Day 55 17/5/06 - Canada

Victoria -> Oak Bay -> Shawnigan Lake -> Cowichan Bay -> Duncan

Highlight

• Oak Bay is a really expensive area with really huge and beautiful houses.
• Our 2nd visit to Tim Hortons, this time for bagels and more donuts, for breakfast!
• We stopped off at a glass blowing place near Shawnigan Lake, so now we've managed to visit one in every country we've visited. The owner was very friendly (and talkative) and introduced us to all her products, with their specialty being oil lamps. They also have a really cute blind dog.
• Cowichan Bay, a really laid back area, with some quirky shops and a great organic bread shop.
• Along the drive from Shawnigan Lake to Duncan, is the so-called wine route. There are about 7 wineries in the area. We visited the Cherry Tree winery, but the wine was not that great.
• We also paid a visit to Merridale Ciderhouse, and tasted lots and lots of ciders :). Their bistro was fantastic, overlooking their apple trees (albeit with no apples).
• The "totem" city Duncan, is really a very very small town with a few totem poles. Remarkably for such a small place, it's crammed with giant shopping malls, chain stores and eateries. We visited our first Safeway, Wal-Mart, Superstore... which, btw, are kinda all like kmart, except they all seem to have a Maccas or Subway or Starbucks inside the store.
• Another Travelodge. Well I can give them marks for consistency. This one looks almost exactly the same as the one yesterday, except that there is no pool
• Dinner at chain store No 2, White Spot. It was better than I expected, but not great, and definitely better than yesterday...
• Pay TV in Canada is kinda interesting. We watched the American Iron Chef, which is nowhere near as good as the Jap version. Apparently the Jap chairman is the uncle of the American chairman. We were also unfortunate (or fortunate if you're a guy) enough to watch Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. I don't get it... as a comedy it's not funny, unless you laugh because the plot? (what plot?) is so dumb... as an action film there's not much sequences... as a porn film there's not enough naked people...

Food

• Blueberry bagel.
• Maple Dip donut + dutchie.
• Maple + peaches and cream ice-cream. (4.8)
• Lunch at La Pammeraie Bistro located at Merridale Ciderhouse:
  • Pork and apple crepe (8)
  • Apple and onion tart (8)
  • Chicken somerset (13)
  • Chicken and apple pizza
• White Spot dinner:
  • Canada AAA Sirloin Steak - Served with roast potatoes & seasonal vegetables. Half pound. (15.99)
  • Monty Mushroom - Our 1/4 lb. burger with Jack cheese & sauted mushrooms. (8.99)
  • Mountain Madness - A mountain of cream puffs piled high with fresh whipped cream, swirls of butterscotch & triple thick hot fudge sauce. It's beyond belief! (5.49)
  • White Spot Cheesecake - Our very own recipe, rich & creamy. A wonderful White Spot tradition. (4.29) With strawberry topping. (.99)