Club Contacts

President:  
Membership Coordinator:  Lynda Wilson, collegetown.wilson
Club Journey Coordinator: Nancy McLaughlin, pacificnem@gmail.com

Club Info

We are a relatively new club having received our charter in 2014.  We fluctuate between 20 – 30 members including members who live in the city of Victoria and other communities on Vancouver Island.  We have hosted multiple times and our club has journeyed to Australia and Japan.  Some of our members have participated in Global Journeys or joined other clubs on journeys.

Area Info

Victoria is the capital city of the province of British Columbia (BC) and is located on Vancouver Island.  The city of Vancouver is on the mainland of BC and is a two hour ferry ride away.  Vancouver Island is the largest island on the west coast of North America and if you were to drive from top to bottom, it would take approximately 12 hours.  

Check out this website that describes how big Vancouver Island is and how it compares in size to other countries:  https://www.bcrobyn.com/2018/06/how-big-vancouver-island/?fbclid=IwAR1Eapuxzs5FKs_2f2ayJgx_yFYoiJf-4RI2qB0XNcaYp3CnyAQuUdCA8dg  We like to brag that we have the mildest winters of any city in Canada and that we rarely see snow or freezing temperatures.

When we host inbound ambassadors, we always recommend they fly into Victoria International Airport (YYJ).  If you only fly to Vancouver, it will take approximately six additional hours of buses and a ferry ride to arrive in Victoria and this may not be desirable after a long flight.

Typical Journey

We usually begin with a day long driving tour of Victoria and surrounding area showing off our beautiful scenery and outlining our unique place in history.  Victoria is known as the City of Gardens and is home to the world famous Butchart Gardens https://www.butchartgardens.com which we visit as one of the highlights of our program.  Victoria is often said to be “more British than Britain” and we encourage ambassadors to partake in “High Tea” available at a number of venues.  Other activities available on choice days include exploring downtown’s specialty shops or going whale watching in our coastal waters.