Branta canadensis - the Canada Goose

The morning starts gloomy and rainy at Fairy Lake. The Canada Geese don't mind, they are honking incessantly and flying in flocks over the lake. Alright, let's do the same, though without honking, we'll let the gloomy sky remain gloomy, jump into our Ford flying vehicle, and head (with the hilly roads and the right speed it's no problem at all) north. It's about 60 km to Cowichan Lake on a small road. Lake Cowichan is a quaint little place with a café - which we will of course try - small shops, a post office, and a police station. For us, this place will hopefully be much more than that. Here is the goal of the BC Bikerace. On May 29 we want to cross the finish line together. The thought gives us a slight thrill, a thrill of excitement, curiosity, respect, and maybe a little fear, fear that everything will go well and that we will manage the 250 km. Oh let’s do it like the geese, honking and seemingly carefree, we will rock this race, we will fly over the roots of the gigantic redwoods (well, not down on the ground of course), rush down the trails and internally honk with joy. Now back to the facts: Today we bought Voltaren ointment and aspirin, but of course only because it’s much cheaper than in Switzerland. ;) Speaking of today: we had a long day of driving. Since the weather wasn't good, we decided to drive straight through to Tofino. We follow the Trans Canada Highway #1 north over Nanaimo then take route #4 further west. It’s always lightly raining, so we'll visit the sights along the way on the return trip (of course in sunshine). The Pacific Rim National Park extends along the west coast south of Tofino. The Pacific is wild and cold, the coast is rugged, but it’s a prime surf hotspot and we’re right in the middle at the Surf Grove campground. Not our metier, but that doesn’t matter, today we carry the Canada Goose in our hearts and it swims after all. We traveled, um, drove nearly 300 km today, and we only took a few photos. Tomorrow we hope for better weather for a bike tour at the Pacific Rim. Good night... and pssssst Anja you honking duck, it's time to sleep.....