Day 1

Today started early at 4:00 am EDT when the alarm went off to get us started on our drive to Pearson Airport for an 8:50 am departure. When we arrived at the airport, we discovered there had been first a lack of pilot then some technical issue with the plane that resulted in a departure delay until 10:50 am. We could have had two more quality hours of sleep!

There had been lots of horror stories with the situation at Pearson post-COVID due to lack of staffing but our experience was similar to earlier times. Only 10 minutes to get through the security screening then a whole bunch of waiting for our delayed flight to leave.

The non-stop flight to Victoria was uneventful and very smooth, even over the mountains. Our luggage arrived and the rental car pick up was quick and easy.

Our check-in at our downtown Victoria condo was at 4:00 pm so we were able to stop and pick up some basic food items at Walmart for our travels and of course a stop at the BC Liquors store for some wine. Unfortunately we couldn't stock up too much as the employees are on work-to-rule and will only check out three items per transaction.

Our condo is in Chinatown in the core of downtown Victoria. A nice one bedroom unit within walking distance of all of the downtown attractions.

After settling in and having a refreshment on the balcony, we went for a short walk in the area in search of something for supper. 

It was Friday night and a lot of the top rated restaurants were already booked but at this point we just wanated to get something to eat as all we had on the plane was half of a chicken wrap. Also we had been awake since the equivalent of 1:00 am. The brew pub next door filled the bill and we were done and ready for bed by 8:00 pm.