Our camping trip up the island....
Now we were planning to run off and camp up the island by ourselves, but it turns out the others wanted to come too - they must be mad, so we got ourselves a free lift and guide on our trip.
We set off extremely early - some ridiculous time in the middle of the night, cause we had a long drive ahead of us! Stopped for an amazing breakfast in Coombs and checked out the shops...most of which were closed due to the fact that it was still ridiculously early....oh yeah and watched the goats they keep on the roof there!
Then we drove on....now it is quite a long way up the island, people are always telling us it is the size of England, but its not....but it is quite big! The roads are interesting too, specially in a small camper van with 5 people in it!!
Arrived at Long beach, only to find that all the campsites were full....oops! Had a feeling it could be that way....we were told that there could be one place left in a site further up the coast, but we couldn't book it! So off we went...with all our fingers crossed! We arrived and managed to nab the last site....it was small, but nice.
Set up camp, ate lunch, then headed down the beach at the end of the campsite! Splashed about for a while, then went to explore a little island...or as Tim and Neil put it...we went on a bear hunt! Didn't find any bears....but did find a couple of monkeys....oh no sorry they were Neil and Tim! Had a swim on the pool on site and a dip in the hot tub...then stuffed our faces with grannies yummy food!
Went back to the beach to watch the sun set....and discovered heaps of cool orange and purple starfish! The sunset was amazing too....took way too many photos!
Back at camp played cards for a while but it got cold so we went to bed!!
The next day we decided to check out actual Long Beach....only problem was we couldn't actually see the beach! It was so foggy we couldn't even see the sea! We wandered down to the sea, but decided it would be a much more sensible idea to come back later!
On the way to the beach, however, we did manage to spot a bear! Yes another one, it was just wandering up the sidewalk with all the people walking and cycling past! That was until someone honked their horn and scared it off before we could get any photos! We did see it crossing the road as we drove off. They are so cute!!!
Instead we went off to find a walk through the rainforest...we found a very pleasant walk...where we again took thousands of pictures...mainly of Neil's favourite thing 'lichen'!!!!
Had lunch then headed back to the beach, where grannie and Sid took a nap and we played frisbee and splashed about in the river! It sure is a long beach....that is when you can see it....the fog did lift eventually! The beach is also lined with the trees of the rainforest and loads of driftwood! When we eventually managed to meet up with each other again...we headed off to check out Tofino...the only place anyway near Long beach!!!
It was a cute little town, with a some cool shops and an ace First Nation artist gallery - Roy Henry Vickers (check out his stuff guys - its way cool!). We managed to sneak off and grab a quick half a pint....before grabbing some firewood and heading back for another yummy supper!
We watched another fantastic sunset....took thousands more photos...and then managed to get through masses of beer, marshmallows, chips (which Tim and Neil ate together), and games of cards, while our fire burnt out!
Today was the day we had to leave...boo hoo...! It was a long drive back, so got off nice and early. We stopped a few times on the way to break up the long journey...and cause we were all melting in the back of the van!!! Yes it was hot folks...hotter than the UK!! (sorry had to add that bit!)
First stop was by a river, were we had a wander and checked out the beautifully clear water...Sid wanted us to check out a waterfall...but we were too lazy as we have seen soo many waterfalls!
Next stop was Cathedral Grove, were we walked round a path that was supposed to take like 20 mins...in about 5 mins! They had some big trees, but not as big as the ones in Yosemite...mind we did have to walk a hell of a lot further to see those!
Checked out a cool lake, with petroglyphs on the wall...in a very strange location mind, where kids were using the walkway as a diving platform!...and were they keep the water bombers...planes which they use fr putting out forest fires...which im sure there are loads of since there are millions of trees!
Then we stopped in Parksville...we didn't see much of the town, as we were there for one reason only...to check out the sandcastle competition! It was way cool, i thought my dad was good at building stuff out of sand....but these were amazing!!! If you ever get the chance to see a sandcastle competition...don't miss it!
The drive after that seemed to take forever....we were all hot and tired and hungry...so grannie was very naughty and treated us all to a lovely Chinese...at there fav restaurant. We had a banquet for 6....and even though there were only 5 of us...we managed to demolish it all...we were pretty full....but granny decided we couldn't waste the meat...and by the time that had gone there was hardly any point leaving what was left! We are such pigs...but hey got to keep the happy belly happy!
An amazing trip to an amazing place....so peaceful and perfect! Thanks Grannie and Sid for taking us...and spoiling us again too!!!!!!!!
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