Mystic Beach

24.03.2018 It was once again time for a trip, as the weather was playing along and the sun was shining, we finally decided to explore Mystic Beach. I filled my backpack with water and snacks so we wouldn't starve. Patrick quickly fixed his hair and off we went.

Since we already knew the route, this time we paid more attention to the houses built along the roadside. They were hidden behind many trees, small hills, sometimes with their own beach and definitely with the most breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean and the mountains of Olympic National Park in the USA. How much we would love to own such a house, but we agreed that we prefer to live in Germany - not only because of the working conditions, but also because of our friends and family. So we wished for nature to be in Germany...can't be that hard.

90 minutes later, after countless beautiful houses, we arrived at the parking lot. The many cars indicated that it must be pretty crowded today, as it was vacation time. Yeah. The trail to the beach consisted of a very muddy nature path that led through a densely forested area. At times, we thought we had strayed from the path - but MapsMe reassured us. Luckily, there were more people with us, otherwise it would have been quite creepy - as spring has arrived, the wild animals are probably becoming more active, which does not reduce our fear of encountering them while hiking. But such encounters are apparently very rare, according to the Canadians. There was also a suspension bridge here that crossed a ravine. Strangely enough, in the middle of the forest, there was the old steel cable from the previous bridge. The Canadians apparently don't care much about protecting the environment.

After our 2km (45min) long hike up and down (which felt like an eternity), we finally reached the beach. To our left was the waterfall cascading down to the beach, and to the right was a swing attached to a tree. The beach itself was about 750m long and 20m wide and belongs to the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a 47km long wild hiking trail along the western coast of Vancouver Island. We were lucky because it was low tide and we could walk to the waterfall. During high tide, the waterfall falls into the sea and is therefore not accessible.

The beach was quite crowded, mainly with scouts who were setting up their tents for the night or sitting around the campfire. Mystic Beach is a pretty idyllic place. The best part was the swing, which made us feel like kids again and we would have loved to stay there forever. Unfortunately, we had to leave again after a short time because we had plans to go to a hockey game with a colleague in the evening. So we had to hike back...through mud and forest, over rocks and branches.

Back in Victoria, we decided to grab something to eat before the game - our choice was Indian food. Probably because of our two Indian roommates. Anyway, it was pretty spicy, but very delicious. Strengthened, we made our way to the game to meet Mike, our colleague. Since we had only decided to go to the hockey game the day before, we didn't sit next to Mike and his friend Cody. The stadium was very crowded, as it was a playoff game in the WHL between the Victoria Royals and the Vancouver Giants. So it got pretty intense. On the one hand, there were a lot of goals scored by both teams. On the other hand, there were often fights and hockey sticks flying around. At the beginning, like in the USA, the national anthem was celebrated with great enthusiasm. Since we were naturally skilled at singing the anthem, we immediately made contact with the local creatures. Next to us sat a nice Canadian in his mid-fifties and his Chinese brother-in-law. We talked about hockey, our origins, God and the world, and Bieber. The mascot of the Victoria Capitals was in my eyes a beaver. But apparently it was a groundhog. Well, you learn something new every day. They gave us two towels of the Capitals, which express joy and amazement through wild waving. After three exciting periods, the game was over, the Capitals had won, and we could drive home. We didn't meet Mike and Cody again, but that was okay, as we regularly bump into each other at work. When we arrived home, we fell into bed because the king had to work from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm the next day...