Day 7 Thursday June 11, 2015
Victoria, B.C.
Much of this day was spent “at sea” in the north Pacific before we entered the passage that leads to the bay where Vancouver Island sits off the coast of Canada. For me it was a work day, and I spent several hours in the “Explorations Cafe” where there are good desks, good light, and relative quiet for reading and work. It is actually the “Library.” The problem was that with little to do other than the usual games, a lot of people were there talking and playing cards loudly — out came the headphones! The good news is that I have worked my way though 16 of the 20 talks I will be giving to the Sisters of St Francis in August, and this gives me a lot of relief. There is much to do with rewriting and editing, but I have this task relatively under control.
Outside it was beautiful. The sun was shining, the water very blue with a few clouds hanging over mountains as we sailed into the channel. No whales today, but yesterday there were several sightings, and I saw one tail break the surface making me think it was an orca rather than a humpback since we saw nothing other than the blow and then the tail.
Victoria is the the destination of the day. I had the Sunday Vigil Mass at 4:00, with about 65 people, and by 5:30 we were docked. I waited till the crowd got off, and then made a 5 mile round trip walk to downtown and Chinatown. This is a very beautiful, and walkable city. Downtown has a lively night-life of restaurants and bars with live music and festive crowds walking around. As the night wore on, the Parliament lights up, and I wanted to see it. A Piper was playing on the corner making it all the more fun. Now it’s bed time on the Amsterdam, and tomorrow everyone gets off and then 1100 get on and we start over again.
