My last night in Tofino was kinda bogus. After scoring my bus ticket to Victoria I scoured the town for some affordable accomadation. I found nothnig so I gave up and set up camp in the city park.
In the morning some locals observed my behavior and looked disgusted. I felt as though I had betrayed the peoples trust. It was a shady feeling.
The bus ride was all right. It made me feel as though I had made the right decision as the scenery wasn't so spectacular that I would rather have rode the bike. Plus it saved my knee some trouble. Once again upon arriving I found that the hostels were mostly booked. I had to hole up in this filthy place with shady folk who were rude and unpleasant, getting in fights and hating each other. Not my idea of the hosteling scene.
I poked around Victoria for a day, checking out local shops and popping into galleries. Once again I was mostely dissapointed although some things were better then what VanCouver had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised at one point to hear some phat breakbeats pumpin' out a shop window, so I slipped inside to find WhiteBird Lounge, a sweet little cafe/fashion/record store. The owner dude told me of the thriving D'n'B scene in Victoria and gave me the heds-up about the Jungle Niteclub, a local drum'n'bass hotspot. So I went. The decks were rockin', lotsa fresh sounds but the dancin' on the floor was weak. I was dismayed. Of course I took it to the hard floor but my knee was buggin' out on me. Oh well I shall have to return.
The show got out at three in the morning which left me three hours until the ferry sailed for Port Angeles. I had intended to leave last evening and subsequently made no arrangments for that nights accomadations. I ended up crashing in this weird space behind the hostel. It was perhaps the strangest night on record. It looked as though homeless folk regularly spent nights there. There was this funked out mattress folded up in the corner and the place stank of stale urine. I didn't really get any sleep but I dozed off a little only to be rudely awakened by the cruel noise of some woman leaving the hostel abruptly, threatening to call the police. Shady hostel.
By the time I made it to the ferry I was whipped. I hadn't showered or brushed my teeth since my stay in Ahouset (three days) and I was lookin' pretty ragged. People kept staring at me and giving me the evil eye. What a world.
So I pulled into Thor Town hostel at about nine in the mornin' and promptly passed out. I slept until about four in the afternoon and then ventured out to get dinner. I made burritos, yum. As I was cleaning up a young couple rolled in. They were headed up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympia National Park and offered to take me along. I shoulda brought my camera.
The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. Those peaks were so high up and we were right there with them. I especially enjoyed the glow of the set sun over the horizon. There was such a stark contrast between the red/orange sky and the black silloheted ridge. Later, while stargazing an old man approached and just started offering up information about the heavens. He pointed out certain constellations and specific stars, he showed us Jupiter rising through the sign of Scorpio. Apparantly we were in the middle of a meteor shower that peaks annually at this time of year. We certainly saw a number of shooting stars. Later, as we left the moon was rising. It was big and orange and the city lights shown beneath her waning face. How strange to spend these pleasant moments with perfect strangers. To think that but a day earlier I was hunkered in an alley in Victoria, derelect and alone.
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:)
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