La Vuelta um die Welt

We work very hard and actually too many hours with Kevin, so he urges us to finally go and experience the island a little bit. Tofino is our destination but as always we start late in the day and therefore it gets dark pretty quick. We decide to stay at the coast and find a place next to the water. Easier said than done. All along the coast are houses and long private properties. We drive very far up the coast, on very dark gravel roads only to realize, that we have a better chance in the little village Qualicum Beach. So finally we drive back there and find a spot where we can have breakfast on the water front the next morning. At Port Alverni we pass the last houses and gas station, but our ... read more

At night we think about what happens next. We got some more money than expected so we think about renting a car for a week and see the Island. BUT it is crazily expensive!! So we end up looking at cars in Craigslist again. We make a trip to Victoria on Wednesday the 9th of September to check some adds. A dealer offers us a 3.600 cad minivan, with not much space but it could do if we get cozy. We decide to buy it, but not today, let us come back tomorrow with the money. Diego checks the net once more and… there it is, a big, nice and cheap GMC Safari from 1992. It is 23 years old, in very good shape though. We get it registered incredibly easy and head back to Cobble ... read more

As already said, many animals live in the farm. The horses are nice to us and enjoy some cuddles and brushing from time to time. The cats wonder around our tent and even sleep in front of it, always begging for attention and tasty bites of our food. The dogs have very different personalities: Oliver, the oldest and biggest dog, and also the only male, is not interested in cuddles and uses to lay down without making any noise. Rosy, a young Puddle girl, always enjoys scratching on her back and barks to any new visitor on the farm. And last but not least the two puppies: Blaze and Tia Maria. Blaze is like a storm, jumping, flying from place to place and calling the attention of everyone. Tia Maria, is less impulsive but equal so ... read more

Kevin lives with his family in a house that he is rebuilding by himself. It is located more or less directly at the beautiful Shawnigan Lake. We are not the only visitors staying with the Kerstens. Nathalie and Nathalie from Germany and Switzerland are also there. They are like us travelling through Canada and met Kevin through the Website Work Away. Kevin makes us feel welcome right away. Natalie from Germany prepares Apple Crumble for dessert and the other Natalie starts preparing dinner. We just join. After some time Karina, Kevins wife, comes home from work and we have great dinner. After dinner we set up our tent next to the pool. The next morning we offer to help Kevin mixing concrete for his pizza oven and the base for a new shower in the basement. ... read more

We want to meet some native Canadian people. So we try to find a host with Couchsurfing. We send a bunch of requests and we get finally accepted by a couple our age. Lizz and Vaughn are very nice people, BUT THEY AREN’T CANADIANS! In fact they are frome Melbourne, Australia. Whatever, at the time we arrive they are even hosting someone else, Lukas from Germany. We all get on very quick and enjoy the time together. On that weekend Lizz and Vaughn take us to a hike to Garibaldi Lake. Fortunatly we don’t know that it is going to be 22 km up and down, because we wouldn’t have made it to the top. But it’s good we did it: the Garibaldi lake is amazing blue, just like in one of those magazine pictures you ... read more