BLOG BUSTER ALERT: This may be the longest blog post ever. Vancouver Island has been so beautiful, so soul-grabbing, so eventful that these 40-some pictures have been culled from over 600 this week alone! So this will take a lot of your time and attention. And sadly there are many dozens of images of jaw-dropping scenery and history that didn't make the cut. A truly magical mystical tour...
Vancouver Island West Side
A must-see is the drive over the mountainous spine to the two villages on the wild Pacific. I was here in the 60's when the draft-dodgers, hippies, and back-to-the-landers had the place to themselves. Now the logging road has been paved and the mainstream has arrived, but not big crowds. Ucluelet ("Ukee" to the locals) is the quiet beautiful one with picture-postcard harbour, giant hemlocks, and gorgeous wild hiking trails.
Tofino ("Tuff") is the more touristy one with galleries, whale tours, and upscale resorts. But it's best known for the best surfing in Canada. Long Beach is a huge shallow arc where the waves break all day long. Wet-suited surfers of all types are in the curls but most famous is the women's surf school called Surf Sister. Some pink boards for sure, but these girls are stoked!
Northeast
Passing through Port Alberni and Campbell River are more super, natural scenes of float planes, ferries, snowcaps, and gnarly locals. Serenity now, coming up!
Fawning
Pat's birthday was over-the-top wonderful angel stuff, full of amazing coincidences and helpful people. But the highlight of the whole trip happened early in the day on a deserted road north of Campbell River. A newborn fawn with no mommy in sight was weak and dying on the shoulder. We reported it to nearby residents who seemed to know an animal rescue to call. We would have handled the fawn more carefully but they seemed to be caring and experienced, so we moved on grateful that a (wild)life had been saved. (Read on to the end to find out the Fate of the Fawn!)
Alert Bay
By far the most authentic First Nations place we've ever been, Alert Bay on Cormorant Island makes you both wow and weep. These natives have been here for centuries in a society flourishing with food, clothing, shelter, and rituals. The pride is on display in the world's tallest totem pole (174 feet). And the moving spirituality of dancing in their Big House (we were there only by another happy coincidence on Pat's bday...). But the treatment of these peaceful generous people after the arrival of European settlers, churches, and governments was appalling and inhumane. Children taken from their families, beatings for using their own language, abuse of all kinds, and the spread of disease all well-documented pathetic history. These days there are apologies and some attempt at healing, such as the demolition of the "residential schools". But what humans do to other humans is shameful
More North
Everywhere is misty mountains, graceful waterways, massive pile of logs floating to mills, eagles, and challenging but magnificent trails.
Heading Back South
So many islands to chose from. A two-for-one ferry takes you to Hornby and Denman Islands. Both with small communities of either secluded boomers (H) or those aging hippies who got some land and stayed here (D). The area is known for a world-famous type of oyster, and the rare black-tailed deer (we have white-tailed back home...). It's nesting time and female birds do that broken-wing scam to lead you away from the nest.
We stayed with some hippies at a 140 year-old farmhouse. Tiny gabled room, huge working kitchen, rough veggie gardens, mix-and-match furnishings, and a hoe-down session with guys on guitar and fiddle but gals on bongos and bass. Surprisingly good, like Jimmy Buffet mixed with James Taylor. Yee-hah!
The Fawn Flourishes!
We had to go back to check on our fawn. Bad news, good news. The rescuers have decided to keep it on their property because it now has human scent on it and would be shunned in the wild. But "Suzie" as they have named her follows around like a pet puppy. And her best friend is a big lug of a Pit Bull! They play together and Bruiser even seems to protect Suzie! We're happy with that outcome and VERY happy to have roamed this awesome Island. Best Place in Canada.
Vancouver Island West Side
A must-see is the drive over the mountainous spine to the two villages on the wild Pacific. I was here in the 60's when the draft-dodgers, hippies, and back-to-the-landers had the place to themselves. Now the logging road has been paved and the mainstream has arrived, but not big crowds. Ucluelet ("Ukee" to the locals) is the quiet beautiful one with picture-postcard harbour, giant hemlocks, and gorgeous wild hiking trails.
Tofino ("Tuff") is the more touristy one with galleries, whale tours, and upscale resorts. But it's best known for the best surfing in Canada. Long Beach is a huge shallow arc where the waves break all day long. Wet-suited surfers of all types are in the curls but most famous is the women's surf school called Surf Sister. Some pink boards for sure, but these girls are stoked!
Northeast
Passing through Port Alberni and Campbell River are more super, natural scenes of float planes, ferries, snowcaps, and gnarly locals. Serenity now, coming up!
Fawning
Pat's birthday was over-the-top wonderful angel stuff, full of amazing coincidences and helpful people. But the highlight of the whole trip happened early in the day on a deserted road north of Campbell River. A newborn fawn with no mommy in sight was weak and dying on the shoulder. We reported it to nearby residents who seemed to know an animal rescue to call. We would have handled the fawn more carefully but they seemed to be caring and experienced, so we moved on grateful that a (wild)life had been saved. (Read on to the end to find out the Fate of the Fawn!)
Alert Bay
By far the most authentic First Nations place we've ever been, Alert Bay on Cormorant Island makes you both wow and weep. These natives have been here for centuries in a society flourishing with food, clothing, shelter, and rituals. The pride is on display in the world's tallest totem pole (174 feet). And the moving spirituality of dancing in their Big House (we were there only by another happy coincidence on Pat's bday...). But the treatment of these peaceful generous people after the arrival of European settlers, churches, and governments was appalling and inhumane. Children taken from their families, beatings for using their own language, abuse of all kinds, and the spread of disease all well-documented pathetic history. These days there are apologies and some attempt at healing, such as the demolition of the "residential schools". But what humans do to other humans is shameful
More North
Everywhere is misty mountains, graceful waterways, massive pile of logs floating to mills, eagles, and challenging but magnificent trails.
So many islands to chose from. A two-for-one ferry takes you to Hornby and Denman Islands. Both with small communities of either secluded boomers (H) or those aging hippies who got some land and stayed here (D). The area is known for a world-famous type of oyster, and the rare black-tailed deer (we have white-tailed back home...). It's nesting time and female birds do that broken-wing scam to lead you away from the nest.
We stayed with some hippies at a 140 year-old farmhouse. Tiny gabled room, huge working kitchen, rough veggie gardens, mix-and-match furnishings, and a hoe-down session with guys on guitar and fiddle but gals on bongos and bass. Surprisingly good, like Jimmy Buffet mixed with James Taylor. Yee-hah!
We had to go back to check on our fawn. Bad news, good news. The rescuers have decided to keep it on their property because it now has human scent on it and would be shunned in the wild. But "Suzie" as they have named her follows around like a pet puppy. And her best friend is a big lug of a Pit Bull! They play together and Bruiser even seems to protect Suzie! We're happy with that outcome and VERY happy to have roamed this awesome Island. Best Place in Canada.
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