Well, I don't want to "advertise" and it's no benefit to me anyway, just passing along the information that the Victoria Regent (
Victoria Regent Waterfront Hotel | Luxury Accommodation in Victoria) has 2-bedroom large suites with kitchens and is right downtown on the waterfront. I don't know what the hotel prices are or whether it fits with your plans (and you've already reserved elsewhere for this trip anyway). I live there but as a resident (about half the owners have put their suites into a "hotel pool"). There's a 60A (48A continuous) and 40A (32A continuous) plug-n-go Sun Country charging station in the secured parking lot, great for overnight charging, free for guests.
There are also plenty of L2 public free charging stations at all the rec centres, most of the downtown multi-level parking lots, and most of the major malls, however they are all 30A (24A continuous) so rather slow. If you don't want to have to go into the rec centre to get their card key to open the charging handle, you can sign up for an AddEnergie (
Home) account - I think the card costs a $10Cdn deposit but all the charging locations in Victoria have the usage paid by the host, so if you use your own card (WAY more convenient) your account will get a $0 charge line item. Some are Chargepoint (e.g. Hillside Mall) and can be opened by any credit card NFC, again electricity cost is paid by the host. Hillside Mall has 12 charging spots so they've seen the future.
Since you're in James Bay, if you need a relatively quick charge for pay, the Hotel Grand Pacific (across the street from the Legislative Buildings) has a Sun Country 90A station. Downside is it's like $7 per hour to park there, may have even increased over last couple of years.
Things to do
1. What better way to use up all your kWh but to go for a drive from the Breakwater (south end of James Bay area) around the "Scenic Drive" out to UVic and beyond (Dallas Road to Beach Drive to Finnerty Road...). It's maybe 30km return.
2.
The Butchart Gardens | Victoria BC Attractions | National Historic Site of Canada is usually a must see for lots of people.
3. The kids would probably like
Beacon Hill Park Victoria BC, possibly its petting zoo depending on age, and it's a beautiful scenic area for wandering, filled with birds and lots of pets. Our ferret used to love to go on walks there.
4. Plenty of options for tours of all kinds, e.g. whale watching, kayaking, taking a "pickle boat" (
Victoria Harbour Ferry & Water Taxi - Tours & Charters, Victoria BC), double-decker bus, etc. Note the pickle boats only operate starting in early March through end of October - their website is frustratingly sparse on 2016 (or any) operating date information. In 2015 they opened March 5th.
5. We haven't yet tried Red Fish Blue Fish but there are lineups every day. They are highly popular. Lots of very good restaurants abound.
6.
Royal BC Museum is an excellent source of all sorts of information, and it's right in James Bay.
7. If you like going for hikes etc then Thetis Lake Park is great (
Find a Park or Trail | CRD). The whole Victoria area has thousands of fabulous parks. Our favourite 30-minute walk is on Charlie's Trail at Royal Roads University (
Charlies Trail | Royal Roads University | Victoria, BC). There are lots of other different forest trails on RRU's grounds as well. While you're paying for parking anyway ($1/hour), if you really need it there's a Sun Country 30A station in the middle of the grounds. If you like deep forest there are places like
East Sooke Park Vancouver Island British Columbia about 45min from Victoria downtown. From downtown we like taking
Westsong Walkway | Walking In Victoria for some exercise and scenery.
Hopefully that will give you a few ideas. If you have any questions feel free to post here or PM me. My opinions are free!
(except for the cost of having to listen to me)
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Forgot to add, we regularly go to Portland for NBA games, and it's no trouble whatsoever in an 85. We'll be doing our first "dead of winter" trips in January and February 2016.
Two options for ferries, both have advantages and disadvantages.
1. Vancouver / BC Ferries: beautiful trip through the Gulf Islands. Downside: Seattle traffic
2. Port Angeles / Black Ball Ferry: no-frills ride but you disembark within hundreds of meters of your rented house, likely. The drive from Olympia to PA is nice.
Timing-wise, they're actually about the same and depends highly on the sailing departure time. Worthwhile doing both IMHO. Check the Black Ball's departure times from Victoria, that might work out better for the trip back.