Up-Island

After our stay in the Ross Bay area of Victoria, we both took brief, whirlwind tours to see family--Carolyn to Oregon with Mark to see an Aunt, uncle, and cousins, and Tony to London to see his family.

After our respective returns, we headed north on Vancouver Island .  We rented a cottage on Qualicum Bay (about an hour north of Nanaimo).  The beach of Qualicum Bay is below.

and our lunch spot, on the cottage patio (the tiny black specks in the water are seals; we are still working on our wildlife photography skills)

We headed out to Denman and Hornby islands for a day, two of several small islands in between Vancouver Island and the mainland -- it's a 20 minute ferry to Denman from Vancouver island, and from Denman island another 20-minute ferry to Hornby. So Hornby island is a somewhat isolated (and therefore very interesting) community.  Below is a blustery day at Tribune Bay (on Hornby), with the tide out.

Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby island has a great hike, with beautiful sea views

 

Another beach on Hornby island

 

On a different day, we ventured out to the Horne Lake Caves, and did a 3-hour caving tour, which involved climbing a waterfall in a cave, hitting our heads several times on the ceiling (thank God for the hard hats!), and a passageway called "the cheese grater"--see Tony's ripped pantleg (he will tell you the entire story on request)

 

We also visited one of Carolyn's ex-graduate students, Brenda Correy, who now lives not far from Qualicum Beach (in Errington) with her husband, Rod. Here is Rod, Brenda, and Tony, posing in Rod and Brenda's beautiful country yard.

They took us to "Cathedral Grove" nearby, to see the giant trees!

Rod is born and raised in Port Alberni (nearby), and took us on a "local's tour". The below picture is from a lookout that we got to via an unmarked and somewhat scary 4-wheel drive track, followed by a 15 minute straight uphill hike - Rod points out the Alberni valley to Carolyn

the Aberni valley from ground level 

 

and the Port Alberni marina -- check out the cool snow-capped peaks in the background!

At the end of the day, we hit a popular local Bavarian restaurant and ordered two Bavarian dinners for two - we have rarely seen as much meat in our lives!

And back near Qualicum Beach and a neighbouring town called Parksville, is Rathetrevor Provincial Park, which was stunning.  Here are a few shots from there. First, a driftwood shelter Tony tried to build -- artistic although likely not water-tight

And Tony trying to take a picture of the large flocks of Brant Geese who pass through the area every spring during the herring run (the black specks in the background are the geese - as I said, we are still working on wildlife photography)

That's it for now. We are currently back in Victoria and settled in here for the next three months - we have an extra bedroom too for anyone who wants to visit!
lots of love, C & T