Day 5: From Victoria to Rathtrevor Provincial Park

Day 5

July 17, 2024

We start at 7:45 towards the harbor, hoping to spontaneously get a spot on the 9 AM tour with Eagle Wing. All other providers don’t head out until much later, which would disrupt our entire planned day.
Upon arriving at the harbor, we find a parking spot immediately but realize that Eagle Wing doesn’t have a kiosk here. Bummer, they leave from the other side of the harbor. I didn’t think of that. We sprint to the camper and drive to the specified address - no RV parking at Fisherman's Wharf. Shoot. We park in the residential area opposite, 2 hours are allowed... well, let’s see if we actually stay.

By the way, our son has decided not to join us. He has absolutely no desire to spend 3.5 hours on a boat. Even our persuasion efforts are in vain; he refuses and wants to stay in the RV while we go.

With a heavy heart, we leave the 16-year-old alone. After a brief search, we find the Eagle Wing kiosk. It’s 8:30, the tour starts at 9 AM, and there are still spots available. Hooray!

We don’t get suits, but we receive big jackets. We set sail on the open boat named 'Wildcat'. The weather is fantastic again, blue sky, sunshine, morning temperatures of +17 degrees, and a perfectly calm sea.

The Wildcat has 44 seats; on board, we are 19 guests and 3 Eagle Wing staff who explain everything about the whales and the circumstances during the whale watching.

We take the same route as yesterday, an hour past Vancouver Island toward Swartz Bay, then along a section of the ferry route between the islands. No whales....

After a few radio calls, we race towards Vancouver. We can already see the skyline, and surrounded by huge ships, we stop. Immediately, we see splashes and sprays on the water right in front of us.

And there they are: apparently a family with young ones. They play, jump out of the water, slap their tails, and make strange noises. Unbelievable! Our guide is completely over the moon. He hasn’t seen anything like this in ages; it’s unique!

We watch the whales for quite a while, then we continue. A group of hunting orcas has been spotted. Do I really want to see that?

With mixed feelings, we head back towards Vancouver Island. We encounter the other group as they hunt for a seal. We observe the spectacle for a while, then the 6 orcas move a little further, still searching for the seal, which peeks its head above the water right in front of our boat before calmly diving below. Haha, lucky us. They were probably still young seal hunters.

Over 2 hours have passed, so we briefly head into a passage between the islands to see some seals, and then it’s back to the harbor. Overall, we’ve been out much longer. Our son has passed the time well with his phone, book, and music box in the RV, and we drive directly on. We're heading out of Victoria as several fire trucks and ambulances rush by with lights flashing. Hopefully, nothing serious has happened.....

We head towards Nanaimo, passing Goldstream PP and stopping at the Malahat Skywalk. The temperatures have risen again; the thermometer shows +27 degrees, feeling like +30 degrees in the sun.

We invest €22 each and climb the Skywalk, it’s a cool feature with a cool view (we skip the slide, the waiting line is too long), we grab a pizza from the snack cart on site and then stroll back to the camper. Wow, it’s really hot today!

Actually, we wanted to stop in Chemainus and check out the painted house walls, but we are too tired and just want to get to the campground and shower.

So off to Rathtrevor Provincial Park. We arrive at the campground at 5 PM. The campground is packed; a sign 'Campground full' hangs beneath the park sign. We settle into our pre-reserved site 159, a bit far from the 'action', but nice and green. Now the 'real' Canadian feeling can begin.

Upon arrival, we were told at the park office that there would be a fire ban, but charcoal and gas fires are allowed. You’re not supposed to leave the charcoal unattended... Oh wow. Really!? Okay, we don’t have that anyway. On the way to the site, people are grilling everywhere, and we’re sure there’s wood fires among them. The fire ban seems to not concern anyone here 🧐

We take a walk to the beach; it’s still over 30 degrees warm. Unbelievable!!! At the beach, we had actually wanted to jump into the sea, but the water is at most 20 cm deep and 'pipi warm', estimated at +28 degrees. Yuck, we’d rather not get in there 😅🤣🥵

My husband still dips his feet while our son and I sit in the sun and sweat.

The park is great; we really like it, and we enjoy being 'out of the city' in nature to the fullest.

For the statistics:

Campground: Rathtrevor Provincial Park

€28; Site 159

Distance traveled: 160 km

Distance walked: 10 km

Photos: 311

Weather: sunny, 27 degrees