I
got up around 7:00 to take the boat back to Tofino where I would then start
driving back home. We heard last night that two people had died while they
were out whale watching yesterday (see article)..
This came just the day after somebody had saved a whale from being tangled
in crab pots. This was the first accident involving whale watching that they
could remember in Tofino. As we went back in the boat this morning they showed
me the vicinity where the two people drowned. They tell me that this area
can look so peaceful but just a couple miles away the wind could pick up and
cause trouble. I took a couple pictures on the way back as we passed a shore
that had a couple tents and houses built it. They mentioned that people have
been living there since the 60's.
The drive back to Nanaimo took over two hours as it was wet.
We stopped at Stamp Falls again about 10 miles before getting to Port Alberni.
This is a nice little park about 10 miles out of Port Alberni with year round
campsites. We had stayed here our first night along the river.The Stamp River
runs through the park with a series of small falls and nice trails that lead
down to the river. We walked about three quarters of the way down and started
back up the trail as it was getting too muddy from the rain. Next we went
into Port Alberni to get something to eat. This town is very dependant on
the lumber and fishing industry and is a nice place to stop for something
to eat. One good restaurent that has opened up since we took this trip is
the Clam Bucket on the main strip of town.I had a Greek salad and escargot
which were both good. Some one else had a large portion of fish and chip.
We
would leave Port Alberni and drive for another hour before stopping at Little
Qualicum Falls. This park also has year round camping and has a fish ladder
and rushing water that leads to a nice open area where the river becomes calm.
We drove towards Quillicum Beachand
arrived in town around 3:30 pm. This is a retirement community that caters
to tourists with families. There were a lot of cute shops and restaurants
in this clean, pictureques town as we shopped around here for a couple hours.
We left and went north on Highway 19 and stopped Fanny Bay for a late lunch
on a large boat still anchored in the water that had been turned into a restaurant.
The food and service were disappointing, but the view was nice and we were
hungry. We started looking for a campsite in the Campbell River area. We stopped
at Miracle Beach Provincial Park, which had over 100 sites, but only had 8
left. It was too big and to noisy.
I
got up around 7:00 to take the boat back to Tofino where I would then start
driving back home. We heard last night that two people had died while they
were out whale watching yesterday (see article)..
This came just the day after somebody had saved a whale from being tangled
in crab pots. This was the first accident involving whale watching that they
could remember in Tofino. As we went back in the boat this morning they showed
me the vicinity where the two people drowned. They tell me that this area
can look so peaceful but just a couple miles away the wind could pick up and
cause trouble. I took a couple pictures on the way back as we passed a shore
that had a couple tents and houses built it. They mentioned that people have
been living there since the 60's. We
would leave Port Alberni and drive for another hour before stopping at Little
Qualicum Falls. This park also has year round camping and has a fish ladder
and rushing water that leads to a nice open area where the river becomes calm.
We drove towards Quillicum Beachand
arrived in town around 3:30 pm. This is a retirement community that caters
to tourists with families. There were a lot of cute shops and restaurants
in this clean, pictureques town as we shopped around here for a couple hours.
We left and went north on Highway 19 and stopped Fanny Bay for a late lunch
on a large boat still anchored in the water that had been turned into a restaurant.
The food and service were disappointing, but the view was nice and we were
hungry. We started looking for a campsite in the Campbell River area. We stopped
at Miracle Beach Provincial Park, which had over 100 sites, but only had 8
left. It was too big and to noisy. We drove thru Campbell River which is the largest town in thenorthern part of the island. There are ferries that leave here to go to thenorthern Gulf Islands. Fishing and tourism are very popular for Campbell River. We didn't stay here as it was still raining and we were more interested in finding a place to camp. We turned east on 28 about a mile out of Campbell River and would stay at Elk Falls Provincial Park. This park also had about 100 campsites but only half full . It was not an exciting night as we went to bed early because we were exhausted and it poured down rain all night. I was trying to imagine what Alvin was doing. Probably helping a student with a computer problem or answering questions on the phone. Not everybody can do it and it's good that people like him can. Thanks Alvin for making me feel welcome and let me know when you want to visit.
We drove 150 miles today and 1000 total