Blogs from Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, British Columbia, Canada, North America

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Oh my, what a beautiful breakfast we had delivered this morning. A glass of grapefruit juice; a parfait of chopped fresh strawberries, yoghurt, a rim of fresh blackberries topped with a strawberry; a poached egg with greens and a little tomatoe followed by an orange and pecan warm muffin - all creatively presented on a tray. This lady knows hospitality and presentation. We then continued the Wild Pacific Trail along from where we were yesterday to the 6.5km mark. This trail is appropriately named as the coast is indeed wild. The headlands and bays are solid jagged rocks with waves surging and crashing with the ebb and flow. It is well paved and signposted and in many places they have little viewing platforms to stand on the edge of the cliffs or rocks to view out. ... read more
By the Wild Pacific Trail
Tefino wharf
Wickaninnish  Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park


We were up early for our taxi to the 8.30 ferry across the strait to Little River in the Comox Valley area on Vancouver Island. We had breakfast on the ferry crossing on a dead flat sea from one port to the other. At Little River we had another taxi pick us up from the ferry and take us to the Comox airport to pick up our rental car. We found an unexpected large Airforce Base and Airport. I thought it would be tiny like the Powell River Airport. This one services the Island as well as going to Calgary and Edmonton. After picking up our Hyundai Accent (fairly small) we drove through the towns of Comox and Courtenay to get a feel for the area. What we found were large modern towns, lovely suburbs and ... read more
A wandering family of deer in the street
Amphitrite Lighthouse on the Lighthouse Loop Trail
The rocky headlands on the Lighthouse Loop Trail


Waw, they call it a world-class trek and I have to agree... It is always better when I write a story right after it happened, but even if I have been back for 3 weeks now, I thought I had to share this one anyway. The West Coast Trail, on Vancouver Island, is an amazing adventure. It is something I wanted to do for more than 10 years and I happened to be in Victoria for a course. My friend Angela joined me there and on May 14, after stepping on the scale to find out that our packs weighed over 50 pounds each, we drove to Port Renfrew to start our journey. Before the start, we had to do an orientation session where they tell you about the dangers and challenges of the WCT. Very ... read more
One of the 108 boardwalks
A longer ladder
Ladders at the end of day 1


So today was the Whale Watching boat trip. We spent 3 hours on a boat out in the pacific ocean and saw Californian sea lions; Stellar sea lions; sea otters; various birds but no whales and I found out I am sea sick. The company we went with give guarantee you see whales or you get a free trip to go again. There is no chance I am getting on that boat again but Ian is going to use his ticket either Tuesday pm or Wed am. Th bear watching boat trip is tomorrow and todays's trip saw a mum and two cubs so am hoping we see them too. After today's boat trip we had massages booked at The Sacred Spa. Bit of a spiritual spa and you are asked to write down a message ... read more


After a 3 hour drive through Pacific Rim National Park and 24 hours of travelling we finally got here and it is as amazing as it looks on the website. Our room does have the view I have been showing everyone and THAT balcony is ours. Having a problem adding pictures ATM but will hopefully get that sorted today. Thought we had beaten the jetlag by going to bed at 11pm local time after being up for 34 hours (apart from an hour on the plane and 20 mins on the ferry) but no, wide awake at 345am. Last time I looked at the clock 420am so must have fell asleep but then up at 6am. Took the camera onto the balcony but realised only Ian knows how to use it and he was still snoring. ... read more
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Just finished 5 fantastic days at Savary. No internet there (the island is completely off the grid) so wasn't able to post any updates. The weather started out pretty cold and wet making the water taxi ride over pretty miserable though we saw a few seals swimming along. Things cleared up by day 2 and we spent hours hiking and at the beach. The kids loved the starfish and shells at Mermaid beach and we had fun with Maddy and Taylor. Enjoyed meeting Paul's brother Tim. Open fires are not usually allowed at this time of year but because of all the rain we were able to have a bonfire and make smores. Paul spoiled us with lots of tasty food. There is a huge Eagles nest right above Tim's cottage and it had two eagles ... read more
Tim's pick up on Savary
View from Savary
Savary starfish


I’m back in internet territory after two days camping along Hwy 4 which runs west across Vancouver Island to Pacific Rim National Park. Tomorrow I take the ferry from here, Comox, sweet little seaside town, to Powell River on the mainland. Now I’m exhausted, stinky, ready to take a shower and sleep in a bed for a night. From Nanaimo we headed west on Hwy 4, stopping at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, lovely hiking up and down the river to view the two falls and the deep green water. Then further west to Little Qualicum River Falls PPark, where I had camping reservations. These falls were even more spectacular, more bucolic, more deep green. The campground is spread through deep forest, so well-maintained that it looked like the gravelly dirt had been raked in my ... read more
More Englishman River Falls
Dragon at Englishman River
Little Qualicum Falls


Sooo, sorry, dass ich euch hab so lange warten lassen, aber wie angekuendigt war ich die letzten age in der Wildnis Kanadas...und da war es mir auch nach langem Suchen nicht moeglich nen Internetanschluss zu finden! Aber jetzt bin ich wieder einigermassen in der Zivilisation, naemlich im wunderschoenen Surf-Ort Tofino - immernoch auf Vancouver Island! Ich bin grad inner Bibliothek und kann hier leider aus irgendwelchen Gruenden keine Blder hochladen! Daher muesst ihr euch das betreffend noch nen bisschen gedulden, aber nen bisschen erklaerenden Text gibt es schonmal von mir! Der Westcoast Trail ist bekannt als einer der schoensten aber auch anstrengendsten Wanderwege Kanadas! Also ersteres kann ich durchaus verstehen: Der Weg is so vielfaeltig, mal durch Wald, bergauf, bergab, dann wieder am Strand, ueber Leitersysteme, ueber zahlreiche Bruecken...und manchmal eine Flussueberquerung m... read more
Weg 1
Leiter 1
Baum


We have just completed the West Coast Trail from Bamfield to Port Renfrew. We started by spoting a car in Port Renfrew prior to the hike. Our hiking trip then started on May 17th when we picked up our son Ryan and his partner Michelle at the Long Harbour ferry on Salt Spring. We then drove off the other side of SSI and made our way over some dusty and bumpy logging roads, arriving in Bamfield at 6.00 Saturday nite. We camped in Bamfield and the next morning got shuttled out to the Parks Canada HQ. Parking there is not recommended due to auto-crime issues etc. After a brief orientation and lots of warnings about bears,cougars (animal version) muddy trails, broken ladders, roots etc., we set off at 10.00 am. The first day was about what ... read more
ladder
Tsusiat Falls
camping spot


On Wednesday Danielle and I left in the morning for a town called Tofino, on a peninsula sticking out into the Pacific Ocean. Tofino is on Vancouver Island but still takes 5 hours to get there. The weather wasn't brilliant but we stopped and did a hike on the way to view some large trees. There is lots of snow still about on parts of the drive but hardly any in Tofino. Tofino is a hippie/surfie town, even in winter. It was a lot smaller/less commercialised than we had thought. We stayed in a cottage overlooking the ocean. On the first day we just wandered around the town and found something to eat. On the second day we went on (another) hike in the rain, this time to Long beach. We then drove up the coast ... read more
Danielle in Tofino
Long Beach, Pacific Rim National Park




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