Another delicious breakfast with Bob
and Verna to start this Sunday! The highlight is a jar of marmalade,
made with Canadian oranges, grown in the nearby greenhouse in the
backyard. Marvelous. Other jams and fruits from the garden complete
the meal.
We then go to Saanich Community Church
with our hosts, where we get an inspiring sermon on Psalm 148. After
the service, we spend some time talking to people, especially with a
couple that spent several years in China.
Back on the road, we take Hwy 14 west
and drive along the wild Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, a mix of
rocky coasts and sandy beaches. We stop for our first beach
experience at Gordons Beach, have lunch at French Beach, and of
course have to stop at China Beach in the Juan de Fuca Provincial
Park. The Olympic mountains are rising on the horizon on this sunny
day, and the piece of Pacific Ocean that is stuck between them and
British Columbia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, named probably after
one of the first Spanish explorers coming to the area.
Hwy 14 is a nightmare! As we get closer
to Port Renfrew, the road is narrow and windy, going up and down and
across one-way wooden bridges. But the roughness of the road is the
worst: we have to drive really slowly over each bump (and there are
legions), otherwise, the whole motorhome gets shaken like we are on
the back of an elephant.
After arriving to Port Renfrew, we
explore another part of the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park: we hike the
Botanical Trail Loop at Botanical Beach. First, we walk in a very
dense forest, and as we get closer to the coast, the trees have the
weirdest shape ever, forced by the wind to grow like a contortionist.
Then the forest opens up to a very rugged and rocky shore, surrounded
by steep cliffs, still in front of the Olympic Mountains. And as we
walk along the shore, we discover fields of tide pools, basins carved
in the sandstone flat rock beach and filled with water as the high
tide covers them. Filled with water… and a very rich marine life!
Those tide pools are literally natural aquariums.
It’s already the evening when we get
back to the motorhome and drive in the direction of Lake Cowichan.
The road is still bumpy, narrow and windy. At one point, we have to
cross a river on a very long one-way wooden bridge with very short
rails. Fortunately, as we get inland, the road is very good and we
can finally cruise through the coastal range, through the town of
Lake Cowichan, and reach again the east coast of the Island. Lake
Cowichan is the town where Yellow’s Mom’s Uncle Peter used to
live, and Yellow’s parents spent some time there 30 years ago,
along with Larry and Ron. We will actually be meeting Ron in Duncan,
BC, in 3 days.
When we reach Nanaimo, we decide to
stop there to spend the night. We spot the closest Walmart, after
checking that it is RV-friendly, and park there for the night, along
with some other RVs already parked there.
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