Rubber-Tramps E-Book

Monika von Borthwick

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 326

Beschreibung

The Trans-Canada Highway is the only federal highway in Canada that, with a few junctions, forms a link system through ten provinces of the country. Covering more than seven thousand kilometers, the TCH is the only continuous transcontinental road of Canada and the third long-est road of the world. The Trans-Siberian Road in Russia and Highway 1 in Australia are longer. The Yellowhead Highway forms the northern branch of the TCH in the western provinces. Although the Trans-Canada Highway was opened in 1962, it was completed in 1970 and is mostly four-lane and crossing-free.

Leseprobe

The Trans-Canada Highway

The Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) is the only federal highway in Canada that, with a few junctions, forms a link system through ten provinces of the country. Covering more than seven thousand kilometers, the TCH is Canada’s only continuous transcontinental road and the world’s third longest road. (The “Trans-Siberian Road” in Russia and Highway #1 in Australia are longer.)

The Yellowhead Highway forms the northern branch of the TCH in the western provinces. Although the Trans-Canada Highway was opened in 1962, it was completed in 1970 and is mostly four-lane and crossing-free.

Monika von Borthwick belongs to the older generation and lives in culturally rich Upper Bavaria. In addition to her other professional activities she coached bus travellers as tour guides in Europe. Even then, she wrote down in detail her experiences with other countries and their people.

After the death of her husband, she decided to travel alone and explored numerous areas in Europe and North America with her newly acquired camper and her two dogs. Along the way she discovered the love of storytelling and sent detailed reports home by email.

A journey is like a marriage.

The certain way to be wrong is to think

you control it.

John Steinbeck

Rubber-Tramp?

The tramp is a social figure in Britain and in North America. Tramps used to be migrant workers or day laborers and the term in middle English “to tramp” initially meant to walk with heavy footsteps. The tramp was not usually looking for a steady job, taking only odd jobs on his wanderings.

The most famous tramp character was played by Charlie Chaplin, who often portrayed the life of a tramp in his films and Rubber-Tramp is the classification of a hitchhiker traveling by car; in contrast to the “Leather-Tramp”, who moves around the world on foot.

For several years (more precisely five years) travelling across Canada on the Trans-Canada Highway had haunted my dreams. After my accident in Toronto in 2010, I had given up all hope. But as the saying goes: “Hope dies last”. Many, partly grotesque circumstances contributed to the fact that I could now fulfil this dream.

Our TCH journey started on Vancouver Island and ended in Kingston, ON. The remaining two thousand kilometers to St. John’s in Newfoundland we had already covered in the summer and fall of the past year. (See travel tale “Carpe Diem! Use the time!”). Thus, we drove the entire highway and went through five time zones.

My direct route covered around five thousand kilometers, not counting the detours to Edmonton and Saskatoon. We did not cling rigidly to the highway but explored some regions worth seeing around it. So, my mileage indicator collected a few miles more.

The used rolling home for our adventure:

Born in 1991

125 000 km, gasoline,

8 m in length

... and very thirsty

The Lady and the Tramp

Knuffi (f) and Wurschtel (m), my two travel

companions - each ten years old

Vancouver – Queen Elizabeth Park

CONTENTS

Vancouver

Vancouver Island, Capital of Victoria

TCH Turn Off #1 Vancouver – Abbotsford – Hope – Merritt - Princetown – Hope

TCH Turn Off #2 Hope – Kamloops – Clearwater – Revelstoke

TCH Turn Off #3 Icefield Parkway – Jasper – Edmonton – Calgary

TCH Turn Off #4 Kananaski Valley

Red Coat Trail

Fort MacLeod – Fort Walsh

TCH Turn Off #5 Saskatchewan Tour

Regina – Winnipeg

Winnipeg – Hecla Island – Thunderbay

Final sprint Thunderbay – Ottawa - Kingston

Vancouver

Vancouver was more than relaxing for us. First, it rained most of the time and we were tied to the camper. Second, I reduced my sightseeing program to a minimum. I had explored the city myself eight years ago, visiting several parks, doing a lot of walking and enjoying many entertaining hours with friends from earlier days.

The cleanly-run campsite in the suburb of Burnaby offered all conceivable amenities, including a swimming pool and whirlpool, at an acceptable low season price. Two parks were easily accessible for walking and I could also reach the quick connection by SkyTrain into the city center in fifteen minutes. This meant, that we stayed for a longer period – also seasona – in the city on the Pacific – longer than in our Mexican Winter accommodation at Catemaco. We were fortunate enough to be here during a four-day show tour of “Cirque Du Soleil” from Montreal, and I even got a ticket to the fantasy story “Varekai”. As expected, it was super gorgeous!

This city was dear and expensive in the truest sense of the word. The cheapest expense was the campsite. For instance, booking a rental car, which I hoped to do for a very reasonable price on the Internet: not recommended. I did not know that in Canada, the basic insurance is not included in the booking like in Europe and various hefty taxes increased the hire cost. The final fee was about 300.- CAD for picking it up at the airport. So, if you need a car, it’s probably a good idea to rent it in the city. But five weeks camping, or continuous assembly and disassembly of the caravan did not appeal to me. So, I bit into the sour apple (German saying!). Had I known from the beginning that it would be raining so much at the beginning of my stay, I would have called off this project. Would have …!

I took time to get my health back and for that, I had myself checked in the well-equipped heart clinic of VC. Once again, I had symptomatic complaints with my aging heart pump and wanted to make sure it was not starting to fail or give up in Manitoba or somewhere in the prairie. I was given the all-clear and with new medication and a high bill they dismissed me from the hospital with peace of mind! Dear friends in the city looked after my two four-legged friends at this time. I knew they would be well taken care of.

Another problem was my RV. I had not done a car inspection since I bought it and I had to consider that I had put 20,000 miles on it (32,000 km). Result: The brakes were totally broken, the wheel bearings completely worn out and, there were two damaged front tires. Several dripping areas had to be sealed. For two days I had to leave my vehicle in the garage for all necessary repairs. Ever hospitable, my friends from Pitt Meadow took us. Thank to two visa cards, I was able to balance the bill – thank goodness for a high credit limit at home. It was now serious considering driving the motor home with all its new innards for another year and not selling it at the end of this trip.

Victoria Day in Burnaby

With this holiday the summer officially starts in Canada and the camping season is considered open. The holiday commemorates the birthday of Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901/born May 24th, 1819) and it is always celebrated on the Monday before May 25th. Therefore, the Canadians officially have a long weekend. (The number of public holidays is much lower in Canada than in Germany.) Consequently, it is greatly celebrated with fireworks and alcohol.

I was in the small museum in Burnaby Village that day, not far from the RV Park. There they had organized a nice program with a parade, bagpipes and music corps. Even Queen Victoria herself had arrived in an antique car (try comparing the original with the replica!). Her Highness made a “flaming” speech according to the program and audience, sunshine and warmth dutifully arrived and so did many visitors. It raised a smile. I estimate that up to fifty percent of the guests were of Asian descent, and English was the exception rather than rule. In addition to all replicated older buildings, especially worth seeing was a lovingly restored carousel, the magnet for all children and the young at heart. I especially liked the bright colours of the horses and the lovingly carved details.

Burnaby – Victoria Day – 25th of May

Vancouver Island and capital city Victoria of British Columbia, BC

We’re on our way!

Our lazy time in Vancouver/Burnaby had come to an end and we started the third travel phase of the Trans-Canada Highway in the early morning. We had to get to its starting point or its end point, regarding on how you look at it. This was in the city of Victoria (capital of BC), on Vancouver Island. I had visited the island eight years ago in late autumn on my second trip to North America and it rained horribly at that time. After several days, I took a flight and headed south to the US. (“Highways and Gravel Roads II” tells this story). I had not seen much of the island before and hoped that the weather god was in a better mood this time.

My alarm clock threw me mercilessly out of bed at six o’clock. I had to be ready at nine o’clock at the latest, because our ferry left at eleven o’clock. We had to plan an hour to get there as we had to be on the agreed spot sixty minutes before departure time. As it was Sunday, it was quiet on the access roads, traffic only packed in front of the terminal in Tsawwassen. I had been advised and had reservations. It cost me a few extra dollars, but I had played for safety; and for around a hundred bucks our trio and RV were transported to the other side, passing numerous inhabited small islands. The passage to Swartzbay took ninety minutes. I left my Wuffis in the safe room below deck, because the many legs on board would only have made them nervous. Were the passengers mainly tourists or weekend returnees? No idea, but the ship was jam-packed.

For today’s program I had planned the “Victoria Butterfly Gardens”. My GPS took me safely to the destination and we even found a parking space for my big coach. Before I got to see the many exotic butterflies, I decided on a lunch and a much-needed siesta. Nothing bothered us and in the later afternoon the flow of visitors decreased. The area was not large and very attractively designed. It had a tropical climate with eighty percent humidity, where aras, flamingos and turtles are felt comfortable. You could literally grab the jungle mist. In an artificial pond several Asian Koi swam happily around.

Beautiful large and small, free-flying butterflies roosted either in the tropical trees or on lined feeding places, set for them with citrus slices and bananas. I was able to observe and study them up close. Some had beautiful inside wings but kept them discreetly hidden for photographers. A leaflet reported that the “gardeners” released between six hundred and eleven hundred butterflies to freedom each week. About sixty different species were imported on an ongoing basis, because their lifetime was shorter. The “Giant Atlas Moth”, for example, only survived three to five days, but it took months to transform from the cocoon to the caterpillar and to the butterfly. Clearly, we could only look at this butterfly “behind bars”. An interesting and fascinating world…

At five o’clock the gates closed, and I went with my two girls in search accommodation for the night. Due to the previous high expenses in Vancouver I could save a little bit here, although we were not allowed to stop in front of the “Gardens” overnight. I had two Walmart addresses available, one in the suburb of the capital (Saanich) I decided against because of its parking situation – all the cars in an underground car park in the middle of a shopping mall. The one in the western suburb of Langford was more RV friendly. In the evening, more than fifteen people like me romped around in the parking lot. So, I could always come here if all else failed. However, I wanted to find the road in Victoria, which had taken me so hospitably and free of charge years ago. We had to check if this parking facility still existed in the center of the city. I had already located it on the map and wanted to stay for a few days and have a look at some of the sights or find others that I hadn’t checked because it had been raining the last time.

Victoria 1st day

As far as your feet will take you

Program change: The weather did not seem suitable for the Butcharts Gardens. The sky was covered for outdoor shooting -and that was in the early morning. My two buddies threw me out of bed at six with the alarm clock (I had forgotten to turn it off). What the heck? I wasn’t in a hurry! We had slept soundly, and it was all quiet. I rerouted our usual morning program and was already in the parking lot of the nearby “Petsmart” shortly before nine o’clock. (A high on my GPS!) My two friends urgently needed a proper haircut and a thorough bath. I wanted to have clean dogs in my company. Therefore, I registered them for the following day at 3pm. It was a great fit, because by that time we would have visited the world-famous gardens.

The center of Victoria was my next destination. I wanted to find new places to stay. In fact, I found the road from my past trip again. Alzheimer’s was not that advanced yet! Several signs pointed out that from eight o’clock in the morning to five o’clock in the afternoon the parking facilities were reserved for the residents. It would be no problem to come there from five o’clock in the afternoon on. Today, however, I preferred our WALMART again for technical reasons of the program. We settled at kilometer “0” of the Trans-Canada Highway. I shot a nice selection of images for the hypothetical title image of the third trip. Here’s an example. Even my RV can still be seen in the background.

Then I took my two four-legged friends to the curb as usual. Wurschtel was particularly active and unstoppable in his eagerness to explore. He probably remembered the many free walks in the park in Burnaby. Normally, after about fifteen minutes, I am the master of the team but today, the train and stops took up more time than usual. Eventually I ran out of patience and I forced him to walk on an extremely short leash which was unpleasant and exhausting for both sides. Well, he will get used to it again this way!

We started at Beacon Hill Park along Douglas Road to the museum, then Parliament, then the waterfront overlooking the famous Empress Hotel, from there on to Laurel Point Park, Fisherman's Wharf with the houseboats and back along the everlasting Dallas Road (cruise ship dock) to the starting point. This route took more than three hours! By the end I had longer arms and barely felt my legs. In any case, this tour was proof that my pump was up to the requirements again. This was extremely reassuring despite the tiredness.

Back in the car I stretched out for half an hour and recovered. Then I added Fort Rodd Hill and the Fisgard Lighthouse to our advanced day program. Both sites were “National Historic Sites” and free with my valid annual pass. I had to take advantage of that, beside which the locations were not far from our sleeping place, outside of Victoria.

The fort was used for emergencies in the first and second world wars (1878-1956) in the defence of Victoria however, it was never really used and today serves as an example of many equally constructed defences along the coast.

The Fisgard Lighthouse (built in 1860) is the oldest structure of its kind on Canada’s west coast. On clear days, its light can be seen from up to sixteen kilometers. Due to my hiking day today, I decided not to climb the tower and was content with a leisurely stroll through the park. The dogs were not allowed to join me, and so I had some quiet minutes for myself.

I saw the individual buildings of the defensive system only sporadically from the outside. War equipment has never been my passion!

North Americans however are wired differently and for them, war, heroism and the military are still surrounded by a halo of glory. Canadians are no exception. When I stopped for a break, a Canadian military bus with classmates aged twelve to fourteen came to visit, accompanied by a teacher in uniform.

In about ten minutes we were back at our sleeping place. Several well-known mobile homes from the day before were in the parking lot again, and it was nice to be able to hang out among old buddies. The weather had improved, and I planned to tackle the Butcharts Gardens tomorrow. I had seen it years ago in the late autumn. Let’s see what they have to offer at the beginning of summer!

Victoria 2nd day

Time difference: eight years

Eight years had passed since my visit to the Butcharts Gardens. I was here in 2007 accompanied by another four-legged friend (Wuschel) and in a different season (late autumn).

This time we were already there at half past nine and the visitor rush hadn’t started yet. Only a few almond-eyed tourists were traveling as early birds. However, that changed noticeably in the next two hours. When we left the gardens at around twelve o’clock, one motor home stood next to the other – mostly rental cars – in the parking lot and there were also many buses. In addition, there were the tourist streams with the shuttle buses from Victoria, which spit out most of the visitors.

We walked comfortably on the paths of the wheelchair users and I avoided too many staircases and exits (see yesterday!). In autumn, the trees were shining in all possible shades and today the flowers were positively beaming. Although the sky was completely covered, the color splendour was unaffected. As expected, the compositions were skilfully arranged and a joy to the eye. Although I had to pay 31.- CAD for admission, it was worth the money.

Again, people enjoyed a restored merry-go-round, though not with as many details as the one in Burnaby. The staff were friendly, and I was even allowed to charge my camera batteries in the ride, since I almost ran out of battery because of the many shots.

I think every season has its own special feature in this garden. I was impressed by the fall with its numerous foliage color more than the summer flowerbeds. Unfortunately, the rose garden had not blossomed yet. We were too early for the season. I could pose with my four-legged friends in front of the same fountain as eight years ago. Anyone who reads my previous travel reports can certainly compare the pictures.

Victoria 3rd day

Tasting China Town

Damn alarm clock! I forgot to turn it off again. So, I woke up to the rooster’s crowing again at six in the morning. And that after a bad night’s sleep. At the WALMART parking lot this time, we had such ruthless neighbours that they let their generator run at full speed until midnight. I fled in my pyjamas and moved my RV several rows away. Although the noise was lower, it was still disturbing. It was not until two o’clock the previous night that I fell into a dull, superficial sleep with nightmares. I was not very happy about the early morning hour. I got my two freshly trimmed dogs into my bed, turned around once more, and dozed for another hour, warmly warmed by my two mates.

Today I wanted to try and find a place to stay for the night ahead at a cheap campsite. We needed new energy for various appliances and a hot shower. I focused on the RV Park on Thetis Lake, just three kilometers away and in the middle of a hiking area – Exit #10 on the TCH. I had my doubts about availability when I thought of the many RVs on the crossing and in the city. Germany had Pentecost holidays now – high season for the Western Canadian rental companies!

I was already there at nine o’clock and had no problems with a shady spot. The park was run by a German with his mother, did not have the highest rating and was besieged by several “permanents”. But we found everything we needed, and a back door gave us direct access to the small beach of the Lower Thetis Lakes. Before the owner had had breakfast, we set out to discover the trail around the lake. I could pay them later! The dogs could run around without a leash and indeed, on the well-developed path we encountered many free-running dogs with their owners. Wurschtel was fully in his element and had to greet all the other four-legged friends. As usual, Knuffi plodded on unknown paths behind me.

Powerful Douglas pines accompanied our way, according to the literature they were up to five hundred years old. Scattered among the trees there were huge rocks and boulders, overgrown with moss and different ferns. An attractive recreation park, still in the middle of the catchment area of Victoria.

After ninety minutes of snooping and racing, we had made the entire round for the lower lake. When paying (27. - CAD / night) I found out that there was a bus to the city. Although I had to walk a good twenty minutes to get to the bus stop, this was still better than finding a parking spot for big carriages in city traffic and paying horrendous parking fees. In addition, my four-legged friends were in the shady and quiet camp. So, despite the onset of fatigue, I decided to get through to Chinatown. In Victoria, this district is very small compared to other Chinatowns, but the oldest settlement from the western neighbouring continent. At the beginning there were Chinese railway workers who had established here.

I said goodbye to my two companions. They did not even protest because they had made the long walk and looked forward to their beauty sleep. For 2.50 CAD, Bus #50 drove me straight to the heart of Victoria and dropped me off near Fisgard Street. From Centennial Square, it was only a few steps to the Gate of Harmonious Interests into Victoria’s Chinatown. The handmade lion sculptures were a gift from the sister city Suzhou in China. No idea where this was...!

I wandered a bit through the colourful, crowded shops and meandered through the supposedly narrowest street in North America, Fan Tan Alley. There was, however, a lot of restoration work going on, which significantly affected the atmosphere of this alley. A travel guide told me that until the turn of the twentieth century, the district had twenty-three factories producing, among other things, ninety thousand pounds of opium and it was one of the most important industries in BC. At that time, the processing of poppy juice was legal.

I was starving. It was about late noon. You could choose from the traditional brewery “Swan” with a nice interior at First Nation Art or a simple Chinese restaurant with affordable prices. I consulted my wallet and decided on the latter. For 10.- CAD, I had a lot to eat and started on my way home. With horror I thought of the long way back from the bus stop.

The sun had broken through and I had forgotten my weather-proven hat at home. My legs ached from running and I was dog-tired – unlike my four-legged friends, who expected me to be tail-waving and rested. A quick short round and then off to the sofa! It was finally siesta time! I slept soundly at the side of Wurschtel, who did not move a millimeter all the time and was happy to have his mum again.

I did not have a detailed plan for the day ahead. I would decide on gut instinct. That’s the beauty of the vagabond life! We would leave Victoria and head south. The route to Sooke did not belong to the TCH, but it was in its catchment area. As mentioned earlier, the Canadian cross-link only served as a common thread for my explorations.

Vancouver Island 4th day Good by Pacific!

Today we drove to say farewell to the Pacific. Will we ever see its waters again? In this life probably not …

After our morning’s work, we said goodbye to Victoria and drove on the #14 in the direction of Sooke in the southwest of the island. The buildings suddenly gave way to a densely wooded nature. Sooke, with its numerous bays, was the last “shopping paradise” for the next hundred and fifty kilometers. In addition, I needed to fill my tank, because over the next eighty kilometers, there would be no more fuel. The West Coast Road to Port Renfrew was reserved for walkers and nature lovers. One Provincial Park came after the other. We looked for something cheap and found a place to stay on the Jordan River, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and at an ankle-breaking “pebble beach”, with many washed-out coarse pebbles. Even the dogs were too cumbersome to get across it.

However, before we reached our goal for the day, we completed a strenuous, beautiful hike. I was attracted to the Sooke Potholes Regional Park. Here, the ice age and the river had cut deep pools into the rocks, which were gratefully used by the population for swimming in the hot season. Since I wanted to run with my two four-legged friends, I parked at the bottom of the road and allowed my friends the first refreshment in the crystal-clear water. No one warned me that the road was going uphill. However, I wanted to reach the small waterfalls and therefore puffed like a walrus going uphill and had to take many breaks. Sometimes it went along the road, then again on laid paths through the forest. The dogs were free to run and enjoyed every new smell and every new sound, but they always stopped when I called them for any reason, which was reassuring.

After an hour we reached the second vantage point. Deep below us, two small waterfalls rustled through the rocks, the water sparkling emerald green. A path led into the depths, but I resisted, because once again I did not want to climb back up. In addition, I was starting to get hungry. I had treats for the dogs, but I had not thought of myself.

We made the way back in half the time – downhill! I realized that not only in the Butterfly Gardens could you see beautiful butterflies and rare flowers. Here too, the wildlife was also stunning.

Lunch and siesta – it was already three o’clock! Now we took the winding road along the coast – the West Coast Road. The road mostly led through wooded area, there was rarely a view to the Pacific. A short information stop took us to the French Beach Provincial Park. The park was well maintained, the campsite too expensive, and the beach difficult to conquer – too many rough stones! We drove ten kilometers further to a simple forest camping. The coastal location was beautiful, the sea with a light swell and a brave and persistent lone surfer on his board – nothing else. (Apart from a few outhouse toilets …) Nevertheless, the site for 15.- CAD/night was well attended, especially with large buses. We snuggled in cozily between them and immediately felt at home. Slowly the tide came in. To my right there was a little fire crackling and to my left other people were grilling food. If I hadn’t “switched off” my nose I would have had to swing the wooden spoon again.

Vancouver Island 5th day

Pacific Marine Circular Route

I did not feel like writing today. I am sitting in Duncan at TCH #1 and had just retrieved my mails and accounts. Someone had hacked one of my master cards and stolen in installments just under seven hundred Euros from my Canada account. My attentive financial advisers realized and immediately locked my card. I knew I probably had to live with the loss. That hurt, after I had already had some high unexpected expenses. Shit...! I had always thought that as a “small financier”, It wouldn’t happen to me! But the “homework” had to be done and if I did not write today, I wouldn’t feel like it tomorrow either! In addition, the report brought me to other thoughts...

The morning after we were well rested and it was still early, because yesterday we were already in bed at ten o’clock. Today at six o’clock the sunshine came through the morning fog, an impenetrable soup, like everywhere along the Pacific coast. But the swaths wafted out to the sea and did not touch us. We drove ten kilometers to the nearest beach. That was a hot tip from my neighbours. A sandy beach! It was a good idea too that they did not tell me that you had to hike down the mountain for twenty minutes – and of course up again later! No worries! We needed our daily fitness training anyway!

It was a beautiful spot, this China Beach. Only a few teenagers were there, who were on the popular “West Coast Trail” and had spent the night on the sand.

Shoes off, romped in the cold inlets and on the beach. My two four-legged friends were happy and so was I too! Down to the beach and back uphill was one and a half hours exercise. I know that does not sound like much, but for me that was enough. I had other duties for the day.

The further course of the coastal route was disappointing. It went on for two hundred meters of altitude always through deciduous forest. It was mostly curvy and there was virtually no view of the Pacific, or the “Strait of Juan de Fuca” and the view to neighbouring Washington, USA. The brakes down to Port Renfrew began to smoke slightly because of the long drops. Therefore, I got into second gear. The traffic was not overwhelming, and nobody was bothered. Port Renfrew itself was insignificant and played only a starting point role for the two long coastal walks. There was a small shop, a larger hotel, a First Nation campsite and several tourist fishing businesses. That was it! So, we did not stay long.

More interesting was the drive through the interior of the island. This corner of Victoria Island was covered with a spider-like web of dust roads, all ending nowhere, only a tarred connection to Lake Cowichan and Duncan. The dust roads were reserved for lumberjack trucks and not accessible to the public. The tarred road wound through the mountainous interior of the island and came to several small pass roads at a good three hundred meters in altitude. It was more interesting, more varied and challenging to drive than the coastline. The most common traffic sign was “attention, bottleneck” – there it went to a single lane over a brook or a canyon. The second most common sign was “attention, wood truck”! The yellow of these signs shone with the clear yellow of numerous gorse bushes, occasionally underlined by blue mullein.

Numerous small lakes invited to rest on the route. At the first sign I could say “No” to a stop (Fairy Lake), but at the second I was hungry and tired. We stopped at Lizard Lake for a longer lunch break and discovered a polar bear (!) in the cool waters. It goes without saying that Knuffi was first in the refreshing water. I looked at the campsite for a possible overnight stay. It had large pitches, but no direct access to the lake and accordingly, I decided to continue to Duncan.

„Polarbear“ in the Lizard Lake

Duncan would be an average Canadian town if it weren’t for the peculiarity of the numerous Totem Poles. Throughout the city, these historic pillars of the First Nation were set up and you could visit them all on a short tour. I thought it was just a pity that some were so ineffective somewhere in front of a building, crouching in a corner or at the mercy of traffic. They were too many and too valuable for that. But it was almost impossible to isolate them alone in the picture, there was intruding. Nevertheless, I managed a few highlights.

Vancouver Island 6th day

Art and nature

We deliberately drove the TCH to Nanaimo today. From there it leads across the Sea of Georgia to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver. We would be doing that next Sunday, but for today I let them groom me at the Walmart hairdresser. I urgently needed a proper haircut after over three months. I treated the dogs to this cure more often, but with myself I was always more sparing, waiting until I was no longer beautiful.

Our first stop was the small town of Chemainus. I remembered it well from my second tour, even though it had been raining cats and dogs. Today the sky was better, and we ran up and down many streets with the well-known murals.

When, at some point, the village was dying because of the decline in woodworking, a few clever city fathers came up with the glorious idea of portraying the history of the place on the walls of houses. The company became a success and the tourists came. Now the place is reviving, apparently back in the black and living mainly off the passing visitors.

After a good hour, I was mad. My stubborn, gray hairy boy was always pulling on the leash and I gave up. Not too much of a problem, as I had collected enough material.

Four lanes carried us through the lively weekend traffic around the port city of Nanaimo. From there we would cross to the mainland to Vancouver next Sunday.

We continued north to Parkersville and then on the #4 in the West to Port Alberni. We had covered one hundred and forty miles by then and arrived at two o’clock. WALMART checked out: no ban on overnight stays – information office visited for a cruise (I’ll tell you about that later) – We settled in the Sproat Lake PP for the rest of the afternoon.

This lake was idyllic, surrounded by mountains and its Provincial Park had two easy campsites. We stayed at the lake until evening. Courageous swimmers were already in the water, although one still noticed remnants of snow on the mountains.

The afternoon hike was shorter (see the morning!) We visited only the place where some petroglyphs of the first Indians could be seen. These already showed signs of weathering and only the mystical whale could really be recognized. Apart from the stone paintings it felt Schliersee (hometown) in Upper Bavaria: mountains, water, a cool breeze, several swimmers!

For the night the local WALMART welcomed us nicely. For tomorrow I had planned Tofino on the coast. We needed to stay in a campsite again. Since it was Sunday morning, I hoped to be able to escape the weekend vacationers and get a spot in the National Park. The commercial RV parks were sinfully expensive, and I was not allowed to stay for free in this nature reserve (Pacific Rim NP Reserve).

Murals in Chemainus

Vancouver Island 7th day

West Coast Tofino

150 km HWY #4 through the interior of the island lay ahead of us today. The weather stayed nice. The forecasts for the next few days, however, were not very rosy. Well, on this outpost to the Pacific you always had to expect wet weather. The first half of the road was wide and well kept. From the Kennedy River it began to get curvy and narrow; and often the speed limit was set at 40 km/h. The river was rich in pebbles and blessed with several wide picturesque pebble islands. At one point it was particularly rocky. There they had put a ZIP line construction overhead as a tourist magnet – in my opinion completely out of place.

A lot of motor homes came to meet me at lunchtime. I was happy, because that would make room for me in the National Park. The disappointment was not long in coming: “Closed for construction until the end of June!” So, now I had to find the cheapest campsite among the expensive ones. Camping for free was obviously taboo in this holiday region. I decided to study the literature for Tofino and the offer at the golf course. Here I could camp without service for 32.- (!) CAD in the middle of the forest. Disposal was allowed at a free hook-up place. Well, without electricity, I could get along for a few days if I had empty/full tanks. I’m always annoyed when I have to fork out a “fistful of dollars” just to be able to stay somewhere. But too bad! I wanted to take a look at the area. So, I checked in for two nights.

Leisurely lunch break and then off to Tofino! I picked up the “Tonquin Trail” to the bay of the same name for our afternoon sports – supposedly with beautiful views of the water and the mountains. It was a two and a half kilometers round trip. Just about right. We parked in front of the parish hall with its huge Indian sculpture and set off. Dogs on a leash this time…

It went as expected, constantly up and down! A highlight for my way back... No “viewpoints” far and wide! Overgrown with trees... Every two meters a stop, because one dog, then the other got something in his nose. We only crept forward, and my patience was wearing thinner. At last we approached the bay and steps led into the depths.

The beach was pretty, not very big and covered with dark sand. Here it was definitely “Leashes off!” and eight legs plunged into the shallow tides. The villas were either built on the rocks before the tourist boom, or there was someone with a lot of extra money who bought this little piece of land. Enviable? How about winter storms and floods? In any case, the sun was shining for us and after some time we continued our tour. With the eternal ups and downs we were once again on the road two full hours and my lungs were finally able to take a deep breath.

The continuation of the circular route led us through a natural primeval forest, felled tree trunks had only been sawn off and then transported to the side to disintegrate. There were root structures reminiscent of abstract sculptures and everything was overgrown with ferns and water-resistant plants. Ancient weathering brought new life. Could this work for humans and animals as well?

We made a short round up to Signal Hill, just before going back to the golf course. Once there we saw a radar station from the Cold War to protect the coast and Canada. Here one tried to lie low from the hypothetical enemy. There was nothing left of the station, and the much-vaunted view had been overgrown with trees for a long time. We turned back without an overview photo and drove home between our trees! That evening I had absolutely no desire to write. I postponed the “homework assignment” for tomorrow, grabbed my book, put my tired legs up, and struggled to regain the will to make one final round with the dogs. In full gear, I fell asleep at ten o’clock on the sofa. After the first deep sleep, I went to bed at half past twelve and was immediately immersed in the realm of dreams again. Was I tired...?

Vancouver Island 8th day

Beach hopping