"i wish i had a polaroid..."

23. Day

Comox – Qualicum Beach – Parksville – Port Alberni

The first stop of our tour today was Qualicum Beach, it is a very small village. We walked around “downtown” and got some coffees for our junkies.

Later on we played Minigolf in Parksville, the park was really great! It has a lot of decorations and was really cute. Unfortunately I lost the game so I had to pay for an ice cream for the winner SUSI. :P

After a funny game we headed to Cathedral Cove this is in the Mac Millian Provincial Park. There were some trails through the woods, which lead to the largest tree in this forest. It too had some other big trees, was stunning.

As we wanted to stay in Stamp Falls Provincial Park for the night we drove to Port Alberni. We first visited this small city and the “suuper” lighthouse. :P

And then were looking for the campground, naturally we drove in the wrong direction and had to go back to the last sign which showed the direction to the Stamp Falls River.

After finding the park it turned out that there were no hook-ups so decided to find another spot to stay over.

On the way back to the city we got in a police control, but as Mario didn’t have his passport on him we had to pull out to look for it and show it to the lady.

Soon after we arrived at the RV Park and had some delicious dinner. =)

Then we enjoyed a movie with Popcorn =) We watched ‘Changeling’ which is a really good movie.

And for sure had a motto this day…

“I don’t know, I have never been here!”

24. Day

Port Alberni – Nanaimo – Tofino

This day we had a date in Nanaimo, that’s why we drove all the way back to Nanaimo. We parked our RV and walked around the pier and the old part of the city, which was really cute. After this walk we got hungry and enjoyed some European specialities in a small bakery. It’s really recommendable to go there! ;)

Since we had a rendezvous we went back to the car and drove to the ferry station where we warmly welcomed Stefan aka ‘Brüetsch’.

The final destination of this day was Tofino so we continued through the rain to get to this small, cute village.

We are staying at Bella Pacifica for 3 days; this camping is great it’s right next to the beach.

Today’s motto…

“Drive with caution or I have to puke!”

25. Day

Tofino

“So someone take her picture, so I don’t forget her, I wish I had a Polaroid, so I could remember!”

Waking up with raindrops falling on the roof was nice. But however it was not the right weather for our program today. Then we planned on doing whale watching and the others wanted to rent surfboards.

So we just drove to the village and wanted to visit the visitor’s office but we were 5 minutes early. The office should have opened at 10 o’clock but as we are in a hippie village they just take it easy. They don’t care about being on time or not. So the office opened at around 10.30 and we got our information and some postcards. =)

And finally it stopped to rain and so a few minutes later we booked our whale watching tour. Since there was time left to the start of the tour we rented some surfboards and wetsuits for the ones who want to try surfboarding.

So it was 12 o’clock and our tour was about to start, but first we got some suits to not get wet and then take our seats in this cute, little zodiac. Then we started…

We drove with 70km/h over weaves to an island where we saw some sea lions. After another ride we arrived at a bay where the whales we most likely to be seen. We had to wait a few minutes until we finally saw one. But we didn’t see much of it.

After a while we drove to another island and saw some sea otters. :P

On the way back we got to see a cow which lives wildly, this cow was on the beach to find some sea grass to eat.

Back on the camping “Brüetsch” went for a short bath in the sea. He has to be nuts :P The water is really cold and everyone only goes in with a wetsuit. :P

We wanted to barbecue some sausage but had a really fight with the fire until it burns. But after winning over the fire we enjoyed the delicious dinner and wonderful evening around the campfire! We listened to music and just sat around the fire. =)

And as we listened the whole day the music of ‘Shwayze’ the motto of the day has to be…

“I wish I had a Polaroid…!”

pictures are better than words

Lake Louise

Banff National Park

Jasper

Jasper National Park

Fort St. James

Barkerville

Bella Coola

Freedom Road

Lac Le Hache

Whistler

Ferry to Langdale

Lund

Port Hardy

cemetery

We're going to the Island.... =)

18. Day

Whistler – Langdale

Today was better weather than yesterday, it didn’t rain anymore. =)

So Mario decided to ride again and we were looking for the train wrecks. :P After driving 10 kilometres in the wrong direction we arrived at a stunning lake, took some pictures and turned and went back to Whistler.

We went for shopping and we saw that there was a cooking competition so we enjoyed watching this competition, was really interesting.

When we got back to the car, Susi realised that the light was still on and so we tried to star the engine but it didn’t start anymore. Luckily the RV had an emergency start button, so we could start it without problem. =)

Still looking for the trail wrecks we found the snowboard factory from the brand ‘Prior’! It was really interesting to see how they make the boards. All is handmade and they just need 6 work hours to finish a board.

After this really interesting experience we continued to look for this train wreck. We knew that we had to walk along the rail tracks for 10 minutes but as we were not used to walk on the tracks it was a bit strange, but anyways we did it. So we got on a trail and found these wrecks. It was strange to see that there are several train wagons just lying there and no one cared about them but bikers. :P

After this excursion we drove a long the sea-to-sky highway to Horseshoe bay. As we couldn’t find a RV park we decided to take the ferry to Langdale where we stayed for the night.

Motto of the day…

“Magic power button!!”

19. Day

Langdale – Lund – Powell River – Comox

Last night we decided that we are sleeping late this morning, so that the women of our family could be satisfied as the boys are rather morning people than something else :P

So our arrangement was to leave at 10 o’clock, but unfortunately we were a bit delayed. We had to drive 81 kilometres and had about 2 hours time, you might think that’s far enough but it was really curvy and there are a lot of 30km/h parts. So we got to the next ferry right on time. After another 30km we got to Powell River but as we had 4 hours time to the departure of the next ferry we drove to Lund, which is the last village on this highway.

Lund was really small, just a few houses and a harbour.

So we walked around Lund and enjoyed the breathtaking view over the ocean.

Later on we arrived at the gate for the ferry, we had to wait just a few minutes to the departure.

It was amazing to cross a small part of the ocean with the ferry. =) So we enjoyed the view and were entertained by some stupid children. :P

When we arrived at the other shore it was already 7 o’clock so we had to look for a camping, but it didn’t take us too long and we were at Seal Bay.

It’s a really nice campground.

This evening was almost the first evening that it rained.

Motto of the day…

“Lane oo”

20. Day

Comox – Port Hardy – Port Mc Neill

It was raining the whole night and so did it as we woke up. =(

This was why we decided that we would drive directly to Port Hardy and visit all the other villages on the way back.

When we got to Port Hardy it was just cloudy and didn’t rained so we went to the visitor’s office once more and were told that need at least two days to see everything in Port Hardy.

So we made our way to the first beach she recommended us. It was nice although it was really windy.

Later on we drove to Coal Harbour where we should have seen a water airport, the last whale hunting station and a lot of animals. But in fact we just saw a harbour and some birds that was all. It was beautiful but not really interesting.

So we drove on to another beach and this one was scenic, with all the mountains and the ocean was just amazing.

Then she told us to visit the First Nations part of Port Hardy and that there is a odd but stunning cemetery.

And she was right the cemetery was completely different from the one’s I know. It had big crosses and some Totem Poles, it was somehow frightening.

First Nation’s are kind of strange people, I guess there really nice and friendly, but the ones’ we met were just drunk or high… And another thing is, that there yards are really messy, no one cares about tidying up in the garden.

After having seen all the attractions of Port Hardy we drove back to Port Mc Neill, where we found a campsite for the night.

It was stunning! We got the site right next to the rocks and the ocean!

This evening we wanted to barbecue some sausages so we made a fire and put the sausages on the table. I was writing my last blog in the RV and the others were on the rocks enjoying the ocean when Susie suddenly opened the doors and asked us where we had put the sausages.

No one knew where they should be so we were looking around and found the package on the rocks and 1 sausage still in there and another one right next to the package. The crows stole our dinner!!! Hahaha

After a discussion about god and the world we enjoyed the sunset and this picturesque view.

Motto of the day…

“bye bye sausages!”

21. Day

Port Mc Neill – Little Huson Caves – Port Mc Neill

As this day should be the only sunny day this week we took the chance and wanted to go hiking. Our destination should be Schoen Lake Provincial Park. On the way to this lake there were some caves that we wanted to visit too. But first we visited Telegraph Cove, which should be the best place for whale watching during summer. It’s a cute, little village and the view over the ocean and the other coast was once more just awesome.

Later we drove in direction Zaballos, on the way we saw a sign to the Hasun Caves but since we were looking for the Little Huson Caves we passed by. OF course the street was not really a street but a gravel path (which we’re actually not allowed to drive on). After about 30 minutes on this path we decided that we are on the wrong way so we turned and drove back. Because we wanted to see caves we then took the way to the Hasun caves, and what a surprise around 1 kilometre further we saw a sign for the Little Huson Caves…

So we parked our car and walked around 3 kilometres to this Provincial Park, and when we got there we had no idea where the caves should be. There were two ways and of course we took the wrong one.

That’s why we got to a lake, which was by the way really beautiful, and not to the caves. So we made our minds up and gave this other path a shot.

And it was the best thing to do, because we finally reached this caves and they were amazing! =)

When we got back to the car it was already 5 o’clock so we cancelled our appointment with Schoen Lake Provincial Park and drove back to the camping from the night before.

We tried to barbecue another time and this time it worked out! :P

Today’s motto…

“Canadian street signs are helpful - nooooot!”

22. Day

Port Mc Neill – Schoen Lake – Sayward – Comox

Another lovely morning was over after driving to Schoen Lake. We didn’t really went to Schoen Lake because the path was soooo narrow and had sooo many holes that we thought it’s not so healthy for our car to drive this way. There were just two options, either walked around 8 kilometres or continue on to Sayward.

Since we were not really sure if it starts to rain we took the second option.

Minutes later we arrived in Sayward, we didn’t see much from the village but the harbour was very nice. There was just one thing I didn’t understand, the have some old wrecks as wave breakers but I guess that’s not so economical with all this “rost”.

On the way to Campbell River we saw a cute little black bear. So we just turned around that we could take a picture but unfortunately he was shocked and ran away.

When we reached Campbell River we had to do our grocery shopping. We bought all the things we need but unfortunately forgot to buy water. So Mario and me went back to buy some bottles, we didn’t want to line up at the cashier so we thought we could do the self-checkout thing. We tried it, and we tried hard, but we had no clue how it worked so we grudgingly lined up.

This night we slept in Comox again so we went to the same campground as the first night on the island.

The owner of the camping told us that we should take a walk down to the Seal Bay. It was incredible down there! =D

After a delicious dinner I enjoyed our campfire and the sky full of stars. :P

Motto of the day…

“Wow self-checkout sooo nice – or not!”

... moose or wanna be local... =)

15. Day

Hagensborg – Lac Le Hache

This day was more or less just driving back to Williams Lake and a little further. So we managed this shitty gravel way up the mountain and the just drove back. On the way back we saw a cemetery, but this cemetery looked really macabre. There were wooden fences around each grave and on there were a lot of old, crooked crosses.

So this was nearly all we experienced that day. For sure we saw beautiful landscapes and animals.

This evening we watched “Schmirinskis” – AWESOME! =)

And too we had a motto…

“über stock und stei!”

16. Day

Lac Le Hache – 100 Mile House – Green Lake – Clinton – HWY99 – Whistler

It was just amazing scenery that we were driving through today.

As everyday we got up early and got prepared to drive to Whistler, which was the next stop on our tour.

First stop was 100 Mile House where we went to the visitor’s office to ask what we should visit in this small village. This was when we met Silvia, she’s emigrated from Switzerland, and she was very nice and told us where we should go. She showed us the roads and places which are of the beaten track, so that we were able to see what not every tourist sees.

Soo we drove that road and suddenly saw a moose crossing the street. Everybody was really excited to have seen such an animal, it was the first time in wildlife for all of us. But the funny story about this experience was that when Susi told us that there is a moose on the street Mario was looking for a mouse (as moose sounds similar to Muus in Swiss-German).

Later we got to Green Lake, the name of this lake was not farfetched as the water of this lake was turquoise almost green. Soon after we passed another beautiful lake, in its midst a lonely island. So we just had to stop and take some pictures. =) We were thinking about how to get to this island when Claudio told us that it would be an easy thing, that you just could walk through the water as the island was just about 5 meters away from the shore. So we told him to show us how he can get to the island, we thought the water would be tooooo deep and cold for him to make it. And guess what, we were right :P

Thank Silvia we saw something like a Canyon, it was amazing! :P

Once on the highway 99 we stopped because it was another scenic landscape. We just crossed the rail tracks :P and we wanted to know if a train was coming soon so an “Indian” listened at the track, but it was silent so we took some pictures and continued our way to Whistler.

Arrived in Whistler, found a camping we headed downtown and looked for Pili. She was visiting us, so we went for pizza. =)

After this delicious meal we joined the Kokanee Party which took place because the Telus World Festival takes place from the 16. – 25. April.

Motto of the day…

“Moose is not a Muus”

17. Day

Whistler

My day was just great! :P

The snowboarding pro’s of our family hit the slopes but I visited the village, as it was the first time to be there for me. I know I should be a bit ashamed but I must admit it’s just a cute village, for me it seemed like being in ‘Europa Park’.

But soon it started to rain and I checked out the shops and Starbucks :P

Later on I enjoy a body wrap and a massage in a local spa centre! It was awesome. =)

In the afternoon I met my friends and we watched the Orage Masters together and then went back to the camping.

Motto of the day…

“Wanna be local…!”

freeeeedom road... :D

13. Day

Quesnel – Barkerville – anywhere in nowhere (Puntzilake)

Getting up wasn’t too hard this morning, as it is getting warmer from day to day! Today’s goal was to visit Barkerville and then drive in direction Bella Coola.

When we arrived in Barkerville it was very beautiful weather and full of snow. So we enjoyed this little historic village and took a lot of pictures. In summer time there would have been cowboys and cowgirls who would have shown you how they lived in their time.

Later we were driving in direction of Bella Coola, but as it was getting late we thought we would find a camping not so far away from Williams Lake away. So we drove to Alexis Creek and further but there wasn’t a camping that was open. After a few more kilometres we saw a sign pointing to Puntzilake and showing that there is a camping ground. So we took that way…. Ou damn this was not paved but gravel. The whole RV was like a shaker. We had to drive this path for 8 kilometers and when we finally go to the camping…. Guess what… it was closed. So we just parked in front of the camping and stayed there for the night.

This evening was really funny we played ‘Stadt Land Fluss’. I don’t know the word in English but it is a game where everyone has a sheet of paper and topics and then someone says the alphabet and the other person has to say stop and then the challenge is to find words for these topics as past as possible.

=)

Mottos of the day (for sure from the ‘Stadt Land Fluss’ game…

-“Porge….”

-“My river is Judas!” “Is there a river called Judas?” “ Yes sure, that’s the one in which Jesus was baptised!” “Öhm, that’s not Judas but Jordan!” ;)

- “A…… oh no I got lost! I just thought after C comes O!” haaha

14. Day

Puntzilake – Bella Coola – Hagensborg

How slow do you have to drive that you need 30 minutes for 8 kilometres? :P

This is what we did because we didn’t want to break the RV! :P

We thought that’s it with none paved path but we were mistaken. Some kilometres later we found ourselves on a sand-gravel way which we had to take in order to get to Bella Coola, this was the only way. So we drove through along this way and reach the National Park Tweedsmuir! You should have seen that road, oh my god it was soooo narrow and steep – was a real adventures to get to the bottom of that mountain. But when we drove further it was sooooo scenic! It looked like in a cowboy movie the countryside was just stunning.

In Bella Coola we have been visiting the harbour and it was awesome. We knew that there was a ferry to get to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, and as Mario and I were a little worried about the RV we thought about changing our route and take the ferry instead of driving this gravel way again. Therefore I asked the guy at the harbour if he had information about the schedule and he just told me that the ferry should run since the end of March but it didn’t come to Bella Coola so far. So he didn’t know if there would come a ferry or not but it should. So there was no other possibility than take our beloved gravel way back to Williams Lake.

Once more the people were really nice, oh I almost forget to tell you that all the people who saw us waved us and greeted friendly. =)

Later on we drove back to Hagensborg to find a place to stay for the night. We had to get fuel and asked the guys there for a camping, and they told us we should try the one right on the other side of the street.

We went there and asked the lady we met, she told us that the owners of the camping are in Norway right now and they just arrived yesterday to sit the house. They knew each other just one week and got best friends, so the owner trusted his new friends with his house and the camping ground. But anyways we could stay there for the night and it was great!

The weather was really beautiful and warm so we felt like little children on the first day in spring! =)

The campground was huge and it was right next to a river! :P The best thing was we had a fire place where we mad a campfire and cooked some chocolate-bananas! =)

Motto…

“Freedom road – it was a-a-a-a-a-a-aw-w-e-e-ee-so-o-o-o-me!”