Vancouver Island

After a wonderful time in Vancouver we head of to Vancouver Island to see our friends Deb and Mal and have a bit of a look around the Island. We are again struck by the beauty of the snow capped mountains in Horshoe Bay, we have a lovely trip over on the ferry which takes about 1 1/2 hours and we see some beautiful sights the kids enjoy the trip as well. We arrive into Nanaimo and drive to Deb and Mals I am actually not real well having got a bit of food poisoning from the restaurant the night before so we just have a bit of a rest.

The next day we head to what Canadians call the beach, Qualicum Beach is apparently the Gold Coast of BC which we find funny because when we get there the sea is 500m out yes they have a huge tide and its very shallow for a long time. Anyway nothing can stop these Canadians and they are set up around the puddles left which is pretty funny to see. We walk out to the water which is of course freezing and have a bit of a look around, see some interesting sea life then head back. We have a wonderful dinner with Deb and Mal in their wonderful huge house.

Next day we head to Tofino on the far west coast of the country where people apparently surf, its 29 degrees when we leave the east coast of the island after a long drive over the mountains, again very picturesque we get to Tofino to find its only 20 degrees and a low fog over the ocean. We are a bit disappointed in the beach but I am determined to put my foot in the Pacific Ocean from this far away from Australia. Tofino reminds us of Boomerang beach (much colder of course) but its all about surfing. Vancouver Ialnd is one place on earth that you can snow ski in the morning and then go surfing in the afternoon of course you would need pretty good suits. We find the beach interesting because all along the beaches are huge piles of logs from the logging they do in BC its quite amazing that so many logs end up on the beaches. On the way back we stop at the Cathedral National Park where we go for a walk through 800 yr old trees an absolutely amazing sight its very beautiful.

Next day we head to Victoria (capitol of British Columbia) and catch a ferry to Port Angeles in the US, its about an hour trip and its quite nice.