Our Vancouver Island Adventure - Nanaimo, Tofino, and Victoria

Monday, October 12th, 2015.  We're back home and what a trip we had.  We travelled a rolling distance of 696.8 kilometres.  We took two ferries to get to and from Vancouver Island.  The first was Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and the second, Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.  We love our cute little camper van we call Serenity.  We thoroughly enjoyed each and every place we stayed and all of the natural wonders we got to explore along out travels.

Ready for departure:

Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV Park was  well maintained home away from  home park for us to stay at and as our first stop.  We were parked next to the drier end of the harbour and had a view of the more industrial outskirts of Nanaimo but the industrial view certainly did not take anything away from the natural setting and surroundings we found ourselves in.  Besides, Nanaimo is a charming harbour city.

As we left Living Forest and made our way to Bella Pacifica Campground just outside Tofino we made a few stops along the way.  Our first took us to Piper's Lagoon Park, Nanaimo, a lovely walk along a trail to the rock outcropping and lovely views of the harbour and the many fisherman's cabins on Shack Island.

Trail at Piper's Lagoon Park:

Our second stop took us to Beachcomber Regional Park, district of Nanaimo.  This was Edith and David's favourite of the day.

That's so very true Eugene.  David and I each spent time in the hollow of a warm, welcoming, friendly, funny and engaging tree.  What a hoot that was.  Then we both had to stop ourselves from walking off the rocks and into the sea.  I'm sure our spiritual energy kept on walking into those hypnotic and yet rejuvenating waves.

Then we were off on the slow yet engaging drive to Port Alberni, then onward to Tofino.  Port Alberni, a good stop for lunch, a bit of shopping, and a top  up of the fuel tank.  We did manage a quick walk to Alberni Harbour for a less than stellar coffee but I did get to reminisce about trains as we visited the old Port Alberni (Train) Station.

The drive from Port Alberni was the best though as the twisting winding narrow two lane highway demanded a good pair of hands on the wheel and keen eyes on the road ahead and the passing traffic on the opposite side of the road.  We made to stop at Cathedral Grove on our way to Victoria.

Bella Pacifica Campground is a rustic cut out of niche plots of bare ground to host a variety of camping options from tents to tent trailers, to campers, small motorhomes  or much larger ones.  We were parked in a spot two roads away from and above the beach but we had a nice little view.

Edith and David found this beach to be another gem and much to their liking.  Roaming the beach and discovering a spiritual gem tucked into the rocky shoreline was more than they could have asked for or even imagined.  At different times they both spent time in this seaside spiritual nook.

Tofino is a great little seaside village and great 4 kilometre walk from the campground.  Pizza for lunch and a couple of afternoon coffees gave us the perfect perk to meander back to the campground.





Clouds and rain moved in and our stay and departure became a wet one.  And the drive back to Port Alberni and points beyond was more riveting with the wet roads under our wheels.  However we did manage a stop at Cathedral Grove and spend time amongst some regal (Douglas Fir) giants.

The trees are magnificent however as much as we wished to stay another destination was awaiting us so onward ho and taking lunch in Port Alberni and adding more fuel to the tank.

We had our lunch and got back to our drive to Victoria.  As the early afternoon gave way to mid-afternoon we hit the city of Ladysmith and decided to stop for a coffee and muffin at McDonalds.  This quick break re-energized us and onto Victoria we went.  We arrived at the Westbay Marine Village and were greeted warmly and happily by the clerk behind the desk.  With such a great welcome to the marine village we quickly got set up in Site 21, a beautiful corner setting overlooking the  harbour and the outlying parts of Victoria.  What a beautiful location we found ourselves in.

We relaxed and watched and enjoyed what the simple serene life of being on a harbour was all about.  Then it was time to head back home.

The ferry ride from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen was a little rough than usual.  We all noticed the subtle rocking of the ferry.  The trip to Nanaimo very smooth.

Serenity is unpacked and back in storage but plans for another trip next April are slowly coming together.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our Vancouver Island adventure.

Happy Camping!

Relaxing in Serenity

We arrived safe and sound at Living Forest Campground. We missed our 12:50pm reserved sailing because of an accident as well as a stalled vehicle on our route. So we took a detour but traffic was snarled everywhere so we simply relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

We had to wait for the 3:10pm ferry which gave us the opportunity to have lunch in Horseshoe Bay.  Olive and Anchor provided us with a decent lunch. We shared Snapper Tacos and a BBQ Pulled Chicken Burger with Yam Fries.

We'll get into describing the campground tomorrow.

Happy Camping!

Our Shakedown Cruise and Maiden Voyage Starts Soon

Friday, October 2nd, 2015.  Our maiden voyage in Serenity starts tomorrow. She's parked outside of our condo building just across the street.  This is our first time seeing her roof.  She's certainly a nice spiffy looking camper van up from this vantage point and is even better looking when she's seen from the ground up.

Let's see if we can get some sleep...

Happy Camping!

Books of Note, Books That'll Influence Our Travels

A few years back we picked up a copy of 'The Long and Winding Road, Discovering the Pleasures and Treasures of Highway 97'.  The author, Jim Couper traveled the entire length of Highway 97 all the way from Weed, California to Watson Lake on the British Columbia and Yukon border.  We would like to do the same.

Additionally, we would like to travel  to and camp in many of the national, provincial, and territorial campgrounds listed in Jayne Seagrave's book 'Camping British Columbia and Yukon' and interspersing this with as many free or low cost campgrounds listed in Kathy and Craig Copeland's book 'Camp Free (or really cheap) in BC'.

We have much reading, planning, and preparations to do so off we go...

Happy Camping!

2005 Pleasure-Way Van Motorhome Ford Excel Owner's Manuals and Other Documents

Since we've decided to do and where to go for our shakedown cruise we thought it was best that we go over and review all of the documentation that came along with our purchase of our new home away from home or home on wheels.  In addition to the owner's manual for the mechanical side of the vehicle (Ford Excel or E Series Van) we also have an owner's manual for the home away from home (Pleasure-Way Van Motorhome) components of the vehicle or as we call her, Serenity.  We also have manuals for the water pump, furnace, refrigerator, toilet, air helper springs, entertainment/theatre system, vents, fans, and rooftop air conditioner.

I'm sure we've likely forgotten one two but there is just so much to read and go over that our heads are spinning.  We need a break.

Our Shakedown Cruise in Serenity Is Planned

Saturday, September 5th, 2015, 10:05pm.

Hi Folks,

We've come up with a great destination for our camping trip: Vancouver Island, more specifically, the west coast side of the island -  Tofino and Ucluelet.  We've been researching our options and have narrowed our choices for a campground to a single facility, Bella Pacifica Campground.  At least for now this place appears to be our best option.  Our second choice is the Crystal Cove Beach Resort if the first does not work out.

Well, we've made a couple of reservations for our first outing in Serenity.  This, we guess will be our shakedown cruise.  We'll be spending a couple of days in the quaint harbour city of Nanaimo at the Living Forest RV Park before heading over to the west side of the island where we'll spend a few days in the Tofino area at the Bella Pacifica Campground.  Oh, we extended our trip down to Victoria and now have made a reservation at the Westbay Marine Village just across the harbour from downtown Victoria.

We have received our confirmation from Bella Pacifica Campground,  Living Forest and Westbay Marina.  We're very excited to be actually getting out on the road and camping.

Happy Camping and thanks for stopping by!

We're Back But Haven't Travelled Too Far

Hi Folks,

Thanks for stopping by.  We're back but we're sure not blogging too much these days are we now?

Well, we've been busy thinking about how we'll start our travels and where we'll be going.  Since our chauffeur is still transitioning from his job to his own career we'll likely spend some time travelling close to home.  Interestingly, in that regard we have been thinking about street or urban camping, also referred to as boondocking.  We've seen quite a bit of this during our travels around the Metro Vancouver region.

Luckily, Serenity (2005 Pleasure Way Excel purchased from O'Connor RV in Chilliwack) does not have a big RVing footprint so and since we've been reading so many blogs we know exactly what we must do in order to stealthily camp on city streets.  And speaking of Serenity, here a few photos of what she looks like:

     

She's very clean and quite the beauty, don't you think?  She's ten years old but doesn't show her age at all.  We're very happy to have her come into our lives.

That's all we've got for now and our chauffeur is off on vacation to Florida for a week so we'll be sticking close to our stick and brick home for now.

Thanks for stopping by and happy camping!