Victoria island in the British Columbia is a magical boat ride away from  stunning Vancouver.  This paradisal  island packs a punch when it comes to  providing a variety of vacation-worth excursions and sightseeing. While Vancouver itself is an unforgettable destination—Victoria will stay in your heart and beckon you back. 

Vacationing there with three young sons at the time provided us with some of our highest adventure thrills to date: zip lining and whale watching. With hotels along the bay, the charm of this trip is the pedestrian vibe, ease and access to all of Victoria’s beauty. We walked everywhere, rode pedi-cabs, shopped, dined, absorbed the entertainment of the street performers, watched the kayakers in the bay and danced along to the music of live bands. We drove our rental car (brought in on ferry boat from Vancouver by way of Spokane first so that we could also tour Seattle), to Sooke National Forest to zip line at a mythical looking rainforest. I was not planning on doing this so I took a book to read while my husband and sons did the 2-hour adventure. But, they talked me into it and being a boy mom, you eventually embrace the attitude–“If my kids can do it, I can, too!” I was terrified; I won’t lie. I said many, many prayers on those two hours in the tree tops.

We suited up and took a very bumpy and adventurous jeep ride up the mountain to the zip line range. I felt like I was envisioning what it must feel like to be in the jungles of Vietnam (from what you see in movies, etc.) The ATV ride alone was enough adventure for this 40 year old mom (at the time). “Can I get off, now? This was good enough!”.  But, no….I stayed with the group and followed the plan. Our youngest son was seven years old at the time and had to be tethered to a guide to do each zip line but he loved every minute of it. Our group consisted of our family of five and a few others…maybe 8-10 of us, total? We coached and supported each other through the scary parts. Being acrophobic and claustrophobic as I am, waiting on the tree top ledges was harder for me than the zip lining. If I can do this—ANYONE CAN DO THIS! I’m so glad that I did, too! Enjoying a forest from that perspective is other-worldly and I highly recommend it. Being at the height of a tree like that is a religious experience. Ziplining down a 2 minute long line 2,000 feet across   is a feat of faith and instills quite a bit of confidence and strength in your abilities. You’re not doing anything majorly athletic—it’s a test of your attitude that’s at work here.

On the ride back to our hotel in our rental car, we excitedly shared with each other all of our palpable emotions and visceral reactions. My husband was not ready to call it a day, though. While returning to the bay, he got the idea to to whale watching next in Zodiac boats. We suited up again–this time in wet suits and boarded the Zodiacs to shoot off into the sea and find whales. That’s an entirely separate blog! However, I will end this one stating that this was the highest adventure day to date on any of our vacations because of the back to back high speed adventures. I refer to it as our “Cardio Chaos in Canada.”

https://adrenalinezip.com