Aug
21
2009
by Mr Cubes
Victoria to Elwha Dam (12.6 miles)
Total Miles: 2,525.4
Woke up excited to realise it was the first day of the deciding Test match between England and Australia in the battle for The Ashes - cricket's oldest and most famous duel. Homesick manifests itself in different ways and this had been the first Ashes series in my lifetime where I had missed every single ball. Still, the wonders of the internet and BBC Sport allowed me to follow what happened over the next five days (no skipping ahead to see who won, non cricket fans - I know you want to). Still, I couldn't hang around all day pressing F5, so I went off to explore Victoria before my ferry was due in the afternoon. As I cycled around the Galloping Goose, a trail built specifically for skaters and cyclists, I was sure I saw the bright orange panniers of Nils and Caro, the two German cyclists I'd met 1,300 miles earlier in northern Yukon Territory. Was good to see them again and a reminder of just how small the population of western Canada is - I've spent years in London never seeing the same people twice, even 
when looking for them. Victoria is a very British city, with red double deckers and lots of classic architecture. The huge Empress Hotel overlooking the harbour and a statue of Queen Victoria keeping guard of the governmental building were two of the highlights. After a lunch of spicy peanut noodles (cooked by a Japanese chef for a change), it was time to run round trying to get rid of the last few dollars I had left. Unfortunately there were only souvenir shops in this area of town, so I ended up with some expensive chocolates and a history of Canadian sailing.
My bike had spent the afternoon on board the ferry, though it had to be suddenly taken off again right at the last minute when the customs official demanded to see my white card (which for some reason wasn't stapled into my passport). Once that small oversight was sorted we were off and plenty of passengers of the forty onboard were asking about my trip. One middle aged gentleman
asked me to explain where Cornwall was as his Grandmother had come from there, but he'd never got around to researching it. Just as I was finishing my geography lesson (including maps) the ship's captain announced the sighting of a whale ahead of us. This time I was determined to capture it (on film) and got a fairly decent shot. Well, I think so anyway. You just have to zoom in a little to see it…
After just an hour we were in Washington State and immediately the difference was noticeable. Traffic was more hostile, drunks were on every street corner (I couldn't recall seeing a drunk person in Canada except for Dawson City) and litter lined the streets. After asking in the visitor information about available campgrounds I was told of a County Fayre and decided I should check it out. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take the bike in with me, so decided I'd have to give it a miss. Didn't look that great anyway. I left Port Angeles and headed to the Elwha Dam campsite which was offering cheap pitches to anyone on a bicycle due to there being a huge race in town the next day. Setting up next to me was a couple from Seattle, though Chris was originally from England (yay!) and River from Australia (boo!). Luckily it had been a good day for England in the cricket so I was able to bring that up at every opportunity. They were heading out to dinner and invited me to join them, was a really nice evening and made me feel happier about being back in the USA. Tonight was also my first introduction to the world of Twilight...a world I would get to see the very centre of over the next few days...