Craig, might want to book a ticket right now. I mean NOW!!! Continental is having a sale that's $298 US return. Continental is straight through, no connectors.

From there you would take a taxi for about 20 minutes to the Tsawwassen-Victoria ferry.

You can also fly to Victoria. Typically this means a stop in Vancouver and then to Victoria. Or you might end up landing in Calgary Alberta and then going straight to Victoria. Calgary is like the bizzaro Texas. Cowboy merchandise everywhere and flat as a pancake.

The view out of the plane from Vancouver to Victoria is downright georgious. I should send you some pictures sometime.

After not having A/C in Austin, you might enjoy Victoria.

As for my woops, I mean your ex girlfriend, good luck. Oh yeah, you can use credit cards for pretty much anything, though I'd get some spending cash for small things. I'm not sure if your debit card would work or not. Ferry prices are different depending on the year, although only by a couple dollars. Here is the link: http://www.bcferries.com/fares/ You'd be looking for Swartz Bay (Victoria).

Alternative if you rent a car would be to drive from Vancouver airport north through the city and take the Horseshoe Bay ferry over to Nanaimo and then drive south to Victoria. It's longer, but the ferry is half an hour shorter (though the drive would be an extra 1.5 hours). The views are nicer compared to taking the ferry to Victoria (get to board the ferries and see the mountains RIGHT THERE as well as check out the view at the Malahat (mountain top) on the drive to Victoria).

As for getting Williams Lake and Victoria mixed up.....Well what can I say. I think David Lee Roth described you best: Going Crazy from the Heat.