Vancouver Island B.C. - Day NINE (Moving day)

 We have been expecting bad weather (a gift from our ZOLEO satellite text system).  And this morning was drizzly.  As usual, I crawled out of bed first (still slept till 8:30) and went outside to check the weather (there was a soft rain last night).

Unfortunately, I tried to start the truck (kind of a morning routine with me) and the battery was dead.  Ugh.  Marci (bless her soul) went to the neighbor and asked if they would jump our truck - they were Canadian - so of course they enthusiastically agreed.  In case the dead battery was from more than the dome light or something, we decided to go back to civilization (if Port Hardy can be called that) and move closer towards Nanaimo (where we will catch the ferry Sunday).

NOTE:  “moving days” are actually quite time consuming.  We go gas, dumped our waste water, shopped for a couple of small items, bought post card stamps, and went to the recycling center (by the way, Canadians are SERIOUS about recycling.  They have like ten different bins for different types of glass, plastic, cardboard, etc). By the time we were done with all that, it was 3:00 PM.  




We headed south.

On the way, we decided that Telegraph Cove was a “must see”.  Everyone told us what an amazing place it was.    (And they were right!). We did pass a hike to the wreck of a WWII Canadian bomber (maybe next time) that is also said to be worth a stop!

Telegraph Cove is pretty darn cool.  It is like the excursion center of a cruise ship and a town on the border of a National Park (like West Yellowstone or Estes Park) wrapped into one.  Like all routine towns there are fees to park, fees to launch a boat, fees to take a shower, fees to drink a beer (I guess that is more universal).  But it is quaint, there are TONS of “experiences” (Like whale watching, sea kayaking, and bear sightings), and some cute restaurants and gift shops.  I am glad that we didn’t buy the bear sightings - because we watched a momma and baby near for thirty minutes right under the boardwalk!



After that we headed to another campsite (by the way, most of these are free in Canada if you know where to look!).  We ended up at Twin Lakes (off Highway 19, northwest of Campbell

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day ELEVEN (to Nanaimo for the ferry home)

It is amazing how different sleep is when you know you have to start home from such a relaxing vacation. We also had the first night of hard rain.

But no worries, we woke up and gradually got things packed up and headed for the Nanaimo Ferry at Departure Bay.

Once again, when we got to Nanaimo we had a bunch of chores to do (gift shopping, gas, etc.).  We got all that done and went to our first RV park of this vacation.  It is HUGE but very well maintained and LARGE sites.  It is weird being around people again, and this doesn’t feel like “camping” to us…. We did a quick hike over the cliffs and the tide-marsh then settled into our camper for FIVE HOURS of watching downloads of “ALONE”.  This is one of our favorite new shows and seasons 1,2, and 4 were all filmed just outside Winter Harbor.  I may have a surprise in regards to this later. 

Tomorrow we take the ferry to Horshoe Bay in Vancouver (should have gone to the other one as this is north of the city) and a long drive home.

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day TEN (Total relaxation)

We woke up late (and on this trip, that means 9:30).  I made Quebec (French) toast, bacon, and hash browns (Marci ate Greek Yogurt).  Today is our last day to sit and do nothing (well, read, play games, etc). I put up my hammock - so we are totally prepared.

I believe that there is a great deal you can ascertain about a culture from their graffiti.  It is random, anonymous, and unsolicited.  The author must be concise.  In the case of a pit toilet, the author must also be determined (you have to scratch in the message for permanence).  I figure some message must be bursting from within the defecator’s soul to stop their business long enough to scratch our their tome for future bathroom goers and posterity.  (As I have mentioned previously) In the United States, this is usually some dirty ditty, an opportunity to  rant (f**k Trump or democrats, or an unknown gang rival), or some version of “I was here”.

But not in Canada.

I can now say that I have been in a wide sampling of outhouses.  Most are absolutely graffiti free.  I did mention one with a sweet (VERY Canadian message about keeping things tidy).  But apparently, the Canadian outhouse is also a very important medium to express your undying affection.  In ONE outhouse I found two distinct pledges of unending affection “S+R=❤️” and the more unfortunate “Jimmy Jon + Dareen” (inside a large heart).Unfortunately, “Dareen” (whether just having been spelled incorrectly by her paramour - or because their love didn’t outlast this coat of paint) has been scratched out.  With no explanation.   I am left with many questions - and should I meet Jimmy Jon later in my travels, I will certainly press him for clarification.

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day EIGHT (Are Canadians as nice as they say?)

 You’ve probably heard, “Canadians are nice”.  Well…it’s true.  They really are.  From the clerk at the gas station in Qualicum (who wanted to know if Americans really sold beer at gas stations) to the amazing Bill and Ruby who we easily spent an hour chatting with at Nahwitty Lake.  I even shared a quick example of this with them…

       I was sitting on the outdoor camping toilet and noticed graffiti scratched onto the wall at Stella                  Lake Recreation Area.  There was only one verse in the whole structure.  It read: “If we don’t                      keep Stella  clean, they (sic) start to charge us to camp!”  

In all my fifty-five years of camping, I have never seen such polite graffiti.  In fact, one of may favorite US samples was, “I have shit in Spain, I have shit in France, but before I shit here I’ll shit my pants” (Buena Vista, Colorado circa 1979).

All joking aside, there is a gentle politeness about the people here.  It is refreshing.  They are quiet at night and in the morning.  They are pleasant and engaging.  They give me hope.

A bit more about Bill and Ruby.  He is 83 (she is fifteen years younger).  They started traveling together in the early 1990’s when Bill turned 55.  They spent the winter months (for six years) traipsing across Mexico in an RV.  They have traveled much of the west of the United States and most of Canada.  They have been retired FOR THIRTY YEARS!  Bill has a perpetual smile and is spry and energetic.  Ruby is ready with a story and is chock full of wisdom.  I absolutely meant it when I told Bill he was what I aspired to be in retirement!

(Except I will probably never be Canadian :-) )

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day SEVEN (R&R)

We seek to be alone.  It is the main part of the drive to push so far from civilization.  Past the end of the road.

But this spot is a magnet of sorts.  We have had a myriad of nice folks (Yes, its true.  Canadians are beyond nice) pass through.  A couple of folks stayed the night.  No one stayed more than a day.  I guess its a little comforting that if we got in trouble the wait would only be a few hours.  We also count ourselves blessed that 99% of our time here has been ALONE.

Today I woke up at about 8:30 (it is so easy to sleep here!).  Marci woke up about 9:30 (though she said she had been awake a LONG time - I thought oddly as she exhorted a faint, and polite, snore).  She wasn’t fully out from under the blankets until 10:00.

I started the generator (we use it about 20 min a day - during the morning for coffee and at night for the microwave).  Then I went to pick berries.  There are SO MANY.  I mean 100km worth along the main road.  I got red, yellow, and dark purple berries and added them to the delicious cream of wheat which complimented our morning Starbucks…

The day wiled away.  I spent almost all of it reading Cloud Cuckoo Land while Marci fished (unsuccessfully), worked crossword pushes, and played solitaire.  For the record, she read the book Verity in one day!

All in all it was pure bliss.  There were no worries from our jobs, our family, or daily turmoils.  

Of note: Marci has been enjoying deli meat and cheese, I ordered a huge bag of beef jerky on Amazon, and I have plenty of beer and scotch.  Ahhhhhh…..

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day SIX (solitude)

 The Holberg Road.

A logging road, maintained to keep the lumber coming down to the mills.  Well maintained.  Clear directions.  Do not improvise or vary from instructions.  Lumber Truckers are warned to check in at certain mileposts.  Tourists are an irritant.

The dust from the road covers every leaf, every tree, every exposed inch of everything.  It looks barren - but not (because there are millions of green leaves just below the gray cover of dust).

We came here for solitude.  And we found it. The weekend campers are gone.  The summer vacationers gave up a 100km ago.  This is PAST the end of the road.  And we LOVE IT.

This was what was so intriguing about Vancouver Island, specifically, North Vancouver Island.  

As I ponder about this place and its people, I am reminded of the road leading to the end of the road outside New Orleans.  Out to the lands inhabited by oil workers. Where there are more helipads than you will see in a lifetime elsewhere.  Where you can buy daiquiris in a drive through joint.

This was made for hard men with hard jobs.  In New Orleans they live in the Ocean and pump oil from under floating Derrick wells.  Here they wind way up into the true wilderness to cut tall and straight lumber on a remote island founded to house the headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company (Pacific side) when the US and Canada established a border on the 40th parallel.  

Louisiana was filled with Cajuns and Vancouver with starving Scots.  

We moved our camp (again) as the prime spot opened up (actually - they all did.  We are ALONE).  We have a beautiful (and free) campsite with access to a private beach on an undeveloped lake in the middle of no where.  Past the end of the road…..

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day FIVE (And onto logging roads - further into the wilderness)

 It turned out that Bella shook off what was ailing her and we were able to skip the vet visit.  We had our sights on Nahwitty (SP) Lake.  There is camping and it is within 20 km of where the amazing History Channel Show “ALONE” was filmed (seasons 1,2, &4).  

The road to this gem also goes to Winter Harbor and the amazing Cape Scott Provincial Park.  So, being undaunted, we drove two hours (70+ km) on a logging road to get to the very end of the end.  So cool!  The town of Winter Harbor ain’t much to speak of.  Clearly 80+% of the traffic comes from the sea.  There are many fishing guides, so that must drive the economy.  But I need to describe this little Canadian backwater to you.  There are perhaps, 1/2 mile of road in the whole town.  Two “trailer parks” (not really for the vacationing set if you know what I mean).  A BIG marina with lots of boats, a few 4x4 parked outside the “resort” and a general store.

We parked at the lot near the end of town (its the only lot, you’ll find it).  There was a cheery couple sitting at a plastic table with a bright Canadian Flag umbrella.  They were most cheerful and clearly wanted to chat.  The most pressing topic (at 12:30 in the afternoon) was that the store (owner of the lot we were parked in) didn’t open until 2pm and that the proprietor was NOT FRIENDLY.  They mentioned this several times.  And for a CANADIAN to speak such - we were wary of staying to browse.  After touring the town (six minutes - seven if you check out the docs) we left town.  Glad we came - glad we are leaving!

Note - there is a free campground at the town’s entrance.  It’s nice and it was also empty.

We headed back to our original destination.  Glad to have the serene solitude and gorgeous lake.  [Funny story.We tried four different camp sites before going back to the one we started with.  A luxury (there were only two other campers) and I guess it denotes that we are choosy and willing not to settle.  We will likely spend five days here - so should be fun!

I would also like to mention Cape Scott.  It sounds INCREDIBLE.  We may head up there for a day (remember, we have to almost totally pack up to do this with a truck camper), but it sounds amazing.  There are only tiny roads that get there, and two LONG trails (a weeks worth of backpacking) that traverse the length park at the tip of Vancouver Island.  We are not sure we will go on this trip (dogs are no longer allowed as wolves have become “a problem”).  I like Bella, but what a great story that ending would make….. Just kidding, Marci…

If you are adventurous (and we are giving this some serious thought for the future) there are national (or Provincial Parks)  in the ocean here.  Some are islands, others are just places for kayaking and canoes.  WOW!  

GOOD/BAD/UGLY

GOOD:  We were smart and spent the fifteen minutes it took to get to Port Hardy and fill up with gas.  Thinking about this up here is pretty important.  You can go a LONG way before finding any.

BAD: Winter Harbor is cool, but there are about three things to do.  Not sure if the town store adds a third, but we weren’t willing to find out.

UGLY: Driving almost 300km on a logging road is a boogger.  It is worse when the locals drive 60 kmph like its a highway.  There were several close calls and it is unnerving in a camper that cant stop quickly.

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day FOUR (End of the road)

We slept hard.  Like, REALLY hard.  It was the best night of sleep I’ve had in years.  I woke at about 8:30 and Marci woke at almost 9:00.

Yawn.

We ate Cream of Wheat, enjoyed Starbucks coffee, and packed up slowly.  Our camper is pretty easy to pack and we were ready to leave around 9:30.  We drove west (as the road we are on loops - and it’s cant be WORSE than the 20% grade we slid down getting here).  And it was a great drive.
We hopped onto Canada Highway 19 (the only “highway” on this Island (sorta).  It is well maintained and you can get up to 110km/h at times (don’t get excited - that is like 60 mph).  By the way, Canadians ALL drove faster than this.

We stopped to get gas at “Woss”.  We paid $199.9 per liter (that is more than $5.50 a gallon).  The saving grace is that the exchange rate is good (1.30 Can for every 1 DOLLAR).  So, it was 134.00 for less than a tank of gas.  GULP!  But I bought Molsen Beer, half and half, deodorant, salsa, salmon jerky - you know, the essentials.  And paid $60 without a wink.

Then we looked for a “dump station”.  The Canadians call these, “sani-dumps”.  Because we intend to spend the next seven days in the “bush”, we figured we should go in with empty poo tanks.  This was more of a challenge than we thought it would be.  Finally, we found a Sami-dump in Port McNeil.  We dumped, took photos of the world’s largest “burl” (an odd growth on a tree), and got sundry groceries and lunch (SUBWAY - which, by the way, is the largest fast food chain in America).
Off to Port Hardy and the wilderness!

Not so fast,

Bella has been acting weird today.  Well, she is weird every day, but weird for her.  Lethargic, puffy eyes, uninterested in food.  It is almost as weird as when she got high on marijuana edibles (another story for another time).  When she wouldn’t even sniff at the smoked salmon, we headed to the emergency vet.  They said they couldn’t fit her int heir schedule today and we made an appointment for 9:00 am Sunday.  AHHHHH vacation.

We found a spot on a lake nearby (let’s be honest, there ain’t much competition - we are saw far north as the road goes).  It is still pretty and we are about 45 min from the vet.

GOOD/BAD/UGLY

GOOD: I found liquid Tylenol for Marci (thank God - she was hard on both of us)

BAD: Bella is really sick

UGLY: Can’t get into the vet until tomorrow - so one less day of solitarily vacation….

Vancouver Island B.C. - Day THREE (tranquility)

Our campsite is nestled under a canopy of tall straight timber.  This keeps the camper in shade and makes it easy to sleep late.  I rolled out of bed at about 8:00 and Marci followed a leisurely half an hour later. 

The new generator works like a charm and I quickly had Starbucks coffee, toast, and scrambled eggs. Yummm

As we ate, we poured over our maps and made plans for tomorrow.  Today will be a lot of sittin', readin', drinkin', and relaxin'! 

We found a beautiful little cove on Stella Lake and hiked our folding chairs over to sit a spell.  We listened to Lonesome DOve, swam in the surprisingly warm lake, and generally did next to nothing.  Ahhhhh...

Good / Bad / Ugly

Good: Tranquility

Bad: The weekend is coming and we are told that crowds are coming as well

Ugly: Bella has diarrhea (could be rough traveling tomorrow)