Vancouver Island

Canada

August 2006
3 days

Vancouver Island
August 29th to 31st 2006

Sarah Wrote:

Got our nippy little car - Pontiac Wave from Hertz, she's small so good to park a nice blue colour and can do 120 on the up hill - this is actually 120 km ph so not really that fast (just over 70mph) but we love her as we can park her!!!!!!!!!!!! we've nicknamed her Alberta Rose she's put us over budget but she's our baby!!! Canada is an amazing place to drive - every turn is like one of those car racing games!!! - we are watching out for wildlife all the time and can't wait!!!

Got the ferry over to Vancouver Island and headed to the capital - Victoria we are staying in the Ocean Island Backpackers Inn which turns out to have a good atmosphere but plastic matresses so every move is very loud and we are sharing in a room of 6!!! boys snore too much as well (ps SY has a cold here and is snoring as well!!!). Jon the illegal boy that he is has somehow hooked up free internet access when we are supposed to pay!!! Victoria is ok but not really as good as Vancouver.

Long long drive to Tofino but we saw a bear on the way!!! turn up and there is a water shortage and the town is shutting down in 2 nights for tourism to conserve what's left. Check out the photos of the beach at sunset - so beautiful. The guest house is like our own private house and.............we have a fire...............we have to get one at home it's fantastic!!!!!.........go out to see another bear hiding by some bins.......and eat one of the best meals of SYs life - yummy!!!!!!!

Jon Wrote:

Okay Vancouver was great for a week but then we needed to stretch our legs and venture away from the city so we headed to HERTZ to pick up our hire car. Boy should we have booked this from the UK and got free insurance.... insurance is essential and has doubled the fee from $1,000 to circa $2,100 and that's with the nice man waivering the additional driver fee and extra mileage over 4K. Still we can't see British Columbia any other way so hey ho! Now we've got freedom!?!

I haven't driven for over two years so Miss Young takes the wheel whilst I try to keep her on the right (correct) side of the road. She does well and in under an hour we hit the ferry terminal to catch a BC ferry to Vancouver Island, just and hour and half east of Vancouver.

We land on the Island after a smooth and sunny crossing..... we are lucky as its about 27 degrees, 10 degrees more than average for end for August. We drive straight down to the capital, Victoria and check it at the Ocean Islanders Backpackers Hostel where we share a room with four others. Here the bunk beds are metal framed thus creak and squeak with every toss, turn, snore and bad dream so we got disrupted sleep that night.

Earlier that evening we strolled around the harbour and the weather turned cold so we ducked inside an English pub called the &Quot;Sticky Wicket&Quot; where I ate traditional bangers and mash washed down with a local ale. Superb!

Before bed we chilled out in the hostel social area where they played great jazzy chillout choons and people tried to get in the Internet. They receptionist said all computers were down until tomorrow when the IT guy arrives so I cheekily took a look and found out how to give everyone free web access which made me feel like a hero! ha haa!

Bad nights sleep so up and out without even giving thought to a shower ! Scumbags - oh yeah! :O) Victoria was very very average so don't bother!

Before setting off on the 5 hour drive north up the island we try out a family run deli where the food was great but slightly ruined when half a can of cola ended up in my lap! So I limped out and dried off in the sun looking like I’d had too much excitement for one day.

We hit the highway north with Sarah still piloting and me navigating. I was a long days driving and I took over halfway after testing my skills in a large empty car park..... lucky the old girl is automatic as that's one less thing to worry about! Its like driving a dodgem but if you crash people don’t laugh!

We enjoyed great views or lakes, mountains, rivers and trees (You'll here lots about all these things over the next few updates - they're in abundance!) Some of the winding mountain roads took maximum concentration but I loved it thinking I was in some kinda PS2 game trying to score high buy avoiding kamikaze chipmunks and last nights roadkill!

En route we see a glimpse of a large black animal bigger than any dog coming out of the treeline to our right but it senses the car and spins around and retreats to the woods! We both know we've seen our first wild Black Bear! Glad we weren't on foot!
On that note the bear warning literature here says that if you encounter a bear whilst walking, you should talk to the bear calmly and back away slowly! Ok &Quot;nice bear, how are you today? Mind if we just go now!&Quot;

Then the leaflets go on to say that bears can actually run as fast as a race horse, not just an ordinary horse as if that matters! And if attacked you should play dead by lying on your front, legs apart and hands behind your neck. Sounds easy enough when a bear is breathing hot air in your ear! :O)

We arrive in Tofino which is very popular much like Newquay for its long sandy beaches and a haven for surfers. Its actually a small rainforest but would you believe, they've had no rain much like SE London and are closing the town in two days time to all tourists due to a serious lack of water. All hotels, B&Bs and restaurants are being told they must shut. Many couple come here from around the globe for their honeymoons and had their weddings cancelled! It mad big headlines.

We chose a great guesthouse with out own room, bathroom and fire and we were lucky they let us have a shower after missing one this morning. Before that we were told to go watch the sunset on the beach and from our photos you'll see why! We drove in to town for a slap up meal at a posh place called Schooners and with full tummies we headed bag to watch TV in bed! We had poker channel - cool!!! On the way back we got lost and had to U-turn in a gravel parking lot. Sarah spotted something in the trees over by the garbage bins and we swung around and directed the headlights on a creepy looking bear, who wasn't too pleased to be blinded by us.. We immediately locked the doors and drove away... Bear number two!

Next morning we had the best breakfast delivered consisting of home made pastries and a bowl of fruit which set us up for the long drive back to the ferry terminal after a brief walk on the beach. That was it for Vancouver Island and had there not been the water shortage then we could then have chilled out on the beach for a few days but we had to go so next stop - Whistler!

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Previous Message:

Hi Guys

We are currently in Banff and not had much time to get online.

Some bugs with this site so some mentioned they could not see the photos.

Don't use the link from these emails instead go to our site direct at
http://www.netgallery.co.uk/users/spicyapple/World_Tour_2006/

You need the latest flash player to view the site which you can download from
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

Once in click on the location you wish to view (eg London, Vancouver) and then read the text and click Photos there to view.

Will update you on the past week very soon!

J&S x