Simnett Travels

Thursday, June 30th – Whistler, British Columbia - Day 139  Laundry needed to be done. The plan was to load the laundry, drop Gen, Jo-Ce and kids off for a swim, and then I’d go back, blog a little, dry and fold. The pub above the laundromat had a 5-wing special so I was pretty content. I picked up Gen and the kids, we took the smallest of walks. More stops were required to get provisions to take to my favourite Uncle Pat and Aunt Leila’s for dinner.  Dinner was with a fantastic group of people and the food was excellent. After dinner we walked to a nearby park to throw around the disc and kick the footy. There were mountains all around us as we ran around to work off the meal. It’s lovely to have the whole family out at the park being active. It seems like a very Whistler thing to do. We went back to the house to chat some more before heading back to the trailer.

Onwards we drove to Nanaimo, looking up the popular spots along the way. Gen plotted a route with stops in Neck Point Park and Pipers Lagoon Park. Very scenic views of the ocean.  Next stop, the ferry terminal, our fourth ferry ride of this trip and we were first ones off the boat to start heading north. Google maps took us through Vancouver on our way to Whistler, so we decided to take a drive through Stanley Park. Vancouver is spectacular in the middle of Mountains and Oceans.  We continued up the sea-to-sky highway as dusk settled on us. The views were spectacular, but we knew we’d have to drive back in the daytime to fully appreciate them.  At this point our accommodation plan broke down a bit. We were going to stay in Pat’s driveway but there was some question about how we could fit. We started looking for other accommodation. Gen wanted to drive up a very steep hill but with no one in the mood to push, we decided to pass. Further ...

Wednesday, June 29th – Port Alberni to Nanaimo to Whistler, British Columbia - Day 138   We had a ferry booked for 3pm to take us from Nanaimo to Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver. We wanted to ensure we saw Nanaimo and purchased some Nanaimo bars.   After leaving the church, we stopped at a very busy roadside trail through the Cathedral Grove. We walked through a grove of old growth Douglas Fir and Cedar. The first loop was through a fern covered grove of huge trees, the second loop followed a boardwalk and led us to a river to play in. It was a fantastic trail. Lunch was sushi on the trailer roadside. Our first-time trying sushi on this trip and it was a big success. We had sushi rice, avocado, crab sticks, cucumber and soy sauce wrapped in seaweed.  To be continued...  

We started driving towards Tofino. The surf culture in Tofino was surprising. Every person you run into looks like a surfer. People have surfboards attached to their bikes and cars everywhere. We settled in to see the Anchor Lookout near a beautiful harbour. John was asleep and the girls wanted to go to a park, I took the kids; Jo-Ce and Gen wandered the town looking to pick up some food. No luck in town but Gen found a fantastic take-out counter in the Pacific Sands Beach Resort nearby.  We settled into chairs around a natural gas fireplace to wait for the food. Nearby was a beach with surfers working the waves.  Our last stop was Wickaninnish Beach for a last chance to see ocean life. We walked the beach and checked out some tidal pools. The kids played with driftwood before we piled into the car once more for the hour drive back to Port Alberni.  On our way we saw a bear on the side of the road unt...

Tuesday, June 28th – Port Alberni to Tofino to Port Alberni, British Columbia - Day 137  Our first National Park in Canada was the Pacific Rim National Park. We were excited to see how it would compare to the American system. An hour drive and we arrived at the visitor centre to purchase our national park pass. Instead of a junior ranger package, they have the explorer package. Instead of a badge, you get a dog tag with the park name on it. The explorer book was very well done.   Our first stop was into Ucluelet to visit the lighthouse and the stunning views of waves crashing into rocky shores. We ate lunch and looked out into the ocean to see any ocean life passing by. No luck. We did find very cool massive slugs that were four inches long. We walked for a few hundred metres along the Lighthouse trail before turning back to the car.   Into Pacific Rim National Park and to the rainforest trail, a 1.6 km boardwalk through lush...

We returned to the car and sat at the bottom of the hill looking up. It seemed we were a rather long way from the top. We started creeping up the hill in first and second gear only to have our tires start slipping. We backed up and had a running start. We went higher but not all the way to the top. Change in strategy, get Jo-Ce and myself out of the car and pushing while Gen eases the car up the hill. After a great deal of tire spinning which threw up a massive cloud of dust, Jo-Ce and I provided the power to get the car to the top. Gen kept going until she reached a level spot.  The next challenge was a switchback with a mix of rock and terrible gravel. I took a run, honking I charged around the switchback only to find myself stuck halfway up the next hill. At this point people started to pass us, they would roll down their window and ask if we were okay. I kept saying “Well, we may need a push”. At the end of it we had seven people, who were consumed in a cloud of dus...

Monday, June 27th – Victoria to Port Alberni, British Columbia - Day 136  We woke up early to pack up the trailer to hit the ferry, then pulled a full 180 degree turn and decided to see if Mary could take the bus to the train station. Gen drove her to the bus station in downtown Victoria and was just in time to buy a ticket on a bus ride that delivers you directly to the train station, no fuss, no muss.  We decided we needed to explore the island and with much help from James, Matthew’s brother/Gen’s cousin, plotted a route along the coast of South-West Vancouver Island, across the island to Nanaimo and then back across the island to Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino. We packed up the trailer and with much love for our gracious hosts, Patrick, Leila, Matthew, Paolina and James, hit the road. Before we left, Pat and Leila, and their friends Dave and Deb, invited us to join them at Dave and Deb’s chalet in Whistler in a few days. We weren’t planning to go to Whistler, but we...

Sunday, June 26th – Victoria, British Columbia - Day 135  As I was sleeping in, I found out Pat was driving down to the hall to pick up his car, so I hitched a ride. While I was downtown, I went to help set-up a gift opening drop-in the wedding the bride and groom were hosting. When I was of no use, I went back home.  We decided to walk ten minutes to the ocean. We made the mistake of not bringing swimsuits, so the kids were disappointed. The beach was nice and had a shoreline trail that had rocky lookouts. We wanted to drop-in to the gift opening, so we hurried back to the trailer and got ready to go.  I’ve never seen a gift opening event; Matthew was cracking jokes and there were lots of hugs. The kids eventually got impatient, we had to get out of there.   Gen wanted to go back to the beach to let the kids swim while I wanted to drive to the top of nearby Mount Douglas. The compromise was dropping t...

Saturday, June 25th – Victoria, British Columbia - Day 134  Wedding Day! We have been talking about this day since February. When talking about our plan for the trip, we kept saying our only goal was to be in Victoria for June 25th to celebrate the wedding of Matthew and Leah. Our morning was beautifying ourselves before heading to the wedding.   Upon arrival, we had a last-minute change, John was invited to be the ring bearer. We said yes but Gen felt terrible about the decision; to be a ring boy he should have worn a better outfit and had more practice. None the less, when the wedding started, there was John with rings on a pillow leading the way and closely followed by the four flower girls, Aisling and Charlotte among them. John was great for the first half of the aisle before taking a U-turn and looking for mom. Gen turned him around and got him moving forward again before a second U-turn. Gen tried to put him with the flower girls to keep walking. Eventually he got...

Friday, June 24th – Victoria, British Columbia - Day 133  The day before the wedding was a busy one. In the morning, there was a bridal shower for Leah at a cute little teahouse. There was some confusion; the girls were going then not going then going again. John and I dropped them off.  I was then assigned the great privilege of picking up the brothers McDonough, Paul and Evan, from the airport. A quick drive to the airport only to face an hour delay, John and I hung around. The additional hour was a bit of an issue because I was to drive back and pick up Gen and the girls. When they finally arrived, we went to grab some food for the boys before stopping by Leila’s house so they could say hello to their brother and sister-in-law.  Gen had been filling time with the girls but was out of things to do so we picked her up before delivering Paul and Evan to their hotel overlooking the harbour. This involved a lot of in-depth conversation ...