Confusion Rains

Tsunami update: If there’s a tsunami, don’t go to Canada. Go to the Firehall where you can play bingo. Upon our return to Point Roberts this May Day, we find yet another tsunami evacuation route sign. Unlike all the others I tracked down, this one sends the frightened native uphill to the high ground, which isn’t all that high, but is at least higher than 60 feet. (Wikipedia says that Point Roberts’ altitude is 0 feet and Tswwassen’s is 134 feet, so the high ground in Point Roberts is probably around 120 feet, I’d guess.) None of the tsunami evacuation signs actually make clear where you are heading or how you would know whether you’ve gotten where you are supposed to be going, but that’s what this regular update is to do for you, i guess. Go to the firehall or to Drewhenge, or to the sheriff's station, or to my house: all on high ground.

Vancouver Island Update.
After the trip to Vancouver Island, I got to thinking about why Victoria is the capital of British Columbia instead of Vancouver. From this century, or even the last one, it doesn’t really make any sense. But it turns out that Victoria was the big time before Vancouver was, and that Vancouver Island was its own province for quite a spell. It was combined with British Columbia as a single province (1866), and 5 years later, Victoria was was made the capital of this new province.

Victoria was only 28 years old at that point, but it was Western Canada’s oldest city and its largest city. And, since boats were the mode of transport at that point, having the capital on an island made more sense, perhaps than having it somewhere else with a smaller population and even less history.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that you can’t get directly to Victoria, which houses the Parliament and the provincial Capitol building, from Vancouver. The only direct ferry to Victoria comes from Port Angeles, in Washington. Vancouver ferries will take you far north of Victoria (to Nanaimo) or 20 miles north of Victoria to Swartz Bay. Is this any way to run a province? It’s as if they put the capital of Washington in Olympia and then put the big airport in Seattle. Oh, wait; that’s just what they did do.