Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Who would have guessed that this secluded little camping spot down by the water in Ucluelet, British Columbia would be so noisy overnight? Not us! It wasn’t people or boat traffic that kept us up all night, but sea lions. Oh my gosh, they barked all night long. Their barking, growls, and grunts were human-like enough to make Andi and I think one of our kids were throwing up in the night. Ugh, we didn’t sleep more than a wink.

Andi had to work this morning, so we left our camping spot by the water and drove to the Ucluelet Community Center. While Andi did his conference calls inside the RV, Tory, Aden, and I went to the Ucluelet Library to do our school work. Luckily, we finished their lessons just as the library closed at Noon.

Libraries are a great place for us to do school when traveling, but they’re becoming increasingly harder to utilize with their limited hours. It feels like a sign of the times with businesses being short-staffed and less people reading/more people using electronics.

The kids and I had about 90 minutes of time to fill before Andi was done working, so we walked to Big Beach in Ucluelet. We saw another family there, writing in journals while gathered around a campfire (homeschoolers, maybe?). Tory, Aden, and I walked along the beach, but it was high-tide, so there wasn’t much of a beach to walk along. We climbed onto some black lava rocks and sunned ourselves for a bit.

Tory and Aden saw signs for a geocache near the parking lot of Big Beach, so the three of us followed the clues to find the treasure. The kids were disappointed that there was only sticks and leaves in the tiny wooded fairy house at the end of the hunt. Bummer.

Around 1:30pm, Andi finished his work calls and the four of us loaded back into the RV. We decided to grab something for lunch in Ucluelet, but navigating this hilly small town isn’t easy in a RV. To make matters worse, road construction caused the main thoroughfare to be down to one lane. After we circled around town twice looking for a parking spot, Andi settled on a restaurant called Frankie’s for lunch. It was the best restaurant we could find with parking. Well, it was either Frankie’s, or a food stand called Ukee Dogs, and none of us were interested in eating gourmet hot dogs.

Our food & experience at Frankie’s were surprisingly good considering there was only one woman staffing the entire restaurant. Andi ordered the pulled pork platter which came with a side salad and potaotes for $35 CAD ($25 USD). Food is not cheap in British Columbia! We’ve come to expect to pay $20-35/per meal here. Luckily the money conversion to the US Dollar helps.

I went out on a limb and ordered fish & chips for my meal. There’s a food truck in Ucluelet called Jigger’s that had awesome reviews. We didn’t eat there, but seeing that place had me craving fish & chips. Mine were tasty at Frankie’s, though it’s not something I’d usually eat. I hoped I wouldn’t be paying for this decision later with a stomach ache.

Tory ordered mac & cheese, and it was served on a flat wooden board. That was unique! She said it was hard to eat, but it tasted good.

Andi and I wanted to do one more easy hike before leaving the Tofino / Ucluelet area. We drove to the Wickaninnish Beach trail after lunch, but the road to get to the trailhead was closed for some reason. We considered driving further north along the congested two-lane road to reach the popular Rainforest hike or the Shorepine Bog trail, but we lost steam the longer we sat in traffic.

The turn-off for the Pacific Rim Highway approached, and Andi suddenly said, “Should we just go?” turning right as he uttered the words. “We could do the Cathedral Grove trail on the way to Nanaimo,” I suggested. Andi and I thought this sounded like a good plan. From Ucluelet, the drive east across Vancouver Island to reach Nanaimo takes three hours. Stopping at Cathedral Grove near the town of Port Alberni would help break up the drive.

I felt a little sad leaving the Tofino / Ucluelet area. There was definitely more we could have experienced there. In hindsight, I would have given up a day in Strathcona Provincial Park for an extra day in Tofino, but I suppose it all happens the way it’s supposed to. We enjoyed both places on the island.

The Cathedral Grove trail in MacMillan Provincial Park near Port Alberni is one of the most popular hikes to do on Vancounver Island. The trail meanders through an old-growth forest with towering Douglas fir trees. There’s a mix of dirt trail and boardwalks over the soggiest parts of the temperate rainforest, and interpretive signage throughout explaining the significance of the flora throughout the forest.

We considered walking through Cathedral Grove on Monday as we drove west along the Pacific Rim Highway, but the parking lots on both sides of the highway were packed with cars and rental RVs. Andi and I knew we’d only be annoyed walking through the forest with a bunch of other people, so we skipped it.

Today, there were only a few cars parked at the trailhead, so we decided to stop and experience it.

I can see why this trail gets so much hype; it really was beautiful! The great big trees stood tall in the ancient forest with lichen dripping from their trunks and branches. There were some maple trees dispersed throughout the forest as well, and their fall leaves were changing color. Definite “fall aesthetic,” as Tory would say.

We had fun trying to reach our arms around the diameter of the trees. The bark of the tree trunks were interesting to observe, too. They looked old, almost petrified.

After a quick 20-minute stroll through Cathedral Grove, the four of us hopped back into the RV and drove the rest of the way to Nanaimo. From Nanaimo, we’ll take a ferry back to mainland Vancouver.

Our original itinerary had us taking a ferry from Victoria, B.C. to Port Angeles, Washington, USA, tomorrow. However, processing of the salmon we caught in Campbell River on Monday caused us to change our plans. Monday was an observed holiday in British Columbia, and the seafood markets were closed. This delayed our salmon processing, so we had to return to Campbell River to pick up our salmon before leaving Vancouver Island. This added an extra three hours of driving to our route. Leaving Vancouver Island from Victoria no longer made sense.

Instead, Andi and I decided to take the ferry from Nanaimo to mainland British Columbia, and then cross into the United States at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Surrey, B.C. With a little negotiating (ahem, and the offer of a $100 tip), Andi convinced one of the seafood market employees to meet us in Nanaimo with the salmon so we wouldn’t have to drive all the back to Campbell River. That saved us a half-day of driving and was well worth the $100 tip to avoid back-tracking on our travel route.

The seafood market employee gave us her address in Nanaimo, and told Andi she’d leave the salmon in a styrofoam cooler outside her house. We arrived there around 5:30pm Wednesday evening, and successfully picked up our salmon, leaving behind cash in her mailbox.

We had planned to camp somewhere in the area tonight, and then take the 7:45am ferry from Nanaimo to Tsawwassen, B.C. tomorrow morning. Of course, we didn’t have anything set in stone. The beauty of traveling by the seat of our pants …

“Should we just get on the ferry right now?” Andi asked me.

“Now? It’s 6:00pm. The next ferry is at 8:15pm; we won’t get to Tsawwassen until 10:30pm tonight.”

“Yeah, but I think we should do it.” Andi urged.

We had just enough time to run by the grocery store in Nanaimo to grab something quick for dinner before making our way to the Duke Point ferry terminal. At the terminal, Andi paid for our ticket on the ferry ($130 CAD; it was $80 cheaper to take the evening ferry), and pulled our RV into line to wait to be loaded onto the boat.

“Our kids are so awesome,” Andi commented later. Neither Tory or Aden batted an eye at the last-minute change in plans, or the fact that they were being loaded onto a ferry at 8:00pm.

The ferry was running 30 minutes behind schedule, so it was 8:45pm by the time the boat was underway. We were all tired from a busy day of driving, so we decided to stay inside our RV on the 90-minute ferry ride. Technically, you’re suppose to leave your vehicle while the ferry is moving, but we pulled the shades and quietly rested in our RV for the duration of the passage; no one was the wiser.

We finally reached Tsawwassen, British Columbia around 10:45pm. Andi reserved us a campsite for the night at Tsawwassen RV Resort a short five-minute’s drive from the ferry terminal. It wasn’t the prettiest of places, but it worked for a place to park for tonight.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll drive a short 30-minutes to Surrey, British Columbia and then cross into the state of Washington, USA from there. After three weeks traveling through British Columbia, our Canadian travels are coming to an end.