Hikers and campers weren’t the only ones who got out for recent long-weekend adventures.
In Metchosin, a 40-year-old tortoise named Vonu – turtle in Fijian – went for an overnight hike up a massive hill, giving his family a fright.
Erica Chan appealed to neighbours to help look for Vonu, a situation many of them are familiar with since he escaped twice last year, including once for three weeks. Chan thought for sure they’d lost him that time, but he had only been a few steps away in a neighbour’s yard, munching away on dandelions and clover, happy as a clam, er, turtle.
This time he’d bee-lined for a gate that was left open in haste, and somehow made it up a steep hill near Lomax Drive.
“You’d think he’d be really slow, but when he’s on a mission he can really go,” Chan said. Neighbours up the hill noticed him the next day and Chan climbed up to bring the adventurous reptile home.
Once he recognized their yard, he sped up and seemed happy to be there, as far as tortoises show happiness, by peeing on Chan’s foot.
“Aw, I missed you too, buddy,” she joked.
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