Vancouver Island

Day 1
We didn't get to Vancouver Island on our last visit 5 years ago, so I was so excited to be finally going there. You have to be at the ferry terminal around 45 mins before departure.  If you are there less than 30 mins before departure they can on-sell your ticket, so we made sure we got there in plenty of time. It looks like a lot of cars in the queue, but it is really efficient and very quick to board.

 The ride over was fantastic...like a cruise in itself.  It cost us around $120 to get the 3 of us and the car over to the island, and it took about 1 1/2hrs to get there.  The weather was beautiful and the scenery was delightful...islands and bays, mountains, blue skies and calm blue water.

We got to Victoria, all ready to disembark, when of course, the car lane we were in had a truck that wouldn't' start, so we ended up being the last car off the ferry.  Jen had mentioned to me a visit to Butchart Gardens was worthwhile, so when we saw the signs heading that way we made a detour.  Turns out our sense of direction is pretty crap and a huge relief for Joshuah, as we didn't find them!  That may have pushed the mother/son and even the husband/wife relationship...looking at gardens!  Maybe another time.
When we were in the hotel in Vancouver we were able to locate some accommodation on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  It was in a pretty isolated area called Jordan River, so we stocked up on supplies and headed out west. The distance wasn't far, but the roads were narrow and windy, so it took us a few hours. The accommodation was a unit beneath the owners house...Second Creek Guesthouse and was owned by a young couple...Chris and Pasquale.  It overlooked the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and beyond to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.  The Strait is a busy waterway and on a good day you could see cruise ships and cargo ships frequently passing by.  Most afternnons, a fog comes in and the view started off looking like this...

 then this...

and finally, this....

Overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Day 2
Chris (the owner), offered to take Joshuah and Stuart 10kms up the road to a track where they could walk back to our car (10kms away).  He even walked about 1km to the start of the track with them which was really nice. The walk was along the beach and up and down hills, through rainforest country...

 Stu made a quick video of their walk for your viewing pleasure...click on the link below
Stu and Josh...Jaun de Fuca day hike
 When they got back, Chris offered to take us to his 'mining claim' area.  It is up a mountain on a gravel road, in the back blocks, in bear country, wolf country, cougar country and I'm sure Sasquatch country too, about 12kms from his house.  We jumped in his car and were heading up the steep gravel road, when Chris noticed a chainsaw in the bushes.  Apparently people come up and collect firewood illegally and this chainsaw must have bounced off the back of a truck! So he threw it into the back of his car, and kept driving, until we were stopped by a fallen tree across the road.  So what does he do...gets the chainsaw started (fortunately it still had fuel in it) and cuts the tree up so we can keep driving!
After we'd been to his claim site we started to head back down the mountain.  By this time is was around 7pm on a Sunday night,  still very light and we had not seen another vehicle for the entire time we had been up there.  Chris pulled over for us to take a photo when he realised he had a flat tyre. This guy is a wealth of knowledge about his local area.  He used to be a Park Ranger in the area and knew everything about the flora and fauna.  So when we got the flat I wasn't at all worried, even though we were a long way from anywhere and it was 7pm on a Sunday night!!! He had only recently had the tyres changed from winter to summer tyres and when he got the wheel brace out (I have learnt that term since we got our flat in Canada!!) they had put different sized nuts on, so the wheel brace didn't fit them all.
Chris wasn't worried....he said someone would come along soon to assist us...Stu and I looked at each other as if to say "Yeah, right...7pm on a Sunday night, up a remote mountain track....noone will come along...we're going to be eaten by bears and cougars!".  Within 30 seconds of the words coming out of Chris's mouth we hear a vehicle.  It stops for us and would you believe it...it is a TOOL TRUCK!!!!  And it had one of those air hose thingy's that tyre shop people use to take the wheel nuts off with...AND within 1 minute of pulling over he had taken the old tyre off and put the spare on!  Bloody unbelievable!

Chris reminded me so much of David Nich.  He looked like him, had the same mannerisms as him and his interest in all things wildlife reminded me of David.  It was really nice.  Anyway, we made it back to the house, and all was well.
Day 3
We left the accommodation and drove to Port Renfrew,

 where we did a 2.5km loop walk, through gorgeous lush forests and down to Botanical Beach...including Botany Bay.

I got chatting to people as I do and met a couple from Saskatchewan, who were friends with a lady from Boyup Brook, who now lives in Bunbury, and is a lecturer at ECU to student teachers!
The drive across to Nanaimo was lovely...again there were lakes and mountains, huge forests.....

This Harris Creek Sitka Spruce tree was just off the side of the road.  It reminded me so much of the Faraway Tree...and I could imagine Silky, Moonface,  Saucepan Man (to name a few) living off the branches that stuck out of it. I was half expecting a big tub of Dame Washalot's water to come down on me...so that's why I made Stu stand there!!

We had a bit of a laugh though as Joshuah always tells us about the countryside he is seeing, which reminds him of Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto...usually places where he has single handedly killed a grizzly, taken out a cougar etc etc (these are X Box games), so the comparison between the Faraway Tree and Red Dead Redemption was significant .

Before we knew it were in Nanaimo, Vancouver Isl., BC, Canada.

It is about the size of Bunbury and is nestled on the bay, overlooking small islands.  We found Jen and Ric's place easily and were welcomed into their lovely exchange house, a big, bright, comfortable home with plenty of room for us all to stay.  Jesslyn, their daughter was there as well and they had only just put their 2 boys back on the plane to WA.  As usual, it was like we had only seen them yesterday and we slotted straight back in to loads of laughs, drinks and storytelling!

Day 4
We spent the morning relaxing at the house..blogging, organising accommodation...the usual...it's a nice place to spend time.....before agreeing we ought to do something!  I had spoken with Margaret a couple of nights before and had mentioned we were going to Nanaimo, and that she probably hadn't heard of it.  Turns out she had.  A long time friend of hers..Robin.... lives there and works at Walmart, so I asked Jen to take me there and I went and met Robin.  Apparently I look a bit like "Twinkles" (Margaret)...aren't you lucky Twinkles!!

 We went and picked up all the boys to go and see a Sand Sculpture competition in Parksville, that Ric had heard about. It was pretty good...

There were volleyball nets set up for beach volleyball that evening, so Stu and Ric took on "the others" for a quick game.  I think there may have been only one rally throughout, but it was entertaining nevertheless.

 We stopped to get some beer and when Ric went to pay, the lady asked him what his name was...he said Warwick, with a silent "w", and never thought anything of it.   Stu and Ric got back to the car and Stu turned to Ric and said...."you don't have a silent W in your name".  Ric said "yes I do...its pronounced Warrick".  "Stu said "but I can see you saying W" and Ric said "no, it's silent".  Stu said "no it's not I can hear you saying it!!!"  I was sitting in the back of the car listening to this absurd conversation relieved that Joshuah was listening as well.  I wasn't making it up!.....Ric of course meant the second 'w' in his name, which Stu didn't even know existed....so from that moment on Ric was known as Arick!!
Truly just another example of some of the absurd conversations that Ric and Stu have with each other, while we listen in disbelief!!
 We spent the evening at Arick's and Jen's having a few beers, playing cards and much loud laughter...it was fab!
Day 5
We caught a small ferry over to Protection Island, just off Nanaimo as the Snowbirds...(the Royal Canadian Air Force's 431 Air Demonstration Squadron) were putting on a charity event and doing a fly over.  It was a warm afternoon as we sat in the sun waiting for the ferry....

eventually getting over to the Island.  It was kind of similar to Windy.....although the houses were grander  and there was power.  There were limited vehicles, and most people walked or drove golf buggy's....

Stu found this sign for Morgan....

before we headed to the water, out on some rocks to watch the Air Show.  It was still warm,  Stu went in for a swim, we watched the Police boat guiding people away from the main waterway and the number of people built up.  We had prime viewing though, on the edge of some rocks jutting out into the water.
And then they came...

 truly spectacular....

 loud, impressive...and at one stage heading straight for us....

it was a fabulous display that had us in awe...

Again, here is a link Stu has made of the Air Show....
Snowbirds, Air Show, Protection Island BC, Canada
We made our way back to Dinghy Dock and enjoyed a meal there..

watching the sun set and catching the ferry back to Nanaimo.  A fabulous day!

Day 6
Jess had booked an evening whale watching cruise out at Telegraph Cove, about a 4 hr drive north from Nanaimo.  We booked a night's accommodation up at Campbell River as the tour didn't finish until 9pm. Jen went into the grocery store and overheard a local saying quite loudly that "locals should have their own checkout as we have to wait too long when there are tourists here!"  Nice. Telegraph Cove is delightful and on our way there...yep..we spotted a bear, crossing the road in front of us and then sitting down next to us to eat berries.....

Another video for you to enjoy that Stu made of our recent bear encounter....very "Attenboroughesque" with the hushed tones. 
Bear at Telegraph Cove....
Could the day get any better?  Yep....our boat tour left at 5.30pm and it seats 49 people.  There were 6 of us in our travelling party, plus 2 Germans and the crew of 3!!  11 of us on the boat...it was like your own personal cruise.  The scenery was stunning. snow capped mountains in the distance, islands...

 This seaweed looks like it comes from the set of Dr Who.....it is a long tentacle with a huge bulbous head...I love it!

 abundant bird-life...

 and then.....the killer whales....(you wanna chup, bru?)

It was magical.....the perfect evening albeit very, very cold!  Then the humpback whales appeared...

Another video Stu put together...look for the Dall's porpoises surfing with the boat...it was fantastic!
Orca's...Telegraph Cove, BC
Stu and I even got to reenact Leo and Kate....not quite as convincingly as they did, but still a bit of fun!

 I love this man!

We watched the sun go down.....

as we headed back to Telegraph Cove, which looks like it is straight off a movie set...

Another fabulous, fabulous day, spent with dear friends...so glad we all got to experience it together...

Day 7
Yabbadabbadababba (Arick and Jen will understand).....we got up the next morning and had brekky overlooking the water, before heading south to Elk Falls....there were dozens of fisherman in the river, up to their chests fishing.....with all the wading gear on.  A bit different to fishing the Kimberley! Stu didn't have the gear, so stripped down to his jocks and jumped in....he said it was "refreshing" but he did have a few problems getting out as it was so slippery...gave us a few laughs though!

 We wanted to get some lunch from a food chain store called Tim Hortons and couldn't believe it when Ric stopped the car next to some bloke and said ""Scuse me, where's Timmy's?" Turns out this guy knew exactly what he was talking about and sent us in the right direction.  Jakeb had said he wanted to have Tim Horton's in Canada...like a rite of passage.  Well he didn't get to, but Jakeb...we did!!

That evening we went around to some friends of Jen and Ric's for drinks, which was really lovely.  They even bought the guitar out which is always a little worrying, but in this case we were sitting amongst band members, with great voices,  so the music was fantastic...even providing us with the lyrics! Thanks to Margi and Greg.
Day 8
Our last morning on Vancouver Island...it was sad to say goodbye, but such a treat to get to know Jesslyn properly...(she had such good stories of when she was growing up!) and to spend more valuable time with Ric and Jen.  They aren't returning to Australia till mid January, so our next catchup will be in Australind!  Hard to believe!

The ferry ride was back to Vancouver as we couldn't get tickets to the US.  The water was like glass.....not many people on the boat and dolphins in the water.  A wonderful way to end our time on Vancouver Island...