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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 1 | |
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07/24/07 - Campbell River, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Visiting tidepools and driving up-island for a few days of experiencing Vancouver Island's small fishing and logging towns and wildlife viewing |
(Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island) |
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Our first couple days on the island were spent settling in and
relaxing a little after our week of busy touring and traveling.
On Monday we spent an enjoyable (albeit cloudy) afternoon
wandering the charming, flower-filled streets of Victoria and
the next morning, we departed for our previously scheduled
3-night trip to the northern Island.
Just a little background: prior to embarking on Pacific Northwest Roadtrip 2007!, we had read a magazine article regaling the natural wonders and desolation of northern Vancouver Island: mile after mile of thick evergreen forests, snowcapped mountains in the distance, pristine lakes and oceans...and bears...lots and lots of bears. We had to go! With the exception of our distant spotting in Yellowstone National Park last week, we had never seen a bear in the wild and apparently they were everywhere, and safe, according to the article, as these bears are black bears, not the grizzly bears that tend to be more aggressive towards people. So off we went! First stop: Campbell River. All of the places we visited on the northern Island are primarily jumping off points for whale- and bear-watching excursions, fishing, boating and other outdoor pursuits. Nothing fancy, but that's part of the beauty. Campbell River was actually quite nice and larger than we expected, with a pleasant waterfront walking/biking trail running through town and a nice brewery-type restaurant with outdoor seating, where we ate dinner. After a long day of checking out some nice tidepools (we actually made it toward the end of low tide!) not far from the house and lots of driving, we hit the sack at the very pleasant but slightly overpriced European-style Heron's Landing.
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 2 | |
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07/25/07 - Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Waterfalls and bear-spotting |
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This morning (after a breakfast of PopTarts, bananas and coffee
in our room), upon the recommendation of the hotel manager, we
stopped at Elk Falls Provincial Park just north of town to do a
short hike to a waterfall. Upon setting out, Caroline was
thinking "you've seen one waterfall, you've seen them all."
Well, boy was she wrong! Due to all the rain they've had
this summer on the Island, it was flowing, I mean really
flowing. We both agreed that it was the most amazing
waterfall we'd ever seen and well worth the stop. At mid-day, we stopped for lunch and a small touring break in the tiny community of Telegraph Cove. A quaint, picturesque little place, entirely built on stilts over the water, not much goes on here except tour departures and eating/drinking at the over-hyped Killer Whale Cafe, where we ate lunch. We did pay a brief visit to the mildly interesting marine conservation awareness museum, the Whale Interpretive Center, where they had some nice (and HUGE) whale skeletons on display. Next it was on to our stopping point for the night, Port Hardy. As we drive north, places are seeming increasingly rustic. Gone are the Starbuckses and MacDonaldses of Campbell River... Our motel for the night, The Pioneer, is a case in point. An interesting sort of place, I'll give it that. Our neighbors were a bunch of bikers and there were some small RV/campers out back that looked like they'd been there for a while. Beyond that, the photos will just have to speak for themselves...you'll see. But it was all worth it because on the road into town we spotted our first black bear just off the side of the road...and another....and another... Oh, the excitement is just too much! They pay absolutely no attention to the traffic whizzing by on the highway (unlike the local drivers and truckers, who fly by as close as they can to your car and give a long honk, if you pull over to get a closer look at the bears), just grazing on the side of the road, like deer or cows might. It's quite a bizarre and amazing sight! All in all, we saw at least 10 bears, including a cub or two, making the trip more than worthwhile.
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 3 | |
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07/26/07 - Port McNeill, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada End of the road - Cape Scott Park |
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Per the suggestion of our famed magazine article, this morning,
we headed almost 2 hours down a dirt/gravel road westward toward
Cape Scott Provincial Park, which is located on the Pacific
Ocean. We saw 2 more bears on this road. They seemed more
fearful out here in the middle of nowhere, apparently less
accustomed to traffic. We caught one unawares in the
middle of the road and it rushed to get out of our way, running
quickly to the side of the road on all four giant padded paws.
After a couple hours of driving, at the end of the road, we parked the car and hiked along a beautiful, yet easy, wooded trail until we reached a clearing and there it was before us, the Pacific Ocean, beyond a wide stretch of soft sandy beach. But the best part was the tiny cove, with rocky outcroppings right on the beach. There were even caves and miniature bonsai trees! More amazing than it might sound, this sight made the long trip more than worthwhile! Our final night in the northern Island was spent in small, sleepy Port McNeill at the 'funky' Haida Way hotel. The stop's highlight was seeing a bald eagle soar overhead at quite close range while we enjoyed a dinner of halibut and oyster burgers (which weren't bad either!) on a nice little water-view deck at McNeill's Restaurant in town.
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 4 | |
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07/27/07 - Metchosin, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Taking a top-notch hike and visiting friends from Mexico, before returning to our home base |
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Although the Haida Way was a bit expensive-seeming for a hotel
that had not been overhauled in some time (the chairs in the
hallway looked circa the 1970s), the hot breakfast buffet,
served in the on-site cafe and included in the price of the
room, was surprisingly good on all counts...and we know our way
around a complimentary hotel buffet... On our way back down the
island we stopped off at the unmarked Ripple Rock trail, per the
suggestion of the aforementioned magazine article. A great
hike through the rainforest-y landscape, over a suspension
bridge, and up a rock wall to a lookout point high over the
Discovery Passage. Challenging, but well worth the effort. Before pointing the minivan back toward Metchosin, we paid a brief but enjoyable visit to our friends Betty & Brendan who live in Comox, about 2 1/2 hours north of Victoria. Scottandcaroline.com fans might be interested to know that Betty & Brendan were mentioned in a March of 2005 posting from when we met them in Ajijic, Mexico. Hospitable and entertaining as always, we were glad we were able to stop by. It was a fun and enlightening trip, we're glad we got to see so much of the island - even if it was fast. But we're glad to be back to 'our' comfortable home, and not sitting in the car so much for a few days. Oh, and we saw goats on the roof.
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Ripple Rock Pub in Campbell River, where Caroline settles into a
stout
Telegraph Cove
Wow, that's a big burl!
This store is famous for it's flock of goats who live on the
grassy roof. There are two hard to spot goats in these
photos... can you spot the goats?