RV Trip Vancouver Island 2

Summary of time:
· Duncan
· Provincial Parks
· Port Alberni – Steam Mill and Railway
· Salmon Jumping at Stamp River
· Relaxing at Sproat Lake
· Cathedral Grove

Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Take time to stop and enjoy the places where you are
§ Cash to pay for provincial park campgrounds if no-one is around
§ Check out when there are holiday weekends or peak season, and make sure you get a booking where you want to be.

This weekend was labour weekend, and listening to the local radio, thought we better book into places for the weekend. We went online to try and book into a Provincial Park we had seen, but couldn’t get the nights we wanted, so moving some of the plans around we booked in for Monday and Tuesday, but also found sites for Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday we had an early start, as dad had booked himself a ticket on the train to Duncan, and it would pick him up from the little station at the campsite at 8.15am. Mum saw dad off, but we didn’t get away as quickly as we thought, and we also needed to pick up some shopping on the way. It was fairly straight forward driving up on Highway 1 towards Duncan, up and down hills, with the coast line off to our right, and forests to our left. This is called the “Malahat Drive” which took us up to the Cowichan Region, past Shawnigan Lake whose area has vineyards and produces some of the finest wines and ciders on the Island. We didn’t have time to stop and sample, but it was also only about 10am!
I found that with all this driving on the other side of the road, i have lost my sense of which is left and right. I confused my dad a few times when i was navigating; i started to hold my hands and looked at my first finger and thumb to see which made the L shape!
We arrived a bit late to meet dad off the train at Duncan, so he had gone for a coffee. He arrived to help navigate me into a parking space. Duncan is the commercial centre of the Cowichan Region; the “City of Totems” has some 80 totems of which 40 are in downtown. You can do a walking tour of the totems, grab a map from Tourist Information (but you will also see footprints on the sidewalk (or pavement to us British).
Mum wanted to visit Duncan, as one of her friends in Wales had lived here for many years, and had been a teacher at one of the schools, she had loved the area. Mum and Dad went off to explore downtown and i relaxed, it was drizzling outside on and off. After a while i decided to wander and see the farmers market, but then it poured! On my way back to the RV i met mum and dad.
Soon after we left, and getting a local map from tourist information, we headed off to a bay where we would be able to park up and have lunch. Dad was asleep on his bed, but once we pulled up in a parking area overlooking a lake, he woke up. The weather had brightened and the sun was out, having our lunch we watched the sailing boats out over the other side of the Bay.
We stopped for a short while enjoying the sun, but then we moved on to Cowichan Bay, which is perched over a natural deep sea harbour, where many of the buildings of the village extend out over the water and are supported by pilings.
We then decided to take the back roads to find our camp ground. At one point i was worried that we would have to turn around as we reached a bridge under the railway, which was not as tall as the RV, but a very helpful local, pointed us to a side road that would take us over the railway line, and around to the other side.
We got to our campsite, we had a pitch right by the river, and following the example of our neighbours we had a campfire, even though we had seen and heard many warnings about not having a campfire due to the very dry ground etc. Our neighbour had a hose so we were able to wet the ground around the campfire, but also put it out once we were ready for bed.
There were several families at the camp ground, but it was a peaceful place.
Next day we were on the move again after a lazy start, but first we went to see the school where mum’s friend had taught. The weather was not so nice today, and really it felt like a driving day or a day to hide away. With the clouds and such we didn’t get much of a view. Reading up on the Provincial parks, i found a couple of places that seemed suitable for us to have lunch, i had found them on the map, although not all the roads were shown on the map, but dad followed my directions and we headed to a place where you could walk through the forests, and eat. Having gone a long way down a road we found the tiny car park, no picnic tables, but there was a map with a couple of loops which we could walk. We headed off, and the weather seemed to clear slightly. We did a couple of miles through the woods, before heading back to the RV. It was then instinct and guess work as well as the map to get us back on the road.
We drove into Nanaimo, which is the Island’s second largest city and called “Harbour City”. It is known for its excellent shopping districts and one-of-a-kind boutiques. There are also regular harbour cruises, as well as the ferries over to Horseshoe Bay. Diving is also a speciality of the area, due to the clear waters, abundant marine life and other sites which include wrecks of 3 sunken ships which make Nanaimo’s one of the largest upright artificial reefs in the world. This is also where Highway 1 leaves the Island, so we headed north on Highway 19.
As we got close to Parksville, we decided to find the Provincial Park that was by the beach, to stop for coffee break. The rain had stopped, and the clouds had lifted but it was still cool. Parksville and Qualicum Beach are great for relaxing weekend getaways and family vacations, as there are several waterfront/beachfront resorts. From the beach on a clear day you would see right across to Mainland Canada, and if you were lucky, you might even see Mt Garibaldi (2,678m high).
Having rejuvenated ourselves with a stroll to the beach and a refreshing cup of tea with biscuits, we then headed inland to Coombs, where we would pitch our RV, and be able to hook-up as well as get onto the internet. The showers were a little more promising that the previous site, but the washing machines were not working. There again were several families around, and mum and dad made use of the hot tub by the pool.
Next day we had an appointment to keep, a very important one for dad, so it was up early, and on the road by 8am. We headed west on Highway 4 to Port Alberni, which sits at the tip of a long saltwater channel called the Alberni Inlet, and it is the heart of Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim region. This area is a world renowned sport fishing area, and we arrived around the start of the salmon season, as they return to their roots and lay their eggs. There were several boats out in the harbour for the last day of the salmon competition.
This is not the reason we were here. It was the last day of the season for the 35 minute Steam Train excursion from the historic station to the McLean Mill, for its last day of the season when it shows visitors onto its historic site and demonstrates its STEAM mill engine. It was interesting to ride on the train, waving to the people in the cars, seeing the flag lady all dressed up waving her flags (different costume on the way back down), up to the mill. At the mill station we were met by actors, who took us on a tour of the mill, meeting some of the “people of the mill life” and a singing – dancing play, giving us the story of a Douglas fir tree. We also learnt that we were in a temperate rainforest, and also shown how to know a Douglas fir from a Redwood. Following on from this we were then given a demonstration of the process of getting the lumber from the water, up to the saw mill, and then how the cut it up to the right size pieces. It was interesting to see history at work. We then took the train back down to town, where we had fish and chips for lunch. Being Labour Day weekend, not many places were open, so we headed off to the fish ladder at Stamp River Provincial Park.
Although it is not quite time for the salmon to be spawning, some salmon have started their journey, up the river. We could see the purpose built fish ladder, through which the majority of the fish will go, at the top of which there is a box, for the Fish Authorities (or whatever they are) can monitor and count the fish by type. The fish ladder is actually hidden, although you can see the entrance, and exit points. Some fish still try to go up the natural route, jumping up the small falls. None of the fish i saw jump made it passed the rushing water. Walking downstream you can see the areas, where fish wait to gather their energy before moving on home, or go to recover if they didn’t make it before they try again. Speaking to some locals who were explaining that the area we were looking at would in a couple of weeks be so full that you could almost walk across the fish to the other side. The river was a distance down in the rocks from where we were, but it was fascinating watching them. I even managed to get a couple of photos of the fish in the falls.
Time was getting on so we headed off to our campsite at Sproat Lake Provincial Park. We were booked in so it was a case of pick a pitch, we discovered that the reason the website did not have many more days for booking on the internet was because it was the end of the season, and you didn’t need to book to get a pitch. The staff member who we saw explained that it had been busy over the weekend with a couple of big groups of youngsters who had being drinking quite a bit. We arrived to a peaceful site, with a few other guests. There was decent shower facilities, a place to light a fire, and a short walk to the beach. Along the waterfront you could walk for a short distance to some prehistoric petroglyphs – engravings in rock at the water’s edge.
Campfire, dinner outside, a cool drink, no midges, what more could you ask....oh yes, that the wasps would go.
Next day was a really slow day for us all, an opportunity to relax, read, knit......ah the joys of being on holiday...i think this was the first (and only) day we had done this so far.
Not wanting to waste an opportunity we went off late afternoon to see the hatchery where the salmon were heading, but we arrived just as it was closing, so we headed down to Port Alberni, for mum to visit a fabric shop, and to wander around the small Harbour Quay.
But before we could actually do any of these things, as dad turned the key in the ignition (which he had left in from the night before!!!!!) nothing happened. A flat battery, mum got out the instruction manual looking for what to do, i suggested that the campground hosts might be able to help. Dad went off, and mum read the manual and found out that there were 2 batteries, so you could move the aux battery to replace the main as a temporary measure. Mum went off to find dad, who was returning with the host, and tried to get into the wrong RV!! The host showed that there was a button you could press as you turned the key that would give you the spark to start the engine, dad then remembered something about it from the induction video that he had not really paid attention to.
Then back to the campsite, but on our way back dad say the sign for the Flying Tankers, these are the world’s largest water-bomber aircraft that are used for fighting forest fires, so we took a divert, but didn’t find them. As we got back to the campsite, we saw the sign for them off to the right from the road into the campsite!!! As we got down to the Martin Mars site, we realised that it was closed, but one of the aircraft was outside undergoing some repairs.
Another relaxing night for us, with a campfire, marshmallows toasted, and a glass of wine or two (or rum and coke for mum).
Next day dawned a bit cloudy and damp, but with not too slow a start we packed up as we had some driving to do, with a couple of stops on the way. The first stop was the hatchery, which was empty of any stock, they were getting things ready for the following fortnight when then would be letting the fish in. Although there were several fish trying to get in already, someone explained that they had not yet changed colour and therefore not yet ready to spawn, it would be another week or two for that to happen. We had been told that you sometimes saw bears around the lake, but we didn’t.
Our next stop was past the hill out of Port Alberni, a place Cathedral Grove. This grove had many large Redwoods and Douglas Firs. A huge storm 10 years previous had knocked a lot of the trees down; these were still around as part of the forest infrastructure. It was awe inspiring seeing these large trees, whether still standing or fallen.
We then continued along Highway 4 stopping at another Provincial Park whose name suggested there were some waterfalls. We pulled in and had lunch, after which we went for the couple of miles walk that would take us past the upper and lower falls. The upper falls was actually a series of 4 or 5 falls, and even though the water levels seem low were still dramatic.
Our journey then took us to the end of Highway 4 and then north on Highway 19 up to the Comox Valley, which is actually only about half way up Vancouver Island. Courtenay is the commercial centre of the area, with many shops and restaurants. We found our campsite, and there was only 4 other RV’s on site. Dad had decided we would walk into town to a restaurant that was part of a chain that he and mum had been at in Vancouver. The advertisement for the site said it was 5 mins walk from town, this part was not a line, we reached the bottom of town in 5 mins, but dad didn’t really have the directions for where we were going, some helpful locals gave us directions, and looks that implied it was a distance to walk.....half an hour later or so we arrived. Mum commented that she had seen it on the way it but not realised that was where we were heading otherwise she would have suggested driving!
We had a lovely meal, but it was the walk back that was on our minds. It actually took us less time to walk back as we knew the direct route, rather than the meandering way we had got there. It was dark, and a few cars around. The route we took back, meant that we saw a seniors park....toys for seniors to play on....well i wouldn’t actually say they were toys, they were exercise equipment for you to work out on.
Next day we needed to be reasonably conscious of time as we were catching a ferry from Comox back across to the Mainland, to a place called Powell River.