't think reading Jane Austen will lead to a career in flying planes. Oh well, I'll just have to find the money to take it up as a hobby. We all loved the plane ride, in a poll of favourite moments in Victoria, the plane came top on all our lists! After the plane ride we went for coffee and a wander of Government Street, a pretty tree lined street in the city centre with lots of shops on it. Mainly souvenir shops but also an amazing chocolate shop, the owner of which is an ex-pat. We had a nice chat with her about why they moved (she was an accountant in england!) and obviously bought some delicious chocolate. We had lunch in an Irish pub. You can go anywhere in the world and there will be an Irish pub. We did our own thing in the afternoon, I went for coffee and to read my book, my parents went to do laundry. I know they had clothes to wash but I think the pull was the cafe next door where they could get a glass of wine while they waited! I walked around the harbour to the floating dock where we had fish and chips the other day and then I walked back to the hotel. On the way back I came across mum and B walking around the neighborhood. Dad had gone back to rest his knee (which was becoming more uncomfortable as the days went on and we had walked a bit too far on a couple of the first days). For dinner We decided to try out a steakhouse/trendy bar my dad and I stumbled across the first time we got lost driving around the city. It was super trendy but the food and the beer was pretty good.
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