I have a very bipolar timetable that either leaves me either rushing to the other side of campus with very few minutes to get to my next lecture, or with a five hour gap between classes. On the days when I'm dealing with the latter, I try to explore Victoria - particularly now while the weather is still good. 

Cadboro Bay is a beautiful little beach only a stone's throw from the UVic campus. As with any typical Pacific Northwest beach, it has driftwood scattered all over its sands, which made me unreasonably giddy. I've realised that anything even slightly different from what I'm used to back home gets me excited. 

It's not all different though. Cadboro Bay has its own murder of crows (technical term!) as well as seagulls that will be very interested in the hypothetical muffin you bought at the hypothetical grocery store at the top of the hypothetical road. The beach also appears to be a very popular place to bring dogs - it seems like everyone in Canada has a dog - and while I was there I got to watch an adorable Australian shepherd puppy tumble about on the sand.