Beautiful Pacific Northwest - USA and CANADA Victoria is a very beautiful city and offers a diversity of outdoor activities and scenery. This is the view from the lookout point at Mt. Douglas which is a favorite place to hike the trails among the large area of natural wilderness. We cheated and drove directly to the top to see 360 degree views of the city below us, and surrounded by the snow capped Olympic Mts. of Washington State in the distance. The BC Ferries is the only car transportation available from Vancouver Island and they offer many different routes to the Mainland, Gulf Islands and Queen Charlotte Islands. The 1.5 hour sailing from Victoria to Vancouver is one of the most reasonably priced cruises that I have been on after the 10 cent Star Ferry Crossing in Hong Kong. The area is approximately 5,200 square kilometers in size and includes 13 major islands and over 450 smaller islands. This area is renowned and cherished for its stunning physical beauty, significant biod...