Vancouver Island (Part 2) and 'Bye Bye Verny'

After this huge experience, we drive to Elk Falls Provincial Park. Between the giant trees, we find a beautiful spot right on the Campbell River. In the morning, the sun peeks through Verny's rear window. We quickly get going, Elk Falls and a suspension bridge over the Campbell River are our destination. After the short tour, we drive south to Crofton at Osborne Bay Resort. We are a bit late, the office is closed. We drive to an empty spot with an ocean view and evening sun. While chatting with our neighbor, we learn the codes for the washrooms, showers, and WiFi. After that, we start emptying all our belongings from the snail shell. Everything is meticulously sorted (coming with us to Seattle, staying in Vancouver, being sent home, given away, or thrown away), some things are vacuumed (clothes, sleeping bag, caribou fur), and packed up. The barking of the sea lions accompanies us all evening. The next morning, the sunlight tickles us awake. After the usual routine and paying the mandatory fee, we continue to Victoria, the largest city on the island. We have chosen a small tour around Mount Douglas for the morning, and in the afternoon, we stroll through the streets of Victoria. Small and charming, we like it here. For the night, we want to treat ourselves and go to 'Salish Seaside RV Haven'. In the middle of the city, overlooking the marina and the skyline of Victoria. The registration office says 'no vacancy'. Before we can discuss our options, a young man from the office comes over to us and says that the campground is full, but he has a 'emergency solution' under the trees on the access road to the peninsula where the big RVs are parked. Actually, we want to take a shower and prepare the package with the material we want to send home, not drive around looking for a place to stay for the night. The premium location, of course, costs, and so does the emergency solution. Probably the most expensive spot of the whole trip. The box for the shipment is full to the brim, it weighs quite a bit.

The view from the peninsula is spectacular, in the foreground, a sea otter smacks his lips while devouring the fish he catches during his dives. Changed and refreshed, the evening calls for a worthy ending. The boardwalk to Victoria's harbor is beautiful and Spinnakers Brew Pub treats us to a 'Swiftsure Amber Ale' and a small snack. The fact that we encounter a deer on the way to the pub is the icing on the cake for the lovely evening.

In the middle of the night, we are startled from our well-deserved sleep. Something is crawling directly above our heads on the roof. It scratches and squeaks, branches and berries keep falling from the tree. It's impossible to sleep with all this noise. In pajamas, armed with a headlamp, I catch two raccoons who are using the roof as a platform to remove the tree. It's more comfortable than the balancing act in the branches, after all. The little guys are not shy, completely unimpressed and interested, one of them watches me as I move Verny back a bit. At least it's quiet afterwards.

The next morning, we go to the post office to finish the package issue. A somewhat tedious story. Figuratively 'relieved', we embark on the last stage on Vancouver Island to Nanaimo. Just before the planned campground, we find a truck-compatible car wash and give Verny a thorough cleaning. We are very much on schedule. The next day, we take advantage of the extra time and walk about 5 km to Nanaimo's harbor and take the boat to Protection Island for a light lunch at the floating pub. In the late afternoon, we walk back again. The second to last night in the snail shell. On October 13th, we take the ferry back to Horseshoe Bay. The journey over the Lion's Bridge and through Stanley Park offers completely different perspectives of Vancouver than on the way there. As the only RV far and wide, we drive through the West End and up, behind Queen Elisabeth Park, where Isabel and Heinz warmly welcome us to their house. After the first night in a real bed for a long time, we head to Seattle the next morning - after a sumptuous breakfast with a delicious 'Züpfe' baked by Isabel. At REI, we can actually exchange the backpack we bought in June for a smaller one and some small items, incredibly accommodating! After the last night, we pack the remaining things into our bags a little sentimentally, dump one last time, and speed off to Tukwila Blvd. We hand Verny over to his mechanic at Go North in Seattle without the slightest complaint. We drove a total of 17,259.2 km on asphalt and lots of gravel roads with Verny completely trouble-free (excluding the ferries). An oil change, plenty of gas (about 3,500 liters), occasional washing, that's all he really wanted.

We take a taxi to the starting point of the second part of our journey, a cute former shed that has been converted into a two-story Airbnb.

More on that soon....

 www.spinnakers.com/beer/