After watching the wind surfers I drove down to Vancouver. This was on July 18th, so yes, I know I’m really behind at this point. Vancouver was the first major city I had planned to spend any time in on my trip. I had previously either bypassed or driven through OKC, SLC, and Calgary and as I drove into Vancouver, I quickly realized why. Spending time in cities does not mesh well with my MO. There was no where for me to park my car and I had no idea where I was going to find a place to sleep that wasn’t crowded with people.
I drove around a little bit near Stanley Park then drove back out of the downtown to West Vancouver where I was lucky enough to find a small park to sleep in for the night. There was a beach and I was able to enjoy the sunset looking across the Burrard Inlet onto Vancouver.
The next morning my alarm went off at 4:50am to catch the 6:20AM ferry across to Vancouver Island. (If you take the first ferry of the day it is half price). My goal was to get to Ucluelet on the western shores of the island. One of the most written about activities in British Columbia is the Wild Pacific Trail which is a relatively short hike along the rocky ridge shoreline in Ucluelet.
The ferry landed in Nanaimo at 8AM. I ate breakfast there then started the 2.5 hour drive across the island. I stopped at Cathedral Grove, an ancient Douglas Fir and Cedar sanctuary, on my drive. I “jogged” through the sanctuary and pushed on to Ucluelet.
I got to Ucluelet, quickly walked through the trail, grabbed dinner and started driving back across the island. I wanted to stop by Tolfino but that would have been at least another 90mins and by the time I started driving back it was already pushing 7pm.
The trail was very picturesque looking out over rocky bluffs and shore cliffs onto the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t get to see any ocean life that day but “they” say you can see whales if you are lucky. I would recommend this hike to anyone spending a few days on Vancouver Island. This was too much for a day trip. At least it was for me as I usually have to cut most of my days short because I have to find a place to sleep and I generally like to do that before the sun goes down.
The next morning I got the first ferry out. Charged full price this time because apperently having a roof cargo rack prevents you from the discounted rate. I obviously was not charged this on the first leg and was pissed about it not only because I had to pay full price but there was no reason to be up at 5am. I could have got on any ferry. O well. This ferry ride was an experience that I will go into in other post.
This day was too packed. I was rushing myself the whole time because I knew I had another 2.5 hour drive back across the island and had to be up to get the first ferry again the next day. Now, some of you might be saying to yourselves, “If there is anything you have on your side it is, time. No commitments, no plane to catch, nowhere to be at any time. There should be no rushing ever.” While you are correct for the most part and I try not to tightly schedule myself in order to be flexible, I do have a broad plan with a few hard locations and dates that shape my schedule. One of those was Seattle on July 27th to be able to spend the weekend with my Houston friend Daniel who had recently relocated to Seattle. This along with the false idea that getting on the earliest ferry would be half price led to me blitzing through Vancouver Island.
I landed in West Vancouver and drove downtown. This time I knew I would be spending most of the day here so I found a good parking spot in Stanley Park, paid $13 for all day parking, ARGHHHH, rented a bicycle and toured the city on two wheels.
I started by riding around Stanley Park on the coast of the Vancouver Harbor and English Bay which surround the city turning South to cross the Granville Bridge to walk around the Granville Island Public Market. Granville Market is a fun place to enjoy local food vendor, artisan, and artist stands. I contributed to the market by purchasing an almond vanilla ice cream cone from Rogers Chocolates as I walked around the market.
I crossed the Burrard Street bridge on my way back to Stanley Park but before ending my bike tour, I stopped at the Yaletown Brewing Company for a pint. There are a ton of breweries in Vancouver and Yaletown was the least out of my way but you could spend all day walking or biking from brewery to brewery.
I returned my bike, got back to my car around 4pm and started driving South. I crossed the border back into the United States on my way to Seattle. After 16 great days in the country to the North it was good to be home.
Matthew