Time for some music

Since Monday is Victoria Day, a national holiday in Canada, there are already orchestras and many other things to see all over Victoria.
After work, I walked to the inner harbour as I thought that there would be a show with drums. On the way there, I saw two people with a 'Free hugs' sign and when they started chatting with my because I was smiling at them, I decided to take the offer of a hug.
When I arrived at the harbour, I didn't find any marching drum bands or anything ele like that. Insted, I could watch a juggler as well as two school orchestras.
The juggler offered a very entertaining show that required five audience members to help out and it actually seemed rather dangerous and awkward for the chosen audience members.
The first orchestra I saw didn't really catch my attention. However, I really enjoyed the second orchestra, as they were playing some well known songs like 'Rolling in the deep', 'Pokerface' and 'Counting stars' with trumpets and similar instruments, which gave the songs an interesting note. An older couple with a three year old boy sat next to me and that boy was quite the attraction as well: He was dancing to the music and actually looked pretty good while doing that. I chatted a little with the woman, who told me that they lived in a nearby city and that they had adopted the boy.

Back at the hostel, I met Simone and a friend of hers while I was eating a self-made egg burger in the dining area. We ended up playing a game called 'Chinese Checkers' together. There was also a band playing at the hostel. It was actually the same band that had played here the last two Saturdays as well, thus I didn't pay too much attention to them. Still, it was nice to have some live music in the background.

Being eaten by goats and other fun things

I finally got a job this morning - starting June 1st, I'll be working in a Canadian gift store. I'll begin with 24 hours a week, which should just be enough to pay for an apartment and food.
After the job interview, I went back to the hostel to meet up with my roommate Simone. Together we walked to Beacon Hill park. Once again, I was captivated by the cute little ducklings and we watched five of them swimming and walking on lily pads for a while. Our next stop was the petting zoo, where we could see a lot of pea cocks as well as chicken, alpaca and donkeys. Our favourite animals were the goats in the petting compound. There were so many young goats, some of them only a few weeks old. There was one young goat called Tinkerbell that kept trying to eat my backpack and my shoelaces. It was so cute and I just ended up sitting on the groupd for a while so that Tinkerbell and some other goats could climb on me. Simone also loved the goats, one of them ws chewing on her hair.
After the petting zoo, I found another statue of a hand on the beacon hill. Now only one more hand is missing in my picture collection.
We walked on in the direction of the ocean and ended up sitting on a bench at the coast for at least an hour. It was such a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the sounds of the ocean, the fresh air and the sun.
On the way back, we decided to stop by at Fisherman's Wharf to eat something. Just like last time the seals were at the Wharf waiting for food from tourists. Simone ate some Chowder and I got fish and chips. 

A slow day

Due to my hurt ankle, my first trip today was to the drug store in order to buy some pain relieve gel. With the gel and walking slowly, working with my ankle wasn't too bad today. Walking down the stairs was always a challenge but apart from that, I could do almost everything slowly without any problems.
After work, I went back to the 7eleven store to apply for a job. Unfortunately, they wouldn't hire me because I am only staying in Canada for a few months and the manager said that it wouldn't be very profitable for them to hire me for such a short time. Well it's their loss.
I also got a call today that I'll have a job interview in a gift shop tomorrow. Maybe I'll have some more luck there.
In the evening, I had a nice chat with my roommate Diane. She told me a deeply moving story about her deceased husband.

The Goldstream adventure

I joined Will and Johanna on a hike today. We went with the bus to the Goldstream park, which is about an hour west of Victoria. It turned out to be quite a challenge to find the right trail. After a few meters of climbing down a really steep path, we ended up at a river and apart from a few stones, there was no trail across. Thus we turned back and found a real trail to follow. It turned out that the trail we chose wasn't the one we had wanted to follow. We ended up on a big street and we had to cross it by following a river going through a tunnel beneath the street. Since we really had to jump from one stone to the next this time, I wasn't sure I could make it and thus got two big sticks to help me out.

After crossing beneath the road, the next problem was to find the right trail. Will thought he had found it so we started walking. As it turned out, it wasn't really a trail and we were suddenly in the middle of nowhere, there were plants all around us and no path to find. We kept going further in this wilderness until Johanna saw a snake. That's when I said that this cannot be the way and we should turn back. But there was really no turning back to, we were surrounded by wilderness. We decided to try and get to the nearby highway - the only problem was the river dividing us from that highway. Will climbed across a huge tree that had fallen down, but Johanna and I couldn't get up there. Thus we tried crossing the river by jumping from one stone to the next again. Johanna slipped and got her shoes all wet and I didn't see a good way across either, so I took my shoes off. The water was ice cold and it was really slippery. In order to get a better balance, I gave my shoes to Will. Unfortunately, one of my socks dropped into the river. Will could save it, but it was wet. After I was finally on the other side, I put my one dry sock and both shoes back on.
The real path was actually just next to the highway and  it led us to the visitor center. I had hoped to buy a sandwich there but they didn't have any proper food, so we just ended up sharing all we had (buns, cream cheese, granola bars) for lunch.

We tried going to some falls which are actually called Niagara falls next. Unfortunately, I tripped and kind of twisted my ankle. I had to sit down for a few minutes since it really hurt. After a while it got better, but I still couldn't walk properly. However, I had to keep going since there were no buses or anything up here. Will found me a really big stick to help me walking. With this I could somehow make it, although it wasn't very pleasant. The falls weren't too big but nice to look at. Because of my ankle, I didn't go too close, though.

Our next goal was a big railway bridge high up the path. You had an amazing view from there. While walking on top of the bridge, you could actually see down to the tops of the trees below. I was the only one not scared of walking on the bridge, since it was really wide.

The walk from the bridge to the bus was still very long and with my ankle, it took us even longer to get back since I couldn't walk very fast anymore. I think it took two or three hours to get back to the busstop. Still the hike was really nice and even though I couldn't walk properly anymore, I enjoyed the hike. 

I have to admit that in the beginning while we were still lost and looking for the right trail, I had been thinking of turning back and giving up the whole hike. I might have saved myself the pain of twisting my ankle that way.  However, at the end of the hike, I was extremely glad about all these amazing experiences and proud of myself for making it. The twisted ankle might still be a bit annoying in the next few days but this adventure was definitely worth it.

The hand hunt part two

Since I had been working again today, I could only go out and explore in the evening. I chose to try and find some more of the dozen hand statues hidden all over Downtown Victoria. Some of them were hidden quite well again, so that it took me quite a while to find them. In the end I found all seven that I had planned to find today. Thus, considering the three I had found before, I only missed two more statues. However, they both seemed a bit further away so I had decided to look for them on another day.

In addition to looking for the statues, I kept looking for more hiring signs. I ended up applying in two shops. Just when I wanted to apply at a 7eleven store, a woman started complaining loudly about the quality of the food. Consequently, the manager asked me to come back at a later time to apply.

The Butterfly Gardens

Just like my roommate Shamilla, I had planned to go to the Butterfly Gardens today. We decided to go together, which was quite lucky fo me, since Shamilla could go there for free and take someone with her. In addition to that, it was really nice having some company.
Before going to the Butterfly Gardens, I quickly went to hand in my resume at another shop. The bus ride to the Butterfly Gardens was quite long, but it was totally worth it. The Garden was amazing, it was like a small rainforest with butterflies (duh), parrots, flamingos, turtles, frogs, tropical plants and more. Even though the climate was quite hot and humid, I really enjoyed the time there.

I didn't go directly to the hostel afterwards. Instead I made a few detours to check out two more apartments. I also made a short stop at walmart again, since I needed to transfer buses nearby. As I was hungry, I bought a roll and some potato salad for lunch.
I really loved the second apartment I checked out today, since it looked a lot nicer than the other ones I had seen so far and the woman owning the house had a dog, which is a big plus in my opinion. Nevertheless, I'd prefer to get a job before deciding to move in somewhere.

The hand hunt

I had to work again today. Afterwards, I went to James Bay to check out an apartment. On the way there, I finally found the first statue of a hand - there are supposed to be several ones all over Downtown Victoria. My former roommate Rachel here in Victoria had told me about them, but they were a lot harder to find than I had expected.
The apartment was nice enough but I'd like to find another job before deciding on a place to live. On the way back to the hostel I found two more statues of hands.

I made some salad with cucumber, tomatoes, tuna and feta for dinner. After that, I still sat a while in the cafe area with some other hostel guests. Leon from Germany, who had been working with me today, was playing the guitar for all of us and it sounded really good.

The last song he played before we were thrown out of the cafe due to the quiet hours was 'It's a good life' by Rae Garvey with really inspiring lyrics.

"You hang your head in misery

Your eyes say that you're no longer free

I know you hide behind those clouds of despair

I'm just someone who came to show he cares

Come on wake up don't be afraid

We can find what you lost on your way

Come on wake up there's no shame

In being too weak to fight the pain

It's a good life even when hope is forsaken

Even when your heart is breaking

Never forget it's worth saving

Never forget it's a good life

Seeing the sun on the tree line

Feeling the breeze on a warm night

Holding your hand of love

Happiness is not made of gold

It's made of memories only you and I hold

If you can hear me then answer the call

I'll just sit here till you're strong enough to talk

Come on wake up don't be afraid

We can find what you lost on your way

Come on wake up don't slip away

You were once the one who helped me find my way to the good life

Even when hope is forsaken

Even when your heart is breaking

Never forget it's worth saving

Never forget it's a good life

Seeing the sun on the tree line

Feeling the breeze on a warm night

Holding your hand of love

Never forget it's a good life

I know you can turn it around

Just make for the break in the clouds

I'll wait for you there

You know it's a good life

Even when hope is forsaken

Even when your heart is breaking

Never forget what is saving

Never forget it's a good life

Seeing the sun on the tree line

Feeling the breeze on a warm night

Holding your hand in love

Come on wake up don't be afraid

We can find what you lost on your way"