2007/06 BC trip - Victoria and Duncan |
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Tuesday July 3rd
We were off to visit the rest of the family on the Island. We left Chilliwack for Tsawwassen, and took the ferry over to Swartz Bay, close to Victoria. These ferries are definitely not free, though the Tiger isn’t as expensive as the Suburban and trailer used to be.
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Wednesday July 4th
Sandie's sister and her husband were off to work and we were off soon afterwards, heading for Duncan. This is usually a short drive up the Malahat and the Island’s east coast, but we decided to take the quieter and more scenic route up the south and west coasts through Sooke and Renfrew. The beaches on that side are mainly empty and have a good view across the Juan da Fuca strait to the mountains of Washington’s Olympic national park.
On one of the beaches we saw an Asian family collecting a truckload of seaweed, strange stuff that dried on
the rocks with an oily sheen, almost like plastic film. We don’t know what they do with it, maybe just add it to chop suey. I tasted some and it was nothing like the dulce we had in Nova Scotia. That was dried seaweed though, with a salty smoke taste, meant to be eaten with beer.
The coast road was quite good, with the occasional single-lane bridge to wake us up. As we moved up the coast we were getting close to Port Alberni, just to the north of us. However, the coast road ends at Port Renfrew, and anyone wanting a direct route to Port Alberni would have to hike the West Coast Trail from Renfrew to Bamfield and then take the Lady Rose ferry. In comparison, our route was simple: we took a sequence of logging roads over the hills and across the Island and down to Lake Cowichan and then on to Duncan, arriving shortly before Sandie's other sister came home from work.
Thursday July 5th
We were off to Port Alberni.