1:15 to Victoria

The girl who took me to the Cona hostel last night advised me to take the train to Victoria instead of hitchhiking because you can really enjoy the scenery on the way there. What she failed to mention however, was that the train takes almost 5 hours to get there and that it's quite a bumpy ride.

There's only one train every day, consisting of just one unit (two in the summer months), and the rails were probably the same ones as in early 1900's. There wasn't a ticket office at the station you still have to buy a ticket from the conductor (or on the internet if you have a printer). There aren't many barriers at Canadian crossroads so the train has to honk all the time to alert car drivers. However! The scenery turned out to be terrific! It takes you on a ride along the coast line at first, followed by a path through the mountains where you ride over high bridges and much much more. All in all, it was definitely worth the 40 CAD. Just don't use it if you have a weak back!

When I finally got to Victoria, I checked in at the Ocean Island Backpackers Inn. This hostel has a lot of rooms so there was a lot going on. I met two Australian backpackers called Nathan & Tim, with whom I ended up in the bar. Most Canadian beer is terrible but luckily they had Stella Artois as well! I can also remember meeting three German guys and a girl from Gran Canaria but most of the evening is a blur :$ ...