Sunday, June 07 to Thursday, June 11, 2009 - Port McNeill
Sunday - The day started out with a foggy mist but as the morning went on it cleared up. Our schedule for today was to visit Telegraph Cove and Bear Cove. Bear Cove is where Leo really wanted to go as the logging train would unload the logs here to be sorted, dumped into the Cove as log `booms` and towed by tugboat down the island to Nanaimo for sawing into lumber. But there was no action whatsoever here today so we drove on to Telegraph Cove. We had been told to go and really visit this little village on stilts: but it was a great disappointment for us. To start with you had to pay for parking, and the parking meter was not even working so you had to go and pay at the office. Next we got to walk along the ‘boardwalk’ and look at the old houses of which many had been converted into ‘rooms to rent’ type units. There was also a restaurant and office for the whale watching operation and a ‘bones museum’ housing skeletons of various marine and land animals. Leo later found out that the village was privately owned and that they had ‘blasted away’ a rock hill to build condominiums, an RV campground and another parking lot. The whole place has lost its charm to the tourist dollar. A real shame. I tried to buy a coffee and muffin but at a price of $2.50 for a muffin I passed the opportunity. Next I thought of buying a chocolate milk, only a 250ml container, but at $3.20 I passed it on as well. So I went back to the car and had a drink of water instead. I would not recommend Telegraph Cove to anyone unless you really like touristy type places. But we did again have our sighting of black bears for the day.
Monday - Zeballos and Fair Harbour were on the schedule for today. To get to these 2 places, located on an inlet, we had to take a forestry road. We decided to try our luck in the hope that the road would not be too rough for us. It was a well graded road and we had no problems whatsoever. The logging trucks were still not driving as the whole logging operation was still not back to work due to fire hazard. The road to Zeballos was really nice and scenic and so was the village itself. As I was talking to one of the local fisherman it was recommended we should go on to Fair Harbour as it had more fishing boats and such. Note that Zeballos is a true village with a store, motel, library, pub and some side streets as well. Well after leaving Zeballos for Fair Harbour the road changed to a much narrower road and also a bit rougher to drive. We finally did get to the end of the road and that is exactly what Fair Harbour is - the end of the road with a very small harbour with a couple of docks for boats, but only two or so houses hidden in the trees. There were enough cars parked here but we did not see a lot of people so the owners of these cars must have been out on their boats fishing. We did talk to a man cleaning his fish and he proudly showed us his catch. After talking to him for a little while we went back the same bumpy narrow road. We did hear some noise from above though and when we looked we saw a helicopter doing some ‘logging’ up in this area. It was lifting large logs cut down up on a steep section of mountain and ferrying these down to a clearing beside the road where they could later be loaded onto logging trucks. Naturally we had to stop for the photographer to take a couple (lots) of pictures of this. We finally got back to Zeballos, had a bite to eat and went back to our trailer and to bed. Leo had to get up early the next morning to take pictures of the logging train.
Tuesday, June 9 - As I mentioned Leo got up early to go to ‘Camp A’ to take pictures of the train being loaded with logs which then would be pulled to Bear Cove and unloaded there. Well after about an hour Leo called me to say he was still in town as he had a flat tire and had to buy a new one, but he was ready to go now. I guess driving the forestry roads did do some damage to our tires after all. Now of course he was late for the picture taking at Camp A but he did get some shots of the train cars being loaded. When he got home late that afternoon he told me he had to go again the next morning though to take the missed pictures of them being unloaded again at Beaver Cove. He has a tough job, but someone has to do it.
Wednesday - Leo took off early again to take his pictures of the logging train unloading and when he got back for lunch we decided to visit Malcolm Island for the afternoon. It was not as interesting an island as some of the others but still nice to have seen. Then it was back to our trailer to get ready to move on to Campbell River the next day. During our time in Port Hardy and Port McNeill we had at least 1 bear sighting a day with a total bear count of 13. The most bears we have ever seen on a holiday so far.
The pictures for these days have been updated so have a look there as well.
Thursday June 11 to Tuesday June 16, 2009 - Campbell River
On we went again to our next stop - Campbell River. On the way we stopped at Woss where Leo wanted to talk to someone from the logging railroad and get some more information. After an hour stop over or so we went on again. When we got to Campbell River we found a very nice campground just outside Campbell River on the road to Gold River. While we were waiting for the campground owners to come to help us we noticed 2 hummingbird feeders hanging in front of their kitchen windows with lots, and I mean lots, of hummingbirds flying around: a very nice welcome for us of course. There were 2 kinds of hummingbirds, the Rufous and the Ruby-Throated. You will get an idea how many hummingbirds there were by having a look at our pictures. The owners told us they estimate there are a total of some 75 which are at their feeders almost 24 hours a day, and which consume some 30 kilograms of nectar formula each summer.
We got a nice camp spot and after setting up and eating lunch, went to town to do our grocery shopping for the next couple of days.
Friday - We decided to take another ferry ride and visit Quadra and Cortez Island. First we took the ferry from Campbell River to Quadra, a 10 minute sail, and then drove to the next ferry which would take us to Cortez island on a very pleasant 45 minute sail. We just barely made it on the ferry going there as we were the second last car to get on and there was no room for any more cars. When we got off the ferry there was a long line up of cars and we did not think that every one would be able to get on the ferry for that sailing. This concerned us a bit as there were not that many sailings from Cortez to Quadra, the last one being at 5:50 p.m, and we certainly did not want to be left behind for the night so we decided to be back in time for the second last sailing at 3:50 just in case. We did enjoy Cortez island very much though and we had lunch at a very nice beach park (campground as well) , and visited a unique bay which is almost dry when the tide is out. A few people were digging for clams and when they were done they had big buckets full of them to either eat or sell.
When we got back to the ferry terminal we were the 3rd car in line to get on so we were guaranteed a spot on that sailing. Once back on Quadra Island we took our time driving around. First we had a look at Rebecca Spit: a very nice area with lots of gravel ‘beach’. We walked along the beach for a bit before we moved on. Then we went to see the lighthouse and an Indian village where we got to talk to a lady who sold local art work and who herself did some machine embroidery on a Designer I machine like the one I have. We had to compare notes of course as to what kind of thread she used and also embroidery patterns. Leo did purchase a native wood-carving so we did not walk out totally empty-handed. Next we wanted to have a bite of supper but it was too close to the next ferry sailing to sit down and eat something so we ordered pizza and ate that while we waited for our next ferry to take us back to Campbell River. All in all it was a very nice day.
Saturday - When we first got to Campbell River and checked in at the visitors centre we were kind of discouraged about camping at Gold River as the campground purportedly only had a few spots (15) and there were no services what so ever. So we decided just to take a day trip to Gold River instead and also go down further to the Government wharf on Muchalat Inlet which is another 14 km from Gold River. The road to Gold River was really slow driving because of the many bends in it but it was a very nice road for scenery so we did not mind. The wharf was a disappointment as it was all blocked off by fences so we were not able to get really close to the water at all. We did get to see the cute little tugboats they use for moving the logs on the water in action so it was still worth the drive. On the way back we took a significant side road and drove along Buttle lake in Strathcona Provincial Park. This again was a beautiful scenic drive.
Sunday - We first visited the Farmers Market and no, we did not buy any more plants: we actually did not buy anything at all. While we were there we had a look at the fisherman’s pier: a pier build for fisherman to fish from. After lunch we went for a very nice walk to Elk Falls and in the evening Leo went back to the wharf to take some evening pictures of the boats in the harbour there.
Monday - This was our last day in Campbell River and we went for a walk along the shore, back to fisherman’s pier for an ice cream and back to the trailer so Leo could take some pictures of the hummingbirds.
Again you can find pictures from the above-mentioned days on our photoblog.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Port Alberni
Today we moved on to Port Alberni and planned on staying overnight there to explore this town a bit more as we have always just driven through it to and from Long Beach. We arrived at our campground around 1 pm so we had lots of time to do our exploring on the same day. Leo wanted to visit an old sawmill which is fully steam-powered and now a national historic site, but when we got there it was not in operation. Opening hours for this mill are Thursday through Monday. But we did get a change to just walk through the site on a self-guided tour. Next we drove around Port Alberni for a while and had supper at an ‘original’ type Drive In. You know: the kind where you drive in, turn on your light when you want to order and the food is brought on a tray which hangs on your car window. We just had to eat there for nostalgic reasons. The last such a place we ever ate at was the A & W one just south of Red Deer many years ago. After we had our supper we went back to our campground and decided that we had seen enough of Port Alberni so we would move on again the next day.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
June 6, 2009 - Alert Bay
Saturday, June 6 - Alert Bay
We got up on time, took a shower, packed up our tent trailer, and moved southeastwardly along the coast to the new town (for us) of Port McNeill. The forecast was for cloudy weather all day but by the time we were set up at the new campground and ready to do things the weather had changed and the sun was shining again. We planned to take the 2:20 pm ferry to the aboriginal community of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island and the 5:50 pm ferry back. Well things did not work out that way at all. When we got off the ferry we asked a local where we could find the Native Cultural Centre (the museum). He directed us to it but also mentioned we should go and visit the “Big House” as there was a youth conference going on there and it would be open because of it. Normally the Big House is not open for public viewing.
The Cultural Centre was very interesting. One of the greatest traditional social events for the Kwaguitl tribes of this area was the “potlatch” in which a family would host a week-long celebration and during that time give away immense wealth to their tribemates, thereby leaving themselves impoverished but having gained tremendous social status in the community. The missionaries despised these events because they kept native beliefs alive as well, and kept many aboriginals from converting to Christianity. The government was subsequently persuaded to make potlatches illegal as a result. The Alert Bay tribe continued the practice regardless and were subsequently charged with breaking the law. All the items distributed at the potlatch were confiscated and sent to the National Museum in Ottawa and some participants were jailed for a time. After many requests by the tribe in later years to have these artefacts returned, the National Museum finally relented and did return them to the Alert Bay community in the 1970s on the condition that a museum be built to allow the public to see them. The Cultural Centre is the result and has a wonderful collection of authentic native dance masks and many other items.
After we visited the cultural centre we looked in on some aboriginal carvers who were in the process of making a cedar casket painted with traditional designs for an aunt who had passed away the day before, and whose funeral would be the next day. One of the carvers was the same person whom we had asked for directions at the ferry and he again told us to go up to see the Big House. We decided to take is advice and walk up there. It was located in the highest part of the village beside the world`s tallest totem pole (which was completed at that moment by a live bald eagle sitting atop it). When we got there we walked in and were immensely impressed by the interior of the building. It is a big square room with a dirt floor in the middle, in the center of which was a fire pit with an active cedar log fire burning. The roof above the fire pit was vented and the sun was shining in through these ‘windows’. The sunlight shone obliquely on one of the `bleachers` to the side of the interior, and illuminated the smoke such that it looked like a beam of light coming down from a First Nations Heaven. The dirt floor was surround by such bleachers on 3 sides and the ‘front side’ was a stage-like area.
We sat down on the bleachers and started to enjoy the hustle and bustle of what was going on. There were people there of all ages. Eventually supper was announced and there was a call for volunteers to serve dinner to the elders, who, following native custom, are the first to be served a meal. Many young people jumped up and started serving the elders before the rest of the crowd got to eat. And yes, Leo and I are now officially Elders as we were served a plate of food as well: smoked salmon, half a crab, potato salad and a ceasar salad. I was served first and Leo is convinced that he was only included because he was accompanying an elder and was not seen as an elder himself, but there are other opinions on that subject. We certainly did not expect to be included in these festivities but we were told by some ‘elders’ that we would be very welcome to take part. We even got a raffle ticket for the door prizes: that is how much we were welcomed as part of their community. We thoroughly enjoyed our Big House visit and I hope you will as well by looking at the pictures Leo took of this event. We finally took the last ferry off the island back to our campground in the town of Port McNeill at 9:00, rather than the planned 5:50 ferry..
We got up on time, took a shower, packed up our tent trailer, and moved southeastwardly along the coast to the new town (for us) of Port McNeill. The forecast was for cloudy weather all day but by the time we were set up at the new campground and ready to do things the weather had changed and the sun was shining again. We planned to take the 2:20 pm ferry to the aboriginal community of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island and the 5:50 pm ferry back. Well things did not work out that way at all. When we got off the ferry we asked a local where we could find the Native Cultural Centre (the museum). He directed us to it but also mentioned we should go and visit the “Big House” as there was a youth conference going on there and it would be open because of it. Normally the Big House is not open for public viewing.
The Cultural Centre was very interesting. One of the greatest traditional social events for the Kwaguitl tribes of this area was the “potlatch” in which a family would host a week-long celebration and during that time give away immense wealth to their tribemates, thereby leaving themselves impoverished but having gained tremendous social status in the community. The missionaries despised these events because they kept native beliefs alive as well, and kept many aboriginals from converting to Christianity. The government was subsequently persuaded to make potlatches illegal as a result. The Alert Bay tribe continued the practice regardless and were subsequently charged with breaking the law. All the items distributed at the potlatch were confiscated and sent to the National Museum in Ottawa and some participants were jailed for a time. After many requests by the tribe in later years to have these artefacts returned, the National Museum finally relented and did return them to the Alert Bay community in the 1970s on the condition that a museum be built to allow the public to see them. The Cultural Centre is the result and has a wonderful collection of authentic native dance masks and many other items.
After we visited the cultural centre we looked in on some aboriginal carvers who were in the process of making a cedar casket painted with traditional designs for an aunt who had passed away the day before, and whose funeral would be the next day. One of the carvers was the same person whom we had asked for directions at the ferry and he again told us to go up to see the Big House. We decided to take is advice and walk up there. It was located in the highest part of the village beside the world`s tallest totem pole (which was completed at that moment by a live bald eagle sitting atop it). When we got there we walked in and were immensely impressed by the interior of the building. It is a big square room with a dirt floor in the middle, in the center of which was a fire pit with an active cedar log fire burning. The roof above the fire pit was vented and the sun was shining in through these ‘windows’. The sunlight shone obliquely on one of the `bleachers` to the side of the interior, and illuminated the smoke such that it looked like a beam of light coming down from a First Nations Heaven. The dirt floor was surround by such bleachers on 3 sides and the ‘front side’ was a stage-like area.
We sat down on the bleachers and started to enjoy the hustle and bustle of what was going on. There were people there of all ages. Eventually supper was announced and there was a call for volunteers to serve dinner to the elders, who, following native custom, are the first to be served a meal. Many young people jumped up and started serving the elders before the rest of the crowd got to eat. And yes, Leo and I are now officially Elders as we were served a plate of food as well: smoked salmon, half a crab, potato salad and a ceasar salad. I was served first and Leo is convinced that he was only included because he was accompanying an elder and was not seen as an elder himself, but there are other opinions on that subject. We certainly did not expect to be included in these festivities but we were told by some ‘elders’ that we would be very welcome to take part. We even got a raffle ticket for the door prizes: that is how much we were welcomed as part of their community. We thoroughly enjoyed our Big House visit and I hope you will as well by looking at the pictures Leo took of this event. We finally took the last ferry off the island back to our campground in the town of Port McNeill at 9:00, rather than the planned 5:50 ferry..
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Second posting of our trip
Sunday May 24, 2009
Today we took a trip to Victoria: first to see how long it would take us to get there from our campsite as we were planning to go on a train trip to Courtenay which left Victoria at 8 am. during a succeeding day. Secondly, we went to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum. Lucille (our TomTom GPS) took us directly to the train station located downtown but it was closed and would not open again until the next morning 7 am. Hence, we were not able to ask questions or book our trip as we had hoped. (But we did book our trip online in the evening to make sure we did get a seat on the train). We then went for our planned trip to the museum, which is very nice but also very expensive in my opinion.
We left the museum around 3:30 pm and now had to kill some time as Leo wanted to wait for the train to return so he could take some pictures of it. Our planned outing on it is a 10 hour round trip and we figured the train would arrive around 6 pm. Not so. On Sunday’s it leaves at 10 in the morning and comes back at 8 in the evening. So we had more time to kill. We decided to have our supper, one of Mexican food (in a restaurant which had not even burned down!). After we finished and walked around a bit we still had to wait for at least an hour before the train arrived. We killed some further time checking out a miniatures store close by which had fantastic doll houses and all the accessories one might possibly wish for one. A picture of this is to be found elsewhere in our blog.
Finally the train arrived: a 2 car passenger set and that was all. Leo got to take his pictures and back we went to our trailer and almost straight to bed.
Monday May 25 to Friday May 29, 2009
Today we packed up and moved to one of our favourite campgrounds on the Island - French Beach Provincial Park. But first we stopped and did some grocery shopping in the town of Sooke. Leo drove around the campground at least 3 times to find the ‘perfect’ spot to camp. And he did, in a very private spot with lots of afternoon sun. French Beach is a campground with very tall trees and most camp spots do not see much sun shine at all so this was a decided bonus. After we set up the trailer we had a nice walk on the beach and I almost fell asleep sitting on a log it was so nice. There was wind but when one was sheltered from it the sun was hot. It was a nice start to our stay at the almost empty campground. Its emptiness now was in stark contrast to its being fully occupied on the preceding Friday when we had first tried to get a spot in it.
Tuesday started out with rain so we stayed at the trailer and did some catching up on our reading. By afternoon the sun came out and again we took a stroll along the beach. I got a free ‘hot rock’ treatment by finding a sheltered spot on the rocks to rest on. It was another perfect day.
Wednesday we visited some old favourite locations like Jordan River and Port Renfrew. Things here have changed from when we were here last 20+ years ago. The only service station past Sooke at Jordan River had closed and so had the snackbar we ate at many times with the kids. The road to Port Renfrew is now totally paved and the town is growing, with lots of new development in evidence. We were going to go to China Beach but had a quick look to see if we could go to Botanical Beach instead. They had improved the trail (and trail markers) tremendously so we decided to try it. It was a very nice walk and Botanical Beach was still as pristine as we left it those 20 some years ago. Unfortunately it was high tide so Leo did not get too many pictures. Next we drove to China Beach campground, which is a brand new campground and also to the start of the Juan de Fuca Marine trail which is a 47 km trail along the coast to Port Renfrew. It is similar to the West Coast trail but you do not have to book your time here as yet.
Then it was back to our trailer we went, where we had a nice fire and went to bed early, as the next day we had to get up early to take our train ride to Courtenay, BC, with the train leaving at 8 am.
Thursday we got up at 5:30 am to go to Victoria to board our train. Again it was a nice sunny day and we sat on the train ALL day. We got off at Courtenay for a 20 minute stop over. The scenery at times was worth the train ride for sure. We got back to Victoria around 6 pm and drove home for supper. The next morning we would be moving on again.
Friday May 29 to Wednesday June 3, 2009
Friday - Today was our day to move on to the Comox area. The first part of the trip was very stressful with all the traffic around Victoria and Nanaimo: certainly not a pleasant drive. After Parksville the traffic started to thin out and slow down. and the trip became much more pleasant. The Victoria area is not one I would want to retire to, for sure. We stopped at the Courtenay information Centre to ask about campgrounds. Past Parksville there are not too many Provincial Park campsites any more, but they directed us to a very nice private campsite. It was very open with only 5 or so spots taken. We had our pick again for the perfect spot. By this time the day temperature had shot up to 27 degrees so it started to get hot here. After we set up our trailer we did some grocery shopping again and had a nice quiet meal at the trailer.
Saturday - The lady at the visitor centre told us we ought to go to the Farmer’s Market in the morning. So we did, and came home with Klaas, a 20 cm tall blue spruce tree grown from seed, with Tiny and Tim, 2 Tiny Tim tomato plants, and with 2 more small plants for in my garden at home. I know! How stupid can we get when we have 4 more weeks of vacation time left? In the afternoon we went for a very nice bike ride around Courtenay and back to Super Store to buy a roasted chicken for supper.
Sunday - We did not do much in the morning. Well actually we did not do much all day, as Leo was reading a book and had to finish it: Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens. This was a first for me to see Leo not being able to put down his book, and besides that it was a first for me to see Leo read a fiction type book. But he did finish it that afternoon and we again went for a bike ride to Goose Spit Regional Park: a park where people go for picnics, campfires and just walks along the beach.
Monday - Today we took the bus to the nearby town of Cumberland and rode our bikes back. I won’t go into much detail, which your imagination is free to fill in as you may like, but I got home before Leo and had to call him on the cell phone to let him know I was home already. I do have to mention the fantastic local transportation system they have here. They have buses going to all small surrounding towns on a regular schedule. All the buses have bike racks up front for 2 bikes so if it gets too hilly you can hop the bus and ride back. I am most impressed with the system! While we were out on our bike trip the campground filled with a group of cyclists for a ‘hub and spoke’ event. This is were daily biking tours are planned for the participants to different locations within the area, but each day’s trip originates at the same spot, namely our campground. This group was for those 55 years and over, with many of them into their 70s and still sleeping in tents.
Tuesday - We had heard from participants from the cycling group that there would be a trip going to Denman and Hornby Islands with at total distance cycled of about 92 km. This would be riding from the campground and back. To do this tour you did have to take 2 ferries so we decided to drive to the first ferry, and cut of 22 km both ways from our trip. Well the ferry ride was fine but for some reason they forgot to flatten the islands before I came so we had to tackle quite a hill coming off the first ferry and also going across the island to the next ferry. I admit I had to walk up some of the hills as they were just too much for me to bike up. But we did do the tour: first Denman Island and then Hornby Island. It was a very nice day but I had a very sore behind by the time we got back to our trailer. Leo did yeoman duty each night after out cycling trips in massaging it, however. Wednesday was going to be a REST day.
Wednesday June 3 to Saturday June 6, 2009
It was time to pack up again and go on close to the tip of Vancouver Island, the town of Port Hardy. Yes the good road stops in Port Hardy. From here on you either travel by boat or swim. Driving to Port Hardy was a total different experience. We took a very scenic route, highway 19A, to Campbell River and from there on there is only one road to Port Hardy. It is a very quiet road with only trees on either side: no houses, no signs, no side roads, no nothing. Some logging roads are be found at times but that is all. We did enjoy the drive very much though and just loved the ruggedness of the area. When we got to Port Hardy we visited the Visitor Centre and were served by a lady raised in High River. It is amazing how many people you meet here who have lived in Alberta and moved here, all of them swearing they will never go back again. We checked out some campsites and ended up at the Quatse River campsite: a very nice campground with the basic rule - no food of any kind out in the open due to the generous presence of black bears in the area. We even had to dump our sink waste water in the sewer dump. The campground is associated with a fish hatchery and when we toured it we were told that in the fall the salmon swim back up the river to spawn and the bears also come and fish for them. This means for us that we will have to come back in the fall sometime and watch the salmon and the bears feasting on them. Apparently the preceding September there were a group of 7 bears which were eating salmon in this fashion right beside our camp spot. After we set up our trailer and had a bite to eat we went to Coal Harbour and saw our first black bear: right along the road eating some horsetail plants. We stopped with the bear right beside my window, but what Leo called ``some local yokels`` drove by, honked their horn, and the bear took off before we had a chance to take any pictures. But it was our first sighting of many to come.
Thursday - We tried to go the Cape Scott Park which is supposed to be just beautiful, and in which there is a wheelchair accessible trail to the beach. To get there you have to take a logging road and before we left we talked to the campground manager who warned us that we have to make sure we have a spare tire and also that ``tire stuff`` you can spray into your tire to fix a flat if needed. We said we would give it a try anyway and that we could always turn back if the road became too rough. The road started off fine but after a while we ended up on pieces of very coarse rock with sharp edges, such that we decided to turn around. We were not even half way there. And they advertise a wheelchair accessible trail at the end? Go figure! Instead we went to town and strolled along the harbour and beach. After supper we went to Storey Beach to watch the sunset and had another nice walk along the beach. Leo had some fun photographing a heron which would fly away every time Leo was ready to take his picture. Then it was back to the trailer after a very nice hot sunny day.
Friday - Friday we visited the Fish hatchery and took a long walk in the forest along the Quatse river and the Estuary. Following this we returned to the trailer for a warm lunch and then drove to Port Alice to watch the sun set again. It was a very nice drive on a paved road, and we had another bear sighting again on this trip of course.
You will find images of many of our visit sites in the photo album of this blog, with the link to this accessible in the left column.
Today we took a trip to Victoria: first to see how long it would take us to get there from our campsite as we were planning to go on a train trip to Courtenay which left Victoria at 8 am. during a succeeding day. Secondly, we went to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum. Lucille (our TomTom GPS) took us directly to the train station located downtown but it was closed and would not open again until the next morning 7 am. Hence, we were not able to ask questions or book our trip as we had hoped. (But we did book our trip online in the evening to make sure we did get a seat on the train). We then went for our planned trip to the museum, which is very nice but also very expensive in my opinion.
We left the museum around 3:30 pm and now had to kill some time as Leo wanted to wait for the train to return so he could take some pictures of it. Our planned outing on it is a 10 hour round trip and we figured the train would arrive around 6 pm. Not so. On Sunday’s it leaves at 10 in the morning and comes back at 8 in the evening. So we had more time to kill. We decided to have our supper, one of Mexican food (in a restaurant which had not even burned down!). After we finished and walked around a bit we still had to wait for at least an hour before the train arrived. We killed some further time checking out a miniatures store close by which had fantastic doll houses and all the accessories one might possibly wish for one. A picture of this is to be found elsewhere in our blog.
Finally the train arrived: a 2 car passenger set and that was all. Leo got to take his pictures and back we went to our trailer and almost straight to bed.
Monday May 25 to Friday May 29, 2009
Today we packed up and moved to one of our favourite campgrounds on the Island - French Beach Provincial Park. But first we stopped and did some grocery shopping in the town of Sooke. Leo drove around the campground at least 3 times to find the ‘perfect’ spot to camp. And he did, in a very private spot with lots of afternoon sun. French Beach is a campground with very tall trees and most camp spots do not see much sun shine at all so this was a decided bonus. After we set up the trailer we had a nice walk on the beach and I almost fell asleep sitting on a log it was so nice. There was wind but when one was sheltered from it the sun was hot. It was a nice start to our stay at the almost empty campground. Its emptiness now was in stark contrast to its being fully occupied on the preceding Friday when we had first tried to get a spot in it.
Tuesday started out with rain so we stayed at the trailer and did some catching up on our reading. By afternoon the sun came out and again we took a stroll along the beach. I got a free ‘hot rock’ treatment by finding a sheltered spot on the rocks to rest on. It was another perfect day.
Wednesday we visited some old favourite locations like Jordan River and Port Renfrew. Things here have changed from when we were here last 20+ years ago. The only service station past Sooke at Jordan River had closed and so had the snackbar we ate at many times with the kids. The road to Port Renfrew is now totally paved and the town is growing, with lots of new development in evidence. We were going to go to China Beach but had a quick look to see if we could go to Botanical Beach instead. They had improved the trail (and trail markers) tremendously so we decided to try it. It was a very nice walk and Botanical Beach was still as pristine as we left it those 20 some years ago. Unfortunately it was high tide so Leo did not get too many pictures. Next we drove to China Beach campground, which is a brand new campground and also to the start of the Juan de Fuca Marine trail which is a 47 km trail along the coast to Port Renfrew. It is similar to the West Coast trail but you do not have to book your time here as yet.
Then it was back to our trailer we went, where we had a nice fire and went to bed early, as the next day we had to get up early to take our train ride to Courtenay, BC, with the train leaving at 8 am.
Thursday we got up at 5:30 am to go to Victoria to board our train. Again it was a nice sunny day and we sat on the train ALL day. We got off at Courtenay for a 20 minute stop over. The scenery at times was worth the train ride for sure. We got back to Victoria around 6 pm and drove home for supper. The next morning we would be moving on again.
Friday May 29 to Wednesday June 3, 2009
Friday - Today was our day to move on to the Comox area. The first part of the trip was very stressful with all the traffic around Victoria and Nanaimo: certainly not a pleasant drive. After Parksville the traffic started to thin out and slow down. and the trip became much more pleasant. The Victoria area is not one I would want to retire to, for sure. We stopped at the Courtenay information Centre to ask about campgrounds. Past Parksville there are not too many Provincial Park campsites any more, but they directed us to a very nice private campsite. It was very open with only 5 or so spots taken. We had our pick again for the perfect spot. By this time the day temperature had shot up to 27 degrees so it started to get hot here. After we set up our trailer we did some grocery shopping again and had a nice quiet meal at the trailer.
Saturday - The lady at the visitor centre told us we ought to go to the Farmer’s Market in the morning. So we did, and came home with Klaas, a 20 cm tall blue spruce tree grown from seed, with Tiny and Tim, 2 Tiny Tim tomato plants, and with 2 more small plants for in my garden at home. I know! How stupid can we get when we have 4 more weeks of vacation time left? In the afternoon we went for a very nice bike ride around Courtenay and back to Super Store to buy a roasted chicken for supper.
Sunday - We did not do much in the morning. Well actually we did not do much all day, as Leo was reading a book and had to finish it: Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens. This was a first for me to see Leo not being able to put down his book, and besides that it was a first for me to see Leo read a fiction type book. But he did finish it that afternoon and we again went for a bike ride to Goose Spit Regional Park: a park where people go for picnics, campfires and just walks along the beach.
Monday - Today we took the bus to the nearby town of Cumberland and rode our bikes back. I won’t go into much detail, which your imagination is free to fill in as you may like, but I got home before Leo and had to call him on the cell phone to let him know I was home already. I do have to mention the fantastic local transportation system they have here. They have buses going to all small surrounding towns on a regular schedule. All the buses have bike racks up front for 2 bikes so if it gets too hilly you can hop the bus and ride back. I am most impressed with the system! While we were out on our bike trip the campground filled with a group of cyclists for a ‘hub and spoke’ event. This is were daily biking tours are planned for the participants to different locations within the area, but each day’s trip originates at the same spot, namely our campground. This group was for those 55 years and over, with many of them into their 70s and still sleeping in tents.
Tuesday - We had heard from participants from the cycling group that there would be a trip going to Denman and Hornby Islands with at total distance cycled of about 92 km. This would be riding from the campground and back. To do this tour you did have to take 2 ferries so we decided to drive to the first ferry, and cut of 22 km both ways from our trip. Well the ferry ride was fine but for some reason they forgot to flatten the islands before I came so we had to tackle quite a hill coming off the first ferry and also going across the island to the next ferry. I admit I had to walk up some of the hills as they were just too much for me to bike up. But we did do the tour: first Denman Island and then Hornby Island. It was a very nice day but I had a very sore behind by the time we got back to our trailer. Leo did yeoman duty each night after out cycling trips in massaging it, however. Wednesday was going to be a REST day.
Wednesday June 3 to Saturday June 6, 2009
It was time to pack up again and go on close to the tip of Vancouver Island, the town of Port Hardy. Yes the good road stops in Port Hardy. From here on you either travel by boat or swim. Driving to Port Hardy was a total different experience. We took a very scenic route, highway 19A, to Campbell River and from there on there is only one road to Port Hardy. It is a very quiet road with only trees on either side: no houses, no signs, no side roads, no nothing. Some logging roads are be found at times but that is all. We did enjoy the drive very much though and just loved the ruggedness of the area. When we got to Port Hardy we visited the Visitor Centre and were served by a lady raised in High River. It is amazing how many people you meet here who have lived in Alberta and moved here, all of them swearing they will never go back again. We checked out some campsites and ended up at the Quatse River campsite: a very nice campground with the basic rule - no food of any kind out in the open due to the generous presence of black bears in the area. We even had to dump our sink waste water in the sewer dump. The campground is associated with a fish hatchery and when we toured it we were told that in the fall the salmon swim back up the river to spawn and the bears also come and fish for them. This means for us that we will have to come back in the fall sometime and watch the salmon and the bears feasting on them. Apparently the preceding September there were a group of 7 bears which were eating salmon in this fashion right beside our camp spot. After we set up our trailer and had a bite to eat we went to Coal Harbour and saw our first black bear: right along the road eating some horsetail plants. We stopped with the bear right beside my window, but what Leo called ``some local yokels`` drove by, honked their horn, and the bear took off before we had a chance to take any pictures. But it was our first sighting of many to come.
Thursday - We tried to go the Cape Scott Park which is supposed to be just beautiful, and in which there is a wheelchair accessible trail to the beach. To get there you have to take a logging road and before we left we talked to the campground manager who warned us that we have to make sure we have a spare tire and also that ``tire stuff`` you can spray into your tire to fix a flat if needed. We said we would give it a try anyway and that we could always turn back if the road became too rough. The road started off fine but after a while we ended up on pieces of very coarse rock with sharp edges, such that we decided to turn around. We were not even half way there. And they advertise a wheelchair accessible trail at the end? Go figure! Instead we went to town and strolled along the harbour and beach. After supper we went to Storey Beach to watch the sunset and had another nice walk along the beach. Leo had some fun photographing a heron which would fly away every time Leo was ready to take his picture. Then it was back to the trailer after a very nice hot sunny day.
Friday - Friday we visited the Fish hatchery and took a long walk in the forest along the Quatse river and the Estuary. Following this we returned to the trailer for a warm lunch and then drove to Port Alice to watch the sun set again. It was a very nice drive on a paved road, and we had another bear sighting again on this trip of course.
You will find images of many of our visit sites in the photo album of this blog, with the link to this accessible in the left column.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Finally our first posting!!!
Sunday May 17, 2009
First day of our vacation. Leo decided to leave Calgary that afternoon as the weather forecast called for snow in Calgary and Banff and he wanted to avoid driving through the slush and snow over the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rocky Mountains. We left Calgary at around 5 pm and got as far as Golden, B.C. that evening. No snow was seen falling from the skies as we drove but the mountains were covered with fresh snow all around us.It was a very nice drive out as there was not a lot of traffic on the roads and no stopping for road construction at all. I guess driving on a Sunday on a long weekend has advantages.We were treated to some wildlife as well like a black bear running along the ditch (behind the fence) and lots of elk and some deer. We left Calgary with some trees coming into leaf to no leaf at all on the trees around Banff, to trees with partial leaf again around Golden. So we went from early spring to winter and to a late spring again on our first day of vacation.
Monday May 18, 2009
We left Golden around 10 in the morning and took our time getting to our next destination - Goldpan campground - Leo’s favourite campground along the Thompson river where there are train tracks on both sides of the river and the campground in between. The North side is the CN tracks and the South side the CP tracks, but the tracks are shared by both companies and one is used for all westbound trains and the other one for all eastbounds. We stayed here for 4 nights and to Leo’s delight we arrived to a ‘rail grinder train’ waiting to do some work the next evening. This meant of course that Leo was gone for the evening and early night taking pictures of this spectacular spark-spewing train in action. Wednesday we spend the day in Ashcroft, shopping and reminiscing of the good times we had there a couple of years ago. This time it rained, hailed and snowed while we were there so it was quite different from the 40 degrees Celsius we had there before. Thursday evening Leo went out again to take some more night pictures of trains and did not get back until late again.
Friday May 22, 2009
Today our plan was to get to the Island and depending on the time we arrived decide how far we would go. After a very hectic drive through traffic around Vancouver we arrived at the ferry terminal around 2:30 pm. We were lucky to get onto the 3 pm sailing. The weather was perfect for the crossing and we were treated to a sighting of 3 seals. We arrived at Schwarz Bay around 4:40 pm and went on our way again to our next destination - French Beach campground. Traffic again was pretty hectic from the ferry to Victoria with all the weekend travellers on the road.Lucille (our TomTom) guided us to the campground without any problems but unfortunately the campground was booked full for the weekend. Back we drove to Sooke in the hope we could find a campground for us to stay the weekend. We found a very nice campground in the centre of town with power, water and hot showers (Joanne!).
Saturday May 23, 2009
Another sunny day, although the nights and mornings are pretty cold (5 to 6 degrees). Once the sun starts shining on our trailer it warms up pretty fast inside. We took our time getting started and decided to take a walking tour of Sooke. Things have changed since we were here last, 20 years ago at least we figure. But the bike shop, which was for sale at that time, is still there and Leo was able to buy a mirror for his bike.The Government wharf is now off-limits for fishing of any kind but they built a beautiful walkway and ‘fishing’ area over the “Lagoon” where you can now fish for crab. It certainly brought back old memories seeing people throw out their nets and pulling them in with the hope of a good crab catch. And so they did, big ones and little ones. We also went to a couple of garage sales and I purchased a small cooking pot for $1. (Leo did not buy a single thing!!!) We visited a quilt show and admired many quilts made by local artists. Afterwards we went to the Sooke Potholes, swimming spots in the Sooke River, and back to our trailer for supper. We built a nice fire and enjoyed our evening sitting around the fire reading a book.
First day of our vacation. Leo decided to leave Calgary that afternoon as the weather forecast called for snow in Calgary and Banff and he wanted to avoid driving through the slush and snow over the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rocky Mountains. We left Calgary at around 5 pm and got as far as Golden, B.C. that evening. No snow was seen falling from the skies as we drove but the mountains were covered with fresh snow all around us.It was a very nice drive out as there was not a lot of traffic on the roads and no stopping for road construction at all. I guess driving on a Sunday on a long weekend has advantages.We were treated to some wildlife as well like a black bear running along the ditch (behind the fence) and lots of elk and some deer. We left Calgary with some trees coming into leaf to no leaf at all on the trees around Banff, to trees with partial leaf again around Golden. So we went from early spring to winter and to a late spring again on our first day of vacation.
Monday May 18, 2009
We left Golden around 10 in the morning and took our time getting to our next destination - Goldpan campground - Leo’s favourite campground along the Thompson river where there are train tracks on both sides of the river and the campground in between. The North side is the CN tracks and the South side the CP tracks, but the tracks are shared by both companies and one is used for all westbound trains and the other one for all eastbounds. We stayed here for 4 nights and to Leo’s delight we arrived to a ‘rail grinder train’ waiting to do some work the next evening. This meant of course that Leo was gone for the evening and early night taking pictures of this spectacular spark-spewing train in action. Wednesday we spend the day in Ashcroft, shopping and reminiscing of the good times we had there a couple of years ago. This time it rained, hailed and snowed while we were there so it was quite different from the 40 degrees Celsius we had there before. Thursday evening Leo went out again to take some more night pictures of trains and did not get back until late again.
Friday May 22, 2009
Today our plan was to get to the Island and depending on the time we arrived decide how far we would go. After a very hectic drive through traffic around Vancouver we arrived at the ferry terminal around 2:30 pm. We were lucky to get onto the 3 pm sailing. The weather was perfect for the crossing and we were treated to a sighting of 3 seals. We arrived at Schwarz Bay around 4:40 pm and went on our way again to our next destination - French Beach campground. Traffic again was pretty hectic from the ferry to Victoria with all the weekend travellers on the road.Lucille (our TomTom) guided us to the campground without any problems but unfortunately the campground was booked full for the weekend. Back we drove to Sooke in the hope we could find a campground for us to stay the weekend. We found a very nice campground in the centre of town with power, water and hot showers (Joanne!).
Saturday May 23, 2009
Another sunny day, although the nights and mornings are pretty cold (5 to 6 degrees). Once the sun starts shining on our trailer it warms up pretty fast inside. We took our time getting started and decided to take a walking tour of Sooke. Things have changed since we were here last, 20 years ago at least we figure. But the bike shop, which was for sale at that time, is still there and Leo was able to buy a mirror for his bike.The Government wharf is now off-limits for fishing of any kind but they built a beautiful walkway and ‘fishing’ area over the “Lagoon” where you can now fish for crab. It certainly brought back old memories seeing people throw out their nets and pulling them in with the hope of a good crab catch. And so they did, big ones and little ones. We also went to a couple of garage sales and I purchased a small cooking pot for $1. (Leo did not buy a single thing!!!) We visited a quilt show and admired many quilts made by local artists. Afterwards we went to the Sooke Potholes, swimming spots in the Sooke River, and back to our trailer for supper. We built a nice fire and enjoyed our evening sitting around the fire reading a book.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Yes we did get home
Yes we did arrive home after a fantastic vacation but we never did post that last blog.
Now almost 8 month later we are going on another trip. We will try to post at regular intervals and share with you what we see and experience on our travels to and on Vancouver Island.
Hope you will join us again on our trip this summer.
See you soon!!!
Now almost 8 month later we are going on another trip. We will try to post at regular intervals and share with you what we see and experience on our travels to and on Vancouver Island.
Hope you will join us again on our trip this summer.
See you soon!!!
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