Vancouver Island Part 1

Boarding the ferry at Horseshoe Bay is quick and easy. Cars, trucks, and Verny's all drive onto the ferry on two levels. We only go forward, so the guides don't have much to do except stand around looking important. Offloading is also fast. However, all these cars temporarily block traffic in Nanaimo.

In heavy traffic, we can't get into one of the left lanes, which makes the decision to go south or north for us. Shortly after, we turn towards Port Alberni to cross the island and reach Ucluelet and Tofino. After talking to the helpful lady at the Visitors Center, we drive to Arrowvale Campground (with a Chicken Inn!). For dinner, we head back to the village for a seafood dinner at the 'Clam Bucket'. Real American. On Wednesday morning, we head to Ucluelet, find a nice cafe with WiFi, and work on our bookings for the post-Verny time. The weather gets better around noon, so a walk along the beach in Wikaninnish Bay (Long Beach) is just right. Among the surfers, we go down to the huge sandy beach and watch them.

For Thursday, we choose the 'Lone Cone-Hike'. It goes straight up the mountain, over roots and rocks. The barista at the Shed says he did it last year, it really works the legs, but the view of the many small islands is amazing. We can organize the water taxi for 09:00, and the weather forecast predicts sunshine.

In the morning, the sky is actually blue, 'the perfect day'.

The trail starts muddy, but at the worst spots, the locals have put thick branches and sometimes small logs in the mud, on which you can dance elegantly and almost weightlessly like a ballerina (do you get the picture? Maex and the big backpack dancing?). Then it goes, about 3.5 km, 750 meters more or less straight up the mountain. Apart from being good exercise, the trail is forgettable. The rainforest is very humid, making it slippery and requiring a lot of concentration and strength. There's not much to see, as the trail demands a lot of attention and is deep in the forest all the way to the top. But the view is what it's all about, so we bravely climb this 750-meter obstacle course. Sweating, we cross the fallen logs, sometimes over, sometimes under. We sweat our way up this battle in the rainforest. When we reach the top, we realize that the lookout point on the cliff is covered in a big cloud. We can take a couple of pictures, then it's over. After a short sandwich break in the cool cloud, we start our way back down to the beach. Battleground is kinda accurate, going up and down for nothing sounds familiar.

On the boat ride back, the summit of 'Lone Cone' is in the sun again, damn it! To make up for it, we go to the Shed, have a craft beer, and enjoy the tofu (yeah, I thought so too, but it's really delicious, despite being made of soy). and a burger. Reconciled with the world, or rather with that idiot Lone Cone, we head back to the campground to shower and arrive just in time for the sunset at Portabella Campgrounds.

After this beautiful and exhausting day, we head north. In pouring rain the next morning, we first drive to Ucluelet, where we have a coffee at Zoë's (at least the revenue stays in the family ;-)), then to Port Alberni, and all the way to Port McNeill via Parksville. The overnight stay with a view of the Pacific was wonderful, but the planned short hike doesn't happen as we simply can't find the trailhead. In Port Hardy, we relax by taking a walk through the neighborhoods of this small town.

San Josef at Cape Scott would be a fascinating trip. Sandy beach, Hawaii atmosphere with a view over the Pacific to the horizon. The next landmass would be Japan. Would be, because this trip also falls victim to the rain. It only rains 'once' today, meaning it's continuous and sometimes quite heavy. Our time on the island is limited, and unlike usual, we have a fixed date in Seattle. That leaves us with few options, so we drive south to Campbell River. Since rain is also forecasted for the following day, we book a whale watching trip with Eagle Eye Adventure in Campbell River. We see several orcas, many humpbacks, bald eagles, and sea lions. After lunch in Browns Bay, we can observe the impressive tidal currents (rip tides) in the channels around the islands near Campbell River. The whirlpools are sometimes so strong that our guide doesn't dare to go through. Towards the end of the trip, two humpback whales that were just off to the side suddenly swim towards us. We float on the water without any propulsion. The whales dive under our boat, and their silhouettes are clearly visible underwater. Humpback whales are 12-16 meters long and weigh 25-30 tons. Several times the size of our little boat. After a turn underwater, they reappear behind the boat and swim past us, a magical moment. Fascinated by the show, neither the guide nor the 10 guests say a word. It was so surprising, happened so quickly, and was so close that taking photographs was almost impossible. Humpback whales are seemingly unpredictable. We were much louder when the whales dove away and swam off. Soon, these two will also make their way to Mexico.

Goodbye, see you soon...