Vancouver Island

Travelling by ferry from the unpronounceable Tsawwasson Port to Swartz Bay on the island was plain sailing although as we knew and expected, it was busy. Thankfully we’d booked as there was a 3 sailings queue which is a lot of vehicles! Once back on terra firma we drove south west to Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia. Nestled between the waters of the Salish Sea and the mighty rainforests on the island, we were looking forward to an explore.

Camping just outside Victoria we went to explore on our bikes. Taking the disused railway tracks, E&N Rail Trail was a great way to do it and only 9km. Meandering through suburbia into the outskirts we passed some fabulous wall art on the exterior of Driftwood Brewing Company. We loved the fact the company regularly paint over whats there so it gets refreshed with new art.

Victoria is clearly a prosperous, very clean and tidy city in the main heart, with touristy elements but it also has a workaday feel to it. It isn’t full of tourist tat shops but has a great blend of old and new architecture, some really great buildings. Examples being the red façade of The City Hall, the small but well restored Victoria Public Market and the quirky Chinese Public School. Quite shockingly, this school was built in 1907 when the racist public school board banned Chinese children from mainstream education, creating segregation, until they spoke English. This was corrected in 1911.

Its obvious when you are at Chinatown, a vibrant and colourful part of the city with a fabulously painted pedestrian crossing reflecting new year symbols. First settled in 1858 its the oldest intact Chinatown in Canada. Many of the buildings have flared temple roofs, balconies and courtyards. Bright tiles add to the distinct character. Fan Tan Alley is the narrowest street in Canada, it had tiny shops and too many people who weren’t tiny…

Harbourside, overlooking the fancy yachts, is the Victoria Legislature. It’s very ornate and looks a tad castle like, we didn’t see any fairy princesses but lots of selfie taking Barbie lookalikes aspiring to own an expensive boat/rich man. Cycling further around the harbour and out of the city centre humdrum we tracked down the Worlds Tallest Totem Pole, actually, it wasn’t that difficult , its 173 ft high. In the centre of town was also The Spirit Poles, reflecting First Nation symbolism. We learned that Eagles reflect ancestors watching over and on one of the two, the Grandmother Moon bequeaths knowledge on her family. A different type of art at a pop up gallery had some female characters who needed to use moisturiser more often, to soften the paper mache.

We really enjoyed our day in Victoria, plenty to see and a relatively unspoilt historic centre. As a city we saw a lot of First Nation references which is fascinating to those of us uninitiated. It too however has it’s own societal problems, evident in a couple of places. Talking to a lady who happened to work in public health, her view is it’s an underfunded and badly supports the parts of society that need it. Like we saw in Vancouver, the addiction for the majority seems to be material possessions rather than fentanyl. Victoria too was extortionate for property, but it’s all still selling apparently.

Anyhow, away from the city we followed a lot of rental RV’s up Hwy 1 towards the east coast of the island, stopping at a charming fishing village, Cowichan Bay, many of its houses on stilts, before taking a puck look at The Worlds Largest Ice Hockey Stick, 205 ft long. Staying near Nanaimo we adored Englishman River Falls, a walk through the rainforest of the provincial park, it was hot and humid. Tree’s and boulders covered in lichen clinging to the gorge sides next to the tumbling clear waters.

The following day we had to navigate roadworks on hwy 4. We’d never heard the term ‘Queue Flushing’ before but it basically means allowing a massive 6mile long queue to form while the road is fully closed, then letting it flush through in one direction while the queue opposite waits to do the same. Then close the road again for the rest of the day. It must have played havoc with anyone who wasn’t aware as there’s no alternative. Anyhow, we didn’t let our day go down the pan, we had a fabulous clamber at Kennedy River Falls over the rocks. Clear waters cascading between the eroded rocks, set among tall tree’s and a falling mist.

The journey was really beautiful but the roads were awful. Lot’s of subsidence and broken up surfaces as the narrow roads wound through the mountains. We’d not appreciated how mountainous the island was and also how slow it was. We spoke to a guy travelling from Victoria to Tofino and he said he plans 5 hours to do the 200km… bit like UK road travel then eh! Eventually we arrived at Ucluelet, a hip and trendy town which had a fab brewpub. This was also our most western place we’d get to on the whole trip. A small and pretty harbour, the area is a magnate for people half our age (and even less than that!) who like to surf and bike. So we got ours out and joined them. Thank goodness for the leccy!

The Wild Pacific Trail is as fantastic as the name suggests. It had everything, a squat lighthouse, designed that way in 1915, to be able to weather the storms, great bike trails among the contorted, weather defined tree’s of the rain forests and some spectacular views over the rugged craggy coastline. We saw Bald Eagles and Sealions. It was magical, if the tree’s could tell their stories there’d be a book in it. The beauty of the coastline was immense, one of our favourite places, lots of bluffs, crashing waves and small rocky islands, a bit like Hopewell Rocks back in the early days!

In the rainforests we were bitten by carnivorous plants rather than mozzies, sorry should’ve said smitten… Tiny ‘Sundews’ or Drosera, long favoured by Darwin who wrote many papers about them. SO tiny and beautiful, learning and taking time to look, we see all sorts at times! The tree’s looked like they were wearing moss gloves and the ancient Cedars towered and slowly swayed a little. We spent a while chatting with a couple from Winnipeg who also loved the area and told us about a Netflix documentary called Island of The Sea Wolves. Having now watched it, this is somewhere we’d love to spend more time in and get further north to the remote parts.

Organising ourselves around road closures and fully booked camp sites was a challenge but we feel we did ok. Different experiences at times, like the aroma of dope from neighbours discussing whether or not is was ok to put butter on toast as well as peanut butter, at 1am in the morning, can be testing though! Perhaps not too different though, to us discussing whether the local removals firm ‘Two Burley Men’ have any female employee’s and whether these days they need to rename themselves ‘Two Strong People of any Gender’…. live and let live anywayz! We wondered if the people who had the idea of a tourist attraction of ‘goats on the roof’ might have been smoking too when they had the idea but to be honest, genius! One hell of a draw, the goats bring people in their droves, to spend money there at Coombs Country Market, in the tourist shops, the cafe, the food market….. a pretty odd place, random sculptures, a mini Disney castle and random buildings, quite surreal. Had to laugh when I heard someone wonder out loud about why they watered the roof…. Off we headed to Parkersville to find Penelope, and ice cream.

Qualicum Falls was a gem of a place, really pretty and some of the best falls we’ve seen. We were lucky to get there as the road closures had meant it had been shut. It has lots of layers of cascades and fairy pools, carved into the soft rocks, laden with moss. Giant cypress trees loomed over the misty and hot air, containing the atmosphere of mystery and solitude. Travelling from there we wound our way along the coastline of the Comox Valley, dipping to the water and back inland as we drove. We found ourselves at Coastal Black Winery for a Harvest Host boondock. Customary as it is to buy a product, we ended up with strawberry fizz. They produce fruit wines, not of the grape variety in this region. (referred to as table wines) The fizz was ok, as we sat in the warmth of the evening watching turkey vultures over the fields!

In distinct contrast, Nymph Falls was full of wannabe Nymphs, a popular bathing spot on a hot day, it was full of mermaids and merblokes (??!) stuck to the rocks or bathing in the waters and rapids. We chose to cool down in the forest alongside the waters instead and no, we didn’t strip off to do so. Lots of tall tree’s moss laden and swaying in the very light breeze, darkening the ferns and plants carpeting the forest floor. Every once in a while we’d be woken from the quietness by the human wildlife screeching in the water. An area probably not ventured into by many who go there, but really special. I’ve never spent twenty minutes looking at the beauty of tree sap before… and no I hadn’t found mushrooms either 🙂

Our final resting place on Vancouver Island was a super find, Kin Beach Provincial Park, right on the water (Strait of Georgia) so we had a great wander along the beach, picking our way through driftwood and wondering what was out to sea… the reason being we couldn’t distinguish the water from the fog. Not sure why this area is part of whats known as The Sunshine Coast to be honest, not on that day anyhow. A local, Dale, told us it’s not always like that, as he told us we could park on his driveway if we returned!

Before leaving the island, by ferry from Comox to Powell River, we met up with a couple we’d met at Chase Campground, who lived locally at Courtenay. Never folks to refuse a free lunch, kidding, we met them at their place. A really fun few hours exchanging stories, understanding the area from them and promising to stay in touch. We are wondering if we need to build a B&B annex to the house! So that was it, a lot of Vancouver Island seen and a lot we’d love to see that we didn’t, especially further north but one day, we’ll be back. Canada has really gotten under our skins! (Americanism there, sorry!)

Jigsaw took to Island Life pretty well, living her best life with a tree stump at one point, going going gone… When at the winery she snoozed under the solar to recharge herself for that evenings mousing, and enjoyed a couple of walks on beaches, especially enjoying the Kin Beach driftwood…. we were paranoid she’d get stuck!