Vancouver Island

Here I am again, back to enlighten you all (probably about 5 people including my mum & dad) with this weeks antics. It’s a bit of a lengthy one so buckle up.

After a cheeky little 5 ish hour flight over I arrived in Vancouver. The airport views were something else, landing with panoramic mountains all around was an impressive sight. I hopped in an Uber and headed to Tsawwassen ferry terminal to meet my travel companion.

I’m part of a ‘Girls travel club - Canada’ group on Facebook where you can make friends and go hiking/travel/have beers with other loners. Back in early July a girl called Teri posted about wanting to a do a trip around Vancouver Island in a camper and wanted a partner in crime, well look no further, I signed up.

Having worked with Australians for the best part of the last 4 years you think I’d have become accustomed to their accent but it would seem not. I arrived at the ferry terminal and spotted a lanky girl with 2 rucksacks and a suitcase who turned to greet me with with a rather loud ‘GOODAY MATE’. Christ, I thought, here we go again.

Turns out she’s actually alright and to be fair, that’s pretty lucky. Neither of us had a plan B and considering we’d never met and barely spoken, a 7 day trip together in a campervan could have been a disaster. Teri or Bigfoot as I call her (due to her size 8 shoe, 5’11 frame) is also on a 2 year visa from the Gold Coast, the next 7 days we’re a RIDE.

Day 1 - After making our way across on the ferry (very scenic actually), we hopped in an Uber and headed to pick up the camper. RVezy is like a car hire website but for campers, we’d gone for a wagon called ‘island dream’, a 19ft RAM van converted into a camper. Savio (the bloke who owns it) gave us the run down and within 30 minutes we were on our way. Teri drove first, I assumed as she’d come from driving in Banff she’d be better than me, this was a mistake on my part, kissing kerbs is her forte. I’m not going to bore you with the nitty gritty details and locations of the trip, this is more a highlights reel. We grabbed some groceries and headed to camp for the first night. Would have been nice if someone told us that most campsites are cash only as we found this out the hard way. At 7pm when all 4 shops in town are closed and no ATMs exist, you’re a bit screwed. Luckily Jodie (a lady in her 40s/50s, travelling from Nanaimo with her boyfriend and camping also) offered to front us the cash, gosh people here are lovely. We transferred her online and then settled in for a curry in the van, nobody who knows me will be surprised by that choice. Couver (the name we gave our van, VAN Couver haha) was surprisingly spacious and the first night was a breeze.

Day 2 - It was my turn to take the wheel on Day 2, my first real experience driving in Canada, on what I would describe as the WRONG side of the road. It wasn’t actually that hard and I think I picked it up pretty quick. Sombrio beach was a highlight, even though the weather was misty but the beach looked eerie in a cool way. We located the waterfall nestled upstream into the trees and it was amazing. I’d describe it as more like a canyon (see pics below) and the water was bloody freezing. Mystic beach was next up which had a nice little walk down to the beach but christ it was A) full of bloody kids and B) had an underwhelming drizzle of a waterfall. A man even came and asked us if we had a tampon, not your usual beach exchange. We drove to Jordan River after where we stopped for lunch and I had my first ever egg wrap which I must admit was much tastier than expected, Teri isn’t much of a cook but she boils a great egg. We drove to the east and got some dinner, Teri said her pizza was salty ‘like someone dipped it in the ocean and served it on a plate’, the best description ever. But I welcomed a cold pint. Our camp for the night was a car park and Teri almost shit herself when the man came to check we’d paid and knocked the window of the van. He did look like he’d died and been dug up so I’m not surprised she screamed at the sight of him behind the window.

Day 3 - (I told you this was a long one). The campground was right on little qualicum falls so we had a little walk around those then drove on to Elk Falls. Enroute we stopped in a small town called Coombs where a local market called ‘goats on the roof’ literally as the names states, has goats on its roof. I bought a T-shirt because it would have been rude not to, we both also had one very salty cold sausage roll (would not recommend). By the time we reached Elk Falls the weather was pretty shit and we both looked like drowned rats on the suspension bridge but the views were worth it. There’s only one main road that’s heads to Tofino (the west of the island) and it’s been intermittently closed due to wild fires, we attempted to get over but with no luck we decided to pitch up on the lake at Shaw Naw campground. Another day, another curry dinner, SHOWER (luxury living) and an early night.

Day 4 - We got up bright and early to attempt Route 4 to Tofino, only finding that due to the overnight rain it was closed completely until further notice, BUGGER. There was only one diversion, and it was long. The 1.5 hour journey to Port Alberni was now going to take 5.5 hours!!! I was at the helm and Teri was on DJ duties, the roads were questionable and the once white Couver was definitely more brown by the time we got around the diversion. The roads were ‘logging roads’ muddy and full of gravel, it was a slow bumpy ride. Alas, a pack of Doritos, a coffee, a coke and some sweets later we got within touching distance. We stopped at Sproat Lake, Terri dipped her feet and I called my mum so she knew I was alive (she likes daily updates don’t you mum). By 6pm we arrived in Ucluelet, AKA Ukee or as Teri calls it ‘USLUT’. Another new spot, another cold pint. Finally catching our first proper sunset it was nice to just relax for a few hours. I’d also like to point out at this point that navigation isn’t Teri’s strong point either (she has other qualities just cooking, driving and navigating aren’t amongst them).

Day 5 - The first day we didn’t need to drive for hours, what a result. Sometimes being with Teri was like having an overgrown child who cackles like a witch, she also claims she always listens but never seems to retain anything, probably why people call her dory. That being said, she’s a proper laugh and great company for this trip. An example of all of the above is on a walk we saw a man taking a photo of a banana slug, he gave us the complete run down about these slugs and Teri said after ‘wow he knew a lot’. She’d neglected to see the giant volunteer badge he had on, or the work uniform or even acknowledge that he said he works on the trail. Another day another egg wrap, honestly they have been life changing. My friends will know I’m no fan of bugs and flys but christ, watching Teri scream and almost fall of her chair several times as wasps swirled our drinks at a bar was almost entertaining. If people hadn’t already heard her they bloody did after that ordeals. We made dinner and caught a STUNNING sunset at Long Beach before heading off to park up in a car park and try and get a free night camping (it worked).

Day 6 - The final full day to enjoy Tofino. We fled the car park fairly early to avoid any awkward encounters. Our routine fully set now, Teri having a morning coffee and oats and me having a banana and an OJ. Next up was a little walk to cox bay lookout, I wore my Birkenstocks but took my converse and that was a smart move because the ‘little walk’ was a basically a vertical hike. Teri was ankle deep in mud about 3 times and both of us scrambled up rock edges but the view was more than worth it. In town we both bought postcards and sent them back home along with buying some Tofino merch. Lunch you guessed it, was more egg wraps. Then a trip to the local brewery which luckily had cider and to Teri’s delight, more wasps. More merch purchased here (my bank and my backpack hate me). We even got a parking ticket for ‘facing the wrong way’ but the parking ticket was for $0?! Honestly Canada is a strange old place. Dinner was hyped up as we heard Tacofino was the best spot in town, we queued for about 30 minutes with some questionable characters infront and behind us. The tacos were fairly disappointing and that seems to be the theme with the food on this trip (except for the egg wraps). Back to the free camp spot because we’re stingy buggers and the campsites were full.

Day 7 - Wonderful (absolute hell) 5am alarm to get the van washed and fuelled and drive back down to Victoria. The views of the mountains as we left Tofino with the sunrise were unreal, luckily no diversion this time so we flew down the highway. We officially survived 6 days camping together, my three words to sum up Teri were dopey, loud and funny. Teri’s for me were Genuine, Witty and funny. Pretty good match I’d say. After having a few extra bob deducted for going over on KMs and not quite filling the tank, our trip was done. Teri hiked her entire life belongings up the hill to catch the bus, they had no change but the driver let us ride to the ferry port for free, Canadians are honestly lovely. On the ferry we met Fernando a musician from Mexico who actually ended up giving us a (unwanted) concert for the 1.5 hour journey with some questionable covers, I’m not sure Mumford and Sons will ever be the same again. I also managed to get sunburnt even after a few applications of my SPF30, ‘typical Pom’ as Teri calls me. After a quick bus trip and a short train journey (where Teri repeatedly tried to open a ‘ONLY OPEN IN EMERGENCY’ window) we arrived at the airport, said our goodbyes and parted ways.

I’d highly recommend joining travel groups and meeting strangers, yeah occasionally they’re odd balls and you escape quickly. Other times you spend 7 days in a van with them. Either way it’s all a good story and a fun time. I’ll probably meet Bigfoot for a hike once we’re both settled in our new towns!

So that’s my run down of Vancouver Island. I now eat egg wraps and I still can’t swim.

I’m off to Toronto to pack my stuff up before moving to Alberta. My induction starts in a weeks time and I need to go sort out my drivers licence and get a car! I’ll be glad to see the back of planes for a while, the next flight I take will be my 6th in 6 weeks, I’m a DVT waiting to happen. Get me some compression socks!!!

Addition to my last pet airport saga: Another girl was taking a cat through security at the airport, this time no weird encounters on the plane but she did drop it and I enjoyed watching as security chased it around the airport.

Anyway, Catch you soon.

Em x