After an uncomfortable Tuesday night (burning legs:) I drove the truck down to Victoria for a couple of days. Stopped at Cathedral Grove to inspect the arboreal spectacularium. (made that one up, don't bother checking the dictionary :) a grove of giant trees. Some very impressive specimens. The Big Tree ( a lot of thought went into that one!) was over 70m tall and 800 years old. Lots of tourists too. About 100 miles later I pulled up at Steve Drane HD dealership, Victoria. The only dealer on the island. It became apparent that that last sentence was very significant. Island prices, captive market and HST tax! Expecting to spend a wedge I was very disappointed: limited choice, high prices as bad as UK, (ie: rain suit I bought in Denver for $200 was C$300), no ... read more

Sadly, on Tuesday this week, Larry & Judy's Labrador Sonny had to be put down. Sonny had been unwell for some time and eventually, after a bad night, was unable to get up. The vet examination confirmed that he was undoubtedly suffering from a large tumour in his abdomen which was causing extensive problems. He was nearly 14 and had had a good life. Didnt want Judy to have to cook so I bought us a Chinese from Quality Foods, huge portions and tasty! Wednesday we drove to Tofino on the Pacific coast. A smal trendy fishing town at the end of the Pacific Rim Highway. We stopped at the famous Long Beach, a UNESCO world heritage site. Picturesque. In Tofino we watched charter boats unloading their catch whilst we ate lunch. I had a very ... read more

I'M settling in to island life now. Quite a bit more relaxed than the mainland. People are extremely friendly and welcoming. The weather has been good, cool starts to the days but warming up by mid morning and fully sunny for the rest of the day. The weekend is predicted to be around 84c. Sproat Lake is about 10km from Port Alberni, an easy drive through the forests. The next lake is Central Lake, a colder, deeper lake than Sproat. We drove there to check out the launch/landing facilities. Along the way we passed a Spruce tree with unusual decorations up to about 30ft off the ground! Daps, flip flops, toys, chairs, anything really. No idea what that was about. At the lake was a Salmon Hatchery. The fish population is being supplemented by these nurserys. ... read more