Day 414
Welcome to Vancouver Island
After leaving Nicole and Minto, it was not quite goodbye as they had invited us to join them for a meal at a friend’s house, and boy were we in for a treat. Their friends live in an area called the Indian Arm. We drove deep into the forest and popped out at a stunningly beautiful spot. The house didn’t just have an ocean view, it had the actual ocean at the bottom of the garden. So naturally we swam before a wonderful evening chatting, eating and drinking in the sun. We were so lucky to meet this family and learn even more about Vancouver life.
The following morning it was goodbye to Vancouver, but not before we got to cycle through the city on a fabulous network of cycle lanes. We resisted having a free outdoor shower in an awesome street water display, boy we would have loved that on the KVR. We did a full circuit of Stanley Park, a place so popular with cyclists that they not only have a completely separate road away from the cars and walkers, but it is also a one way system, yay, cyclists rule! The views were fantastic over the ocean and it was difficult to tear ourselves away. Onwards to the ferry though. First we rode over a massive bridge, giving us yet more awesome views of the city. To get to the ferry we had to cycle along the ‘Marine Drive’. Now this made us feel homesick, as in Scarborough the heart of our town is our Marine Drive which links the two bays as it runs besides the sea. Happy memories.
Now virtually a year ago Tom and I stayed with great guy called David in Portstewart Northern Ireland. He had kindly donated a County Mayo flag for Tom’s bike, the idea being by flying it we could help lift the ‘Mayo Curse’. Since then we have been waiting for someone to recognise it, no one has until today! Daithi and Lily, originally from Ireland knew it straight away! Unfortunately we had no prize to give them apart from the dubious honour of their picture on our blog!
Finally we reached the ferry, my first ride on one since Santander. I was pretty confident that this would be a much pleasanter journey. Calm seas, just under 2 hours and whales to spot. I was right, only no whales sightings though. We arrived on Vancouver Island in the small town on Nanaimo. We cycled off to stay with our Warmshowers hosts, Deborah, Mike and daughter Jordan. After a fantastic relaxing meal we did what people who live here do, went for a swim. What a way to end the day, a warm sea to cool off in then time just to sit by the ocean and watch the sun set. We felt blessed to be able to share in this experience.
Now our original plan when we came to the Island was to find a campsite and relax, but... well you know Tom and I, we didn’t want to miss what this stunning Island has to offer. Tom plotted a back roads and cycle path route to a campsite at Little Qualicum Falls. We started off on a great cycle path only having to ride on the main road for a short time. As we headed back onto quieter roads we were passed by Joyce and Paul. They kindly invited us to stop at their house for a refreshing drink, which became lunch. Their home overlooked the ocean, so it was so hard to tear ourselves away. They kindly offered to put us up if we headed back this way!
Soon after we joined the main road which crosses the Island. There was no other option. I had noticed an unused railway, which apart from one small section where they had created a cycle path was just lying there unused. There are 289 km of track linking Victoria to Courteney with links to Parksville on the East Coast to Port Alberni towards the west. The last train ran in 2011, and was ended due to the poor condition of the track. A report has been done to assess the viability of reopening the line. It seems crazy to be spending millions widening the roads in the present climate. Why not reopen the link, have buses to run in the towns it passes, put a cycle lane besides it and make the island less dependent on cars and a mecca for cyclists and do quite a bit for the carbon footprint of the island at the same time? Hey I can dream!
