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We caught the car ferry across to Nanaimo where we stayed for 4 nights in a lovely wooded RV park with a view over the harbour. RV parks are often located in places with some of the best views although they work a little differently to what we are used to at home. In New Zealand when you go to a campground you expect the usual washrooms and laundry but also generally cooking facilities and sinks for dishes. Here, because most people own these huge RVs which are fully self contained, you only get washrooms and laundry at the majority of the sites along with a picnic table and a fire pit on which you can build an open fire. This came as a bit of a surpise to us but we have adapted. The water system does not really work on the camper but wouldn't want it for consumption anyway as it is very old and the cleanliness an unknown quantity - however would be good to have running water in the camper for rinsing dishes etc. Generally however the sites have a power hook up and a tap so we are set, dishes can be done in the sink
and we keep a bucket under the van for the run off. Chores follow you everywhere! Our little camper could fit into some of these RVs about 8 times over. We went into a couple as they had a RV show on at the campground when we arrived and they are amazing but I wouldn't want to drive one.
Nanaimo was a lovely little spot. We caught a little tug ferry across to Protection Island one day and had lunch at the Dinghy Dock which is a floating pub. This little island is residential only, the pub is the only place to spend money. The following day we caught a different little tug ferry across to Newcastle Island which is a park and did a great 8km walk around it. There are many trails running off the main round the island trail including one to a eerie lake and you could easily spend the entire day exploring the island (and watching for cougars apparantly). We were treated to a nice hail storm part way round although the weather forecast showed clear skies all day. We also did a great 6km walk through the bush around Westwood Lake which is
really popular especially with runners.
From here we drove down to Victoria - this is a delightful city (only need 10,000 people for a city over here) and is the Capital of British Colombia. We stayed at the Marina RV Park which had a fabulous view over the harbour and also housed quite a few of the floating houses we saw on a DVD at Mum and Dads. The tug ferry service here was hopeless and expensive so we didn't bother with it, instead taking the sea wall walk into town, - about a 45 min stroll. We have enjoyed fantastic weather here and spent an afternoon enjoying a bubbly and beer and a cheese plate at the historic The Empress Fairmont (yes this will be a re-occurring theme) on the waterfront.
On Monday we went to Point Ellice House, an old heritage house which housed the O'Reilly family for 108 years. We enjoyed high tea in the gardens and a humourous audio tour through the house narrated by a Chinese House Boy for the family. We also pottered through Chinatown (they have one everywhere you go) and indulged in the best cup of coffee we've had since
leaving home. Have to say NZ has coffee making down to an art - they are pretty hopeless at it over here.
Yesterday we wandered back into town to take a look at the beautiful old Parliment building (still in use) which was built in the late 1800s. They offered free tours which we took and learnt some of history surrounding it which we thought quite interesting. They offered out the contract for the building as a contest and a young 25 year old from England won it. He had rather exaggerated his experience listing buildings that had been built before his birth although he had been working as an architect in a family business. Dispite his inexperience he did a fantastic job on the building going - except going $300,000 over budget! He also went on to build two more heritage buildings including The Empress Fairmont (around 1920). He moved in high society as part of the elite crowd. However in his early 50s he fell in love with a pianist at The Empress who was only 20. He left his wife for her and they married which caused a great scandal and they ultimately were forced out
of town due to it. He and his new wife sailed back to England but their age difference soon caught up with them. She moved their 17 year old chaffeur into their house as her lover and soon after the two of them bludgeoned the old architect to death with a wooden mallet. His wife blamed her lover and he was sentenced to hang. She killed herself a few days later. The lover did not end up hanging and was eventually released with common opinion being that he had been led astray by an older woman! They had people dressed up in Period costume and they would turn up part way through the tours to add their bits and pieces. We got the guy playing the architect and he told the story well.
There are so many geese over here and as it is spring a whole gaggle of goslings a well. They are very cute and the geese are not too aggressive. We have only been hissed at once! We had a couple of racoons running along the beach in front of us on Newcastle Island and I have nearly stood on two snakes. They are only little
garter snakes and entirely harmless. They come out to sun themselves on the road and rocks and from a distance easily mistaken for twigs and branches. I did a little jig over one snake as I went to put my foot down before realising what it was. Tane thought this immensly amusing.
Today we have driven back up the coast and are staying the night in Parksville. Tomorrow we will drive across the island to the West Coast to Tofino. We have to be back in Vancouver by Tuesday to get ready for our cruise!
The trip across the island to Tofino was a nice drive although the road in places reminded me distinctly of parts of the West Coast of New Zealand, very narrow and winding. Tofino is out on a limb by itself and quite isolated - you have to drive through 30km of forest to get there. It is a pretty little surfing town but it was not a cheap place to stay. Here we booked a day tour up to Hot Springs Cove which can only be accessed by water or air. This included a 1.5 hour boat ride up through the local inlets
which was really nice and gave us a good chance to try and spot some wildlife. We caught sight of LOTS of bald eagles but not much else. On arrival we had a 2km hike through the forest to get to the natural hot springs. We have decided the forests over here are a little creepy as they are mostly silent - not like in NZ where you have lots of song birds making noise. No cougars or bears spotted on our walk! The hot springs are a small set of pools and a hot waterfall by the beach. Luckily we arrived after a big group was leaving so our tour had them to ourselves and it was only us and another family. We enjoyed a relaxing few hours soaking and having lunch then made the trek back to the boat. On the way home, we went back via the coast to try and spot some whales. No luck here but plenty of seals spotted.
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Pip
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Hello to the wanderers...
Love reading about your trip and enjoying the photos, take care and can't wait to read about the cruise. Well I am sure you will find better coffees when you get to Europe!!