travel – Page 19 – TRAVEL WORDS

Central Coast

In 2005 we stayed in the Comox Valley, slightly further to the north of Coombs where we stayed on our 2010 journey. It seems fitting to write about it now since I am already describing Vancouver Island. The Valley stretches some 50 km along the eastern side of Vancouver Island from Fanny Bay to Saratoga Beach. It is a collection of rolling mountains, delicate alpine meadows, rushing rivers, pristine lakes, lush forests, fertile farms and more than 40 green parks. It is a perfect base for exploring further afield and easy to get to with its own airport and regular ferry crossings to Powell’s River on the Sunshine Coast which is the way we approached it. Note to self: Remember to write about the Sunshine Coast when I finish with the island.

Looking across to the mainland.

Continue reading Central Coast

Englishman River Falls

Little Qualicum Falls and Englishman River Falls offer well-maintained trails, Rathtrevor Provincial Park offers a 5 km riverside walk and for more intrepid explorers there is a five-hour journey deep below the surface at Horne Lake Caves which includes a seven-storey underground waterfall called the Rain Barrel. For those of us less brave there is Milner Gardens to explore which is rated one of the ten best public gardens in Canada – sadly for me who loves to visit any garden it was only open Thurs – Sun in October. Oh well, another excuse to re-visit the Island. Continue reading Englishman River Falls

Canadian ‘Riviera’

On to Coombs and our next B&B which was very close to the Country Market and its famous goats on the roof– also the best ice cream on the island, but ask for a child’s portion because they are huge! Our comfortable B&B was a smallholding in Coombs which had three gorgeous looking alpacas named Willie, Alonso and Jack. There are often other wildlife visitors to the farm including black bears and deer. Unfortunately we didn’t see a bear, but we did see a visiting stag and several deer that I almost ran over as we drove out one evening to visit Parksville. Continue reading Canadian ‘Riviera’

Cathedral Grove

We didn’t want to leave the Pacific Rim side of the Island and could easily have spent another week here, especially as the weather was being so good to us. There was just enough time to squeeze in a little more after breakfast.

A hike down the Schooner trail was a good wake-up hike as it leads through a lovely mature rainforest with moss-draped trees and a golden light filtering through: the boardwalk with its series of steps and ramps leads to the very scenic Schooner Cove.

This is at the northern end of the very long aptly named Long Beach. By the time we’d walked back to the car our knees had definitely had a thorough work-out and reminded me about it for the rest of the day!

Driving back across the Island towards Coombs we stopped at the famous Cathedral Grove where you can wander around a trail through large Douglas Fir and Red Cedar trees. The trees are massive in MacMillan Park and some are over 800 years old with The Big Tree in Cathedral Grove being 76 m tall (which is 20 m taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and 9 m in diameter. It is an opportunity to see a west coast rainforest, but I must admit walking through forests is not my most favourite thing, although I do seem to do an awful lot of it and I much prefer the ones that lead to a beach!

Hikin’ and Surfin’

Next stop was Combers beach with a trail through a mature Sitka spruce forest to the beach. Near the beach the dramatic effect of the ocean’s salt and winds can be seen on the stunted trees. Beach access can be tricky due to shifting logs on the fringe of the beach, but well worth the effort as we watched flocks of seagulls rise and dive into the shallow streams for fish. As we left the wind rose and the whole beach appeared to move as the sand shimmered and turned into a flowing river. I have never seen anything like it.

Final stop was Radar Hill with panoramic views over Tofino and the Clayoquot Sound and where we saw our first and only beautiful blue Steller’s Jay.

The evening ended at Shelter for a special meal. Started with a glass of prosecco for me and a cocktail containing Manuka honey vodka for OH who had creamy chowder with mussels followed by chicken breast on lentils, green beans and capers. I had an arugula salad with rocket, green leaves, arugula cheese, blue cheese finely diced, caramelised onions, cranberries and pomegranate followed by a rib-eye steak, yams, green beans and a pepper type sauce and a glass of Bulldog Shiraz from Australia.

The restaurant is very informal and has a large popular bar and TV sets. There was a baseball game happening on one set, but the one closest to us was showing a program about a group of surfers on tour in South Africa! How unreal to be sitting in Canada and following this group of lads on their tour from Cape Town and my beloved Muizenberg to Jeffrey’s Bay, St John’s on the Wild Coast and finally Durban, all with fabulous photography of the beaches and surrounding areas – if only it had sound! The O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada surf competition in Chesterman Beach was due to be held over the following weekend – a pity we would be gone by then as I would have loved to have watched it.

A great day and a lovely meal to end it with. Tomorrow we leave this part of the island, but have one last walk to do before finally saying goodbye.