Day 65 – June 7

We were on the road by 6:30 creeping out quietly so not to disturb our hosts. Our sunny skies of the previous days had been replaced with overcast and a few drops of rain which, however, was predicted to pass quickly. Downtown traffic was non existent at that hour so we sailed through to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in plenty of time for our 8:30 departure. The 90 minute crossing was quiet and as we approached Vancouver Island the skies began to clear. During the latter part of the trip we were entertained by a guy with a T shirt that read ‘Crazy Hips’ who was a hoola hoop performer. He stood out on the deck and had a half dozen hoops spinning on every appendage while balancing on one leg. He turned them into a sphere and then balanced that on his chin, all in the wind of the foredeck. He finished by constructing a hoop out of tubing that was at least 6 feet across out and then spun it around his waist while someone stood next to him. Soon the foredeck was full of hoola hoop wannabes trying their best to keep the hoops from sliding down. Very entertaining indeed.

‘Crazy Hips’

After disembarking at Nanaimo we had some vehicle maintenance to attend to, a side wall had been victim to a piece of angle iron earlier in the trip so we stopped at a tire shop and ended up buying 4 tires, ouch. The sidewalls on the original front tires were starting to crack due to UV exposure and our spare was shot. Considering that we were heading to some very isolated areas with rough roads, although a bit of a financial whack, it was good insurance.

A second shop at a fishing store where I replaced my salmon reel which, either never got packed or somehow vapourized, and bought a BC fishing license. Our next stop was at our friend Bev’s house. Bev is a old friend of ours, she and Diane went to elementary school together and we hadn’t seen her for a couple of years. We had a great visit highlighted with some bubbly and a visit from two of her beautiful daughters, Laura and Charlotte. As an extra bonus Laura had her less than one year old baby, Isabella with her, we didn’t know that Bev was a grandmother – all the more reason for the bubbly. The great thing about old friends is that even after years of separation you can settle into a conversation like you were just picking up from the day before. After a great afternoon of eating and reminiscing we headed to the outskirts of Nanaimo where we planned to stay for the night.

Friends get better with age

The first park we stopped at, Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park was full, understandable on a beautiful Friday night just outside of Nanaimo. We were told that the next park, just 20 minutes away, The Englishman River Provincial Park had lots of space so we headed there. Any park with the word river in it was fine by me. This park was a dry camping park but it was only for one night and as we had bought some groceries in Nanaimo we were fine. While Diane did her back exercises I hiked the river and found, at the bottom of a very steep and slippery trail, a lovely spot to fish the next morning.

Englishman River falls

In 65 days this was the first night that we were by ourselves. We both felt a strange mix of cosiness and loneliness. As we were both still full from Bev’s great spread of the afternoon, we had some bread and cheese, washed down with an extra extra bitter beer we had purchased in Oregon. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean on my computer, at least until the battery died, which on a day that had started at 6, came none too early, and so to bed.