Day 9 - Ucluelet to Courtenay

April 16, 2023

Today was a travel day, without any special sights or events. Just a drive from the Pacific side of the island to the east side and the "Strait of Georgia".... at least that's what I thought.

But of course, you can't drive through this magnificent country without being amazed and encountering some natural wonders along the way.

So after checking out of the Black Rock Resort, having a cappuccino and croissant at a small cafe, and taking one last walk on the Pacific Rim, we headed east in our Ford SUV towards Courtenay, about 230km away.

The weather was pretty lousy and it was raining continuously. There was even some snow on the road in the mountain passes. This time Brigitte was driving and she handled the route with confidence 💪🏻.

The drive itself was already an experience. In addition to the huge lakes surrounded by high mountains, with completely uninhabited shores, there were also rushing mountain rivers with greenish-gray, clear water. And since it rained all day yesterday and the snowmelt has now started, about 100 small, medium, and large waterfalls lined our route. What a spectacle 😊.

We then made a little stop at our favorite Walmart 😉 (we had already been there on the way here), where we bought water, fruit, and a very nice wind and rain jacket for me.

Shortly afterwards, we saw a sign by the roadside pointing to the "Little Qualicum Falls" and since we had plenty of time, we turned off, parked our car in the rainforest parking lot, and walked the short distance to the waterfalls. Oh my goodness.... if these are the "Little Falls", I can't wait to see the big falls. And again, it was indescribable what we saw there. Another visual highlight of our trip 🥰.

After a few more kilometers (by the way, they measure distances in kilometers here, not miles), we reached our new abode, the "Kingfisher Oceanside Resort & Spa", a little paradise right by the sea, with a beautifully maintained garden and a great spa area. There, we settled into our lovely Beachside Suite, from whose balcony you can almost spit into the ocean (if you want to 🤣).

For the evening, we had already reserved a table at the restaurant from home, and Brigitta's wish for a "view table" was once again completely fulfilled. Because we enjoyed our not-so-cheap 🤦‍♂️ dinner together with a fantastic view of the "Strait of Georgia".

If this continues like this, I'll run out of adjectives 🤣🤣. Let's see what tomorrow brings. In any case, we want to take it very easy ☺️.