Sunday 7/3/22
We said good bye to AJ and his family in the rain, yes, quite dramatic! Even Bailey (the dog) came out to see us off. They bid us farewell and offered a spot for us if we come back this way. We arrived as strangers and left as friends. Isn’t it amazing to connect with someone on Instagram and can become friends! I just love this kind of heartwarming story, don’t you? I always hesitate when Paul tells me he connected with someone on Instagram and they offered us a place to camp. I guess I watched too many horror movies and always assumed the worst, but so far, two for two, we met two very lovely families who are like minded, love to travels and overlanding like us, and have been the most hospitable hosts. We only hope we can repay their kindness when it’s our turn to host them.
We arrived at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal around noonish, got our ticket, and waited in line to get on the ferry. The fare was about $179CA or $139 US for BAT and two passengers. They were extremely organized to get all the passengers, cars, trucks loaded in a very timely manner. It’s been about 20 years since I’ve taken a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria. The ferry has changed significantly, It’s almost like a small cruise ship with shops, restaurants, etc. It took us about 1.5 hour to arrive at the Swartz Bay terminal on Vancouver Island.
Victoria is drenched in the rain so we drove straight to our campsite, the Fort Victoria RV Park. A great campsite with full hookups and well maintained facilities. We did our laundry and did the internet of things, dinner, website update, and called it a day.
Monday 7/4/22
A truly shitty 4th of July! Keep reading….
Thank goodness the rain stopped today. We got a rental car so we can easily tour Victoria. For a compact size car, we had to pay $115CA/day because of the holidays and the peak of the tourist season.
AJ’s buddy @totalcomposites gave us a few ideas as to places to tour in Victoria. We started off visiting Holland Point Park, water front along the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Salish Sea. The weather was a bit overcast and cold, however, still pleasant to stroll.
Then we drove to the wharf & Government street and walked around the harbor, the parliament building, had a late lunch at the 10 Acres Common, a “Buzzing, industrial-chic venue with a waterfront patio offering eclectic bites & a full bar” as described by restaurant. It was a very nice venue with good food.
Downtown Victoria is truly beautiful, the streets are graced with flowers everywhere we turn, street lamps are adorned with hanging flowers baskets, almost every business venue have flowers in front to greet their customers. Tourists are busy taking pictures at every turn.
After lunch we strolled around the shopping area on Douglas Street, where shops and restaurants are the main attraction for tourists to rummage for souvenirs. As I was about to cross the street onto another block of shops, I felt a heavy rain pouring on me which I thought was hail for about 10 seconds. When it stopped, I asked Paul: “what was that?” Paul gasped in disbelief as he looked at me drenched in seagulls’ shit! When I finally realized what he just said, I was completely speechless and went into panic mode as I can now see I’m covered in shits from head to toes, including my face. I asked Paul to grab my water bottle from my backpack so I can wash my face on the sidewalk so I can see better. Then we rushed into a restaurant nearby to wash up. It is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever encountered in my life. I told Paul we needed to get back to the camp site so I can shower and launder my clothes. I had to breathe through my mouth all the way home so I don’t gag and vomit from the odor. Well, that incident completely destroyed a beautiful day in Victoria for me. So you see, I did have a very shitty 4th of July this year! 😮💨😔😪😫
Tuesday 7/5/22
We are blessed with sunny and warm weather today, perfect day to visit the Butchart Garden. The Butchart Gardens is a 118 year-old internationally-renowned 55 acre display garden created by Jennie Butchart. Excerpts from the Garden’s pamphlet: “The gardens, through the skillful mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees, and flowers, often collected by the Butcharts during their extensive world travels, and continually expanded over years to become the world famous garden today. The garden is visited by close to a million visitors annually. “
The garden is overwhelmingly beautiful with exotic flowers on every path. We made a turn into the Sunken Garden, and behold, it was a tapestry of well manicure trees, plants, shrubs, flowers all in a vibrant and harmonious scheme. It’s one of those sight where you just wanna pause, breathe, and take it all in. Other visitors had the same reaction as we did.
We strolled through the Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Star Pond, Italian Garden, and Mediterranean Garden in the warm sunlight, a refreshing change from the past two gloomy and rainy days. All the flowers are dancing and showing off their vibrancy in the sunlight. Not a single visitor can pass through a section without taking pictures. If you want to melt away your stress, this is the place to be!
We left the garden around 4ish and decided to look for other highlights in Victoria. The Beacon Hill Park made it to the top 10 on Trip Advisor so we decided to check it out. Unfortunately, after visiting the Butchart garden, the Beacon Hill Park was a bit underwhelming. It is a very serene park, but can’t compare to the Gardens.
Tomorrow, we will be leaving Victoria to discover other territories on the Vancouver Island.
Wednesday 7/6/22
We’re taking the scenic route today, passing though Sooke, and stopped by the Sheringham Point Lighthouse. Marker at trailhead of the lighthouse: “For more than 100 years, Sheringham Point Lighthouse has stood tall above the rocks and reefs of the island coastline, marking the passage into safe harbour at Sooke and Victoria. Its presence has saved countless lives and provided great comfort for generations of mariners and those who make their living from the sea.” It was short hike down the trail, in the mist, with the scent of rain, fresh ocean air, pine trees – all these natural scents combined would make a perfect blend for new perfume. If I was a perfumer, I would name this scent “By the Sea”…
There were several little beaches on this highway, so we decided to just pick one, the China Beach. It was probably about a 20 minutes hike to the beach, full of pebbles, not much sand. The weather was raining on and off, so the beach is a bit overcast. We didn’t stay long. I collected one rock on the beach so I can paint it when I get home. I’m starting a new tradition, collecting shapely rocks/pebbles on my journeys and paint them when I get home to start a new souvenir collection.
We stopped by Renfrew Port – boating ramp for fishing, there wasn’t much happening there so we moved on and made our way to Caycuse campsite by Cowichan lake, beautiful lakeside view for $28 CA/ night.
It was 9:39 pm and there is still light outside with the sun finally setting, leaving a golden streak on the lake. I was tempted to run out to snap a picture, but didn’t want to mess with mosquitos so will just let that scene ingrain in my memory for now.
Thursday 7/7/22
Long day getting lost around Cowichan lake trying to head north on a dirt road that runs for miles and miles that branches off in so many directions. Of course there was no signal to navigate. Paul can see on the map a way to head north without turning around, but the Garmin GPS refused to help us get there. We stopped several vehicles on the road, including a logging truck to ask for directions, but eventually, we turned around and followed the Garmin GPS after several hours circling around the lake. We finally camped at Little Qualicum Falls campground for $23CA/ night.
Friday 7/8/22
Traveled on Hwy 4, we decided to do a short run today after dumping and taking in water. Data signal was quite sporadic on our route. We found a campsite on iOverlander, Elk Creek Recreational site, but the campground is buried in the woods, very bushy and heavy shrubs with a narrow parking space. It would be a challenge to back the truck in so we decided to find a lake view campsite and landed at Kelsey Bay Marina campsite. Luckily they had two cancellations so we were able to get in. We were welcomed by a group of campers hanging out for happy hour around 4:30ish. We opened all the windows, took our chairs out and joined them. They were mostly senior citizens. One couple are local in Campbell Lake but camped here from May through July for fishing. They catch halibuts, prawns, Dungeness crabs, and salmons. They told us within a week there will be salmon run here, which will draw in a lot of fishermen. Interestingly, this is also the inside passage to a lot of cruiseships passing through this inlet during their Alaska voyages. There’s also whales migration through this inlet. What a great hotspot for this little friendly campsite. Not to mention a dramatic snowcap mountain with low clouds hovering at mid range.
I sat next to Charlie, the local fisherman, and chatted with him about all his fishing activities. He excused himself to go back to his campsite, then came back with a sample of smoke salmon for everyone to try. OMG, it is the best smoke salmon I’ve ever had, it was moist and flavorful. They smoke it with Canadian maple syrup, yum. He also handed me a little Ziploc bag of ready to eat steamed Dungeness crab. I’m in heaven! What a wonderful treat and great appetizers: steamed crab and smoked salmon, and a glass of wine, of course! I told Charlie he’s my best friend now. We barely finished enjoying the salmon, and all of the sudden, rain drops started falling…. The camp host said we better pack it up, and within a minute, it was pouring down. We retreated inside the unit and finish enjoying our little appetizer, watching the rain, and the wandering cloud hovering the bay, truly picturesque.
About 9 pm, the sky cleared up, I knew it was time to capture some images of this charming bay as there’s still light outside. I was rewarded with the most amazing sunset.
Saturday 7/9/22
Paul went out for a walk, chatting with the neighbors. He came back and told me Charlie will bring me a crab later, and sure enough, Paul came back with a cooked crab and all I have to do is take the meat out. What a great way to start my day.
Charlie also offered to take us on a hike nearby, he said it’s a flat trail but a little muddy. We’re good for it. The trail is in the woods, and it turns out, Charlie and his wife , Lina, created this trail for others to enjoy. It’s heavily wooded, but then opens up to a wetland with a meadow, tall green grasses and wild flowers.
Lina showed me the salmon berries and huckleberry. I’ve heard of huckleberry before but have never seen one, and now I have. Charlie took us to a spot with trees having burls on them. They look like totem pole in a way, and Charlie explained how they developed. Things in nature that I’ve never heard of, and today I’ve learned a few more.
We got back to Charlie’s truck just when the rain picks up. I brought over a bottle of wine to thank Charlie for his kindness. I asked him about the other islands across the bay if they were habitable? He said “that one over there had about ten houses, and the one to the right has two houses. I almost bought an island myself for $26K, about 30 acres, but it would have been a lot of work to build a house and maintain it, so I decided not to pursue it.” Our conversation continues and Charlie said tomorrow he’s taking another RV neighbor out on his little fishing boat to see the islands around the bay. What a kind soul he is.
We retreated to our truck and relax a bit since it’s raining. When the rain paused about 5pm, we went for a walk to check out the history of the shipwrecks by the harbor. These small naval ships were built in the 40s during WWII but were decommissioned after 3 – 4 years, and now four old rusting hulks are used as a breakwater for the logging bay and the small boat harbor. Amazing!
We walked back to our campsite and found a plate of smoked salmon and other salmon preserved in jars on our doorsteps. Can you believe Charlie has done it again? I ran over to his campsite to thank him . He is so very kind!
Sunday 7/10/22
We packed up and went out to say good-bye to our neighbors, something we have not done at other campsites in the past. We usually camped and leave, but this time, for only two short days, I’ve grown attached to my fellow-campers. There’s something magical about this spot that is so uniquely warming and wonderful. From the scenery to the people, they are just so captivating, making it really hard to say good-bye. We would have lingered a little longer, but found out a new camper has arrived and have been waiting for us for three hours to take our spot. So we bid our final farewell and continue to head north.
We arrived at the Cluxewe Resort in Port McNeil, a very big campground with cabins, and campsites for about 70+ RVs and tents. We got a beach front spot, yeah! After finishing all the chores, laundry, dinner, etc. we wandered outside for a walk to burn off a big meal with pies & ice cream for desserts. We met a very nice couple, Terry and Ray, with their very cool motorcycles and gears who camped nearby. They gave us lots of tips on what and where to go as we trek our way to Tuk. We’ve been so fortunate meeting these wonderful Canadians, so welcoming and helpful.
We continue to wander around the resort and capture some dramatic landscapes adjacent to the campground. The last two days have been so rewarding with exceptional sights and sounds and these pictures seriously do not represent the areas with justice, but for now, they will do to capture the memories of this majestic land and sea.
Endless Trail Expeditions 