The drive through to Gold River was quite spectacular. Racing through avenues of 80 metre high Douglas fir trees from the road edge to the mountain top only broken by small interesting lakes, good habitat for bears but we didn’t see any. The temperature was over 30 degrees so we had the windows down and the breeze on our faces. We stayed in Gold River so that we could board the MV Uchuck (locally known as the Upchuck much to Diana’s horror) first thing in the morning for a day out on Nootka Sound, delivering goods and picking up full rubbish bins from resorts and forest camps. We had a great day. The Uchuck is a WWII minesweeper rekitted out to carry up to 100 people for this tour. It was done very well. 

While driving, and from on the water we pass numerous logging sites and sawmills. The locals seem to consider that the heydays of the timber industry are well past but to us there was a lot of logging trucks and numerous clearfell areas on the mountain sides. Where possible they seem to get their logs to the waters edge in as short as distance as possible then use the water to transport them. We were entertained by a wee tug type boat herding logs in Gold River. The operator had it almost tipped over much of the time. The water would be an efficient way of moving huge rafts of logs in one operation but from what we saw a few of these logs get loose. Some beaches have stacks of logs, more than enough to frame 1000 homes in Auckland. The environmental rules don’t seem quite as stringent as ours, yet. 

The Gold River road finishes at the West Coast so the next day we started heading back through Campbell River and to Powell River on the mainland. Problem there is they don’t have any roads in and out, a few local roads but we have to ferry across from Vancouver Island and then take ferries to get back down the coast to the mainland proper where there is a road.

Powell River was once the site of the largest pulp and paper mill in the World but that commodity doesn’t have quite the appeal any more. Their latest claim to fame is that they were contracted to make special paper for the book “50 Shades of Grey” to be printed on. The town has some wonderful buildings built around 1910-1925 but much of it is in decline. We stayed in the old Courthouse, now converted to a lodging arrangement.

We slept in the judges chambers! The hotel was filled with knick knacks from a bygone era in keeping with the building. It was such a lovely change from some of the ‘austere’ characterless places we have stayed.

One interesting thing in Powell River is the breakwater for the mill cargo; logs in and wood products out. There is no natural harbour of any sort, it is just a town and a wharf on the seaside. They have 19 ex WWII concrete hulks lined up 200 metres out to sea, end to end to act as a breakwater. We took some photos and moved south. 

Tomorrow we will be back to our highrise bedroom in downtown Vancouver geared up to watch the All Blacks at half past midnight with Blair. Interesting team for this 3^rd test so we are getting excited about that.

Walking in the woods

We walked almost every track in the Tofino/Ucluelet area of the country, saw some massive trees and rugged coastlines. People come here in winter to watch the storms rolling off the Atlantic and smashing onto the west coast. I think that would be great but we’re not sticking around just to get a wet bum.

Fallen 'Nurse' tree

From Ucluelet we had to go east as the roads north were “forestry roads”, which I thought sounded a challenge but doable. The wee lass in the Information Centre seemed to think I should be assessed if I was to continue with that train of thought… so I shelved it. Smart move I thought to myself. Funnily enough those that matter seemed to think so too.

We found lodgings on the east coast at Qualicum Beach and decided to head out for a walk, in a suburban park, can’t be too difficult. A good walk and we tip toed over a very fragile looking railway bridge 500 feet above a creek only to find ourselves lost. The Westpac Rescue helicopter was mentioned and we did offer a small donation a year ago so we had that up our sleeve. After walking into someones back yard, fortunately they didn’t have a rottweiler, we made a hasty decision to go north and fortunately we found a road with a 5 km walk back to our lodgings. Short walk complete. 

On the move again in Blairs generously lent Mazda 6 and we see a sign to Hornby Island. Diana had never been there and I hadn’t as far as I could remember so why not, we’ll never be closer. Out on the ferry and we’re off, but hey there is another chunk of land in our way (Denman Island) so we drive over that and board another ferry and finally make Hornby Island. The local Hornbyites consider this the Hawaii of Canada. Yea right! We set off on another walk in the woods (on a well defined trail) which had some great ocean views, we took pictures. 

 Walking done and time to find some lodgings. The island is busy and there is no space so out with the tent, brought along for such occasions. It was cold and uncomfortable, we were in bed before the 10 year olds as we didn’t have anything else to do. Very little light and the bugs liked us. It was a long night and we were up and out of there before any of the Canuks had awoken.

Finally we are in Campbell River where we have an AirB&B which is very much appreciated. More walks in the woods, but no bears in the woods, or large animals but I did see a snake on the track this afternoon. When I spotted him he was no more than 50 cms in front of me. I lifted both feet in the air immediately but was surprised at the short time it took them to head back to the earth. Fortunately the 40cm long snake had decided he had seen enough and wriggled his way into the undergrowth. A rush of adrenaline pushed me along the track for the next 15mins so no harm done. Google told me he was a garter snake, very common, not dangerous and make good pets, I could buy one $49.95. Another day perhaps.

So we have had an eventful week, ended by celebrating our 40^th wedding anniversary. Nothing over the top, we had dinner out, no rubies, no fizzy wine, just a couple of crafty beers and dinner at a Greek restaurant. Diana did buy a dozen oysters for $9.00 ... not sure why! On to Gold river in the morning, must pack my pan and my prospectors hat.