July 4th, 2025
GAS on the island: $1.59 a litre CDN; $4.40 USD a gallon
CDN $: $0.73 USD
We actually did not encounter any traffic on this drive north from Bellingham, WA; the border was a breeze although we were asked way more questions than usual by the Canadian Border Patrol agent – maybe she was lonely as it’s pretty quiet at the Canada/US border these days with the whole tariff situation. We arrived at the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen in time to get on the 8am ferry instead of our reserved 9 am sailing! You just never know how it’s going to go, do you? That’s why we like to plan ahead.
After disembarking from the ferry, we stopped to visit with our friends who live in Deep Cove: Marg & Claud for a nice lunch and catch up. They used to live across the street from us in the ‘90’s when we lived in Burnaby; they had immigrated from New Zealand and now, after about 30 years in Canada, they are going back to live closer to their first grandchild (their son immigrated back a few years ago) was born there.
After lunch, we drove up island to visit Doug’s brother Dennis and his family – traffic was horrific again – it is a Friday afternoon but we left way before anticipated “rush hour”. Getting out of Victoria was no issue really, it was getting up on the Island Highway with all its traffic lights, slow zones and volume of traffic.
We arrived in Nanoose Bay at Dennis’ house. He was home from work already, and his wife, Zenobia arrived shortly after and their twin grandkids, Keani and Kaleeah who are 14 were at the house. Around 6 we all left in two vehicles to go watch their daughter, Madison’s ball game in Qualicum and after returning had a dinner of snacky foods while playing a marble game all together. Dennis had to work early on Saturday so we said our goodbyes before going to bed.
Next morning, the house was pretty quiet with the teenage girls sleeping …but before we left, got pictures with Madison, who is 22 and just finished a criminology degree and has recently become engaged.
We left Dennis’ around 9:30 and were at Doug’s brother David’s in Nanaimo (not too far south) around 10. They live in a basement suite and their son and his family live upstairs. We visited with him and his wife, Carole for a bit before going upstairs to Will and Karyssa’s on the main floor where we visited all of them. We had met their daughter, Celayna before (she is now 4) but not their son, Elijah who just turned 2. We had a really nice visit; the kids took to us right away. We left with baking from David: peanut butter cookies for Doug and raspberry brownies for Fran. Yum yum.
Here are couple of pics of the little ones:
We left around noon, stopped to pick up lunch at Timmy’s and then drove south towards Victoria. We made one stop to visit Doug’s step brother Eric and his wife Virginia who live in Duncan. As usual, no photos! We just get too caught up in the moment, we guess!
We arrived at Doug’s youngest brother’s house around 3:45. D’Arcy was home as was his daughter, Sophie, who is 17 and will start Grade 12 this fall. His eldest daughter, Emma no longer lives at home. We will be staying here with them in Victoria for about two weeks which will be most of our time here on the Island.
After settling in, we took them out to this cool bar/restaurant/arcade for dinner called Pinhalla, downtown in Chinatown. We all played some pinball for maybe about an hour then enjoyed some pizza. You buy tokens for the machines ($5 for 10) and games cost one, two or three tokens. It was pretty fun. Sophie had never seen a pinball machine before so that was kinda cool.
Sunday morning, Doug did his long run and D’Arcy and Fran went grocery shopping. That afternoon, Doug went to meet an old college friend for lunch and Fran and Sophie took a walk to the mall.
Monday, was Fran’s 66th birthday and Doug started the day going to the Canadian Passport Office to get his passport renewal done – he arranged to have it sent to North Vancouver since it won’t be ready till the 21st. Fran picked rhubarb from D’Arcy’s garden and made a batch of tarts. Josh called in the morning via WhatsApp. Lat that afternoon after opening presents, D’Arcy joined us for dinner at Denny’s. It sounds weird but Denny’s in Canada offers a free meal on the actual day of your birthday and we’ve never done it so why not?
Doug gave her a lovely anklet to match her earrings and necklace:
Upon returning home, Serena called and then Doug and D’Arcy lit birthday candles on a small cake and sang her “happy birthday”.
Much of our time here in Victoria was spent visiting and catching up with friends and family as well as enjoying time with D’Arcy and Sophie when she was around.
Tuesday morning after his run, Doug began working on the Tundra’s headlights. It took way longer than expected but it looks great.
Tuesday morning, Fran drove out to Sooke where we went to high school to have lunch with a high school friend, Tracy and spent a couple of hours catching up. The weather has been getting warmer each day since we got to the island and today was up to 28 C / 83Ff which is quite warm for Victoria and it’s not dry here but also not super humid.
Wednesday, it was over cast and misting rain but it didn’t last very long, however, the temperature barely reached 20 C / 70 F although the sun came out later in the afternoon. We went to Doug’s uncle’s house for lunch where we caught with Dave, his wife, Marlaine and their daughter, Marnie.
Thursday Doug started the day with a marathon walk out to Sooke where he met Fran at her father’s bench on Whiffin Spit and she managed to fill the gas tank for $1.487 a litre – more than ten cents a litre less than in Victoria. The photo at the top is the view from Harry’s bench.
Afterwards, we joined some of Doug’s high school class of ’78 friends at the Prestige Hotel bar for happy hour.
On the way back to D’Arcy’s we stopped in to see Byron and Sharon for a quick visit – we will be back on Saturday for a barbecue.
On Friday, Fran met her high school friend, Kerstin, for lunch and that night Doug and D’Arcy had some bro time going back to play pinball, eat and have a beer or two.
Saturday, it got warm again and Fran went out to pick more rhubarb for more tarts and also froze some for D’Arcy to use in smoothies. That afternoon we went to see Byron and Sharon, their friend, Cindy and our high school chum, Randy, who joined us for Byron’s specialty: smoked BBQ ribs! Sharon and Cindy made lots of sides and we had a very fulling and yummy meal. Our friend, Bill, from way up island was supposed to join us but on his drive down yesterday, his truck’s water pump went and he had to get towed back so we hopefully will catch up with him later this summer.
Sunday was a bit cooler and after our usual morning routine, we walked over to the Four Mile Pub to meet up with long time friends, Trish & Ted. We’ve known Trish since Fran got her first job out of college back in 1978! We had a nice lunch catching up before walking back to D’Arcy’s place. It was a warm day – just about perfect – up to about 26C / 82 F.
Monday was a cooler but sunny day. D’Arcy joined us going over to his and Doug’s sister, Dana’s, place for dinner. Her husband, Mark, has had some major health issues lately and they are pretty stressed. They live on the 6th floor and have a lovely balcony space where we sat and ate while we caught up.
The weather is warming up again, and Tuesday looked like a scorcher. We drove up the peninsula and had lunch in Sidney with high school friends, Ron and Tamara whom we’d not seen in a few years. They, too, are both retired and enjoying their lives. It got quite hot today – hottest yet reaching 29C / 84 – with some humidity (so feels like 32C / 90F) and no breeze. Even the basement of the house is getting a bit too warm here at D’Arcy’s and he has no AC or even a fan.
The sun continued to shine on Wednesday morning and Doug went for a walk with Ted around Elk Lake first thing in the morning. We’ve been super lucky with the weather here; it’s been dry except for one morning of a light misty rain. The locals, of course, want some rain, but selfishly, we’re happy!
D’Arcy made us a lovely farewell dinner and Sophie joined us to eat and chat for a couple of hours after dinner. It was so nice to sit outside on the deck on the shady side of the house and stay cooler than inside. The food was yummy and the company was great. Thanks D’Arcy!
Doug heard from our friends in North Van that they received a package for him on July 14th while they were away. We figure it’s from the passport office despite them saying it would be after July 21st but since no one was home it was not left at the door. They say it will be kept the Purolator depot for five business days. We are not sure if that means Friday or Monday so Doug will have to call in the morning to sort that out.
Thursday, our last morning in Victoria, after exercising, we showered, did laundry and packed up. It looked like it was going to be another very warm day. Doug called Purolator and arranged for delivery of the package on Tuesday the 22nd instead of holding it so we cross our fingers that that works! After our brunch we hit the road and headed back up island. As we’ve already stayed two weeks with D’Arcy, we were feeling like we were overstaying our welcome and got a couple of AirBNBs up island to let him get his house including his bedroom back! We are so appreciative of his hospitality.
We drove up island and stopped in Nanaimo for a fountain drink and did some grocery shopping before checking into our lodgings for the next two nights. We booked a fifth wheel RV in Nanoose Bay for $156 (USD) for two nights and it comes with everything including Wi-Fi. It’s an older model and the couple rents it out and uses the money they earn from the rentals for an orphanage they sponsor in Kenya.
Friday, we awoke to cloudy skies with cooler temps that are supposed to hang around with sunny breaks through the weekend. We did use the AC in the RV last night and it actually got too cold so we may not need it tonight. We both went for walks but it’s not so pleasant being situated right off the highway – and the road into Nanoose Bay is not much better: not much of a shoulder and no sidewalks so you constantly have to be on the lookout. Here’s some pics around the area:
That afternoon, the owners of this place, invited us up to their house for dinner. We got to know Jen and Peter and they us as we shared stories of our endeavours in Africa while eating dinner outside on their patio. Jen made us a wonderful vegan meal, Fran brought salad and we loved the fresh blueberry pie she made for desert. Partway through dinner, another guest arrived who was renting the spare room in the house (also income for their orphanage). Tracy is from the UK but has been living and working in Brunei as a principal in an international school. She joined us but had already eaten. We had a very pleasant evening with nice people.
After Doug’s long run and our usual morning routine on Saturday, we left Nanoose Bay and headed towards Port Alberni. When we spent the summer of 2020 touring the Island, we were unable to visit MacMillan Provincial Park to see Cathedral Grove due to COVID so we wanted to check it out – we’d visited back in the ‘90’s when the kids were young but that was ages ago. Enroute we stopped at both Qualicum Bay and Qualicum Beach, the latter being where we’d camped in 2020 and got kicked out of in the morning cause someone called the cops on an American plated vehicle.
Here we met a couple from Quebec, Denis and Nicole, who had just traveled up to the Yukon and after chatting with them for a bit we met a Swiss couple touring Canada, Caspar and Sybille, and are on the way south to Argentina.
MacMillan Provincial Park is a 301-hectare (740-acre) park located 25 km / 16 mi west of Qualicum beach and 16 km / 10 mi east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. It is nestled on the western shore of Cameron Lake, and protects the delta of its river. The park is home to a famous, 157-hectare (390-acre) stand of ancient Douglas fir, known as Cathedral Grove, which draws visitors from all over the world. The park provides the only highway-accessible protected old growth Douglas-fir forest in British Columbia. In 2007 Cathedral Grove made the short list on CBC‘s competition Seven Wonders of Canada.
The flora of the park is typical of the region, and includes stands of old-growth tree species including Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar and Big Leaf Maple, to name a few. The understory (term for the area of the forest that grows in the shade the forest canopy) includes red huckleberry, sala, and devil’s club. The park is home to several species of birds, including owls and woodpeckers; as well as such mammals as deer, black bear, elk and cougar.
It was a great day to see the giant Douglas Firs and Western Cedars in Cathedral Grove: sunny and a perfect temperature. Parking is quite limited but we found a spot on the side of the road maybe 500m up from the trail head (where so many others were parked despite “no parking” signs and enjoyed a really nice walk amoungst the trees.
On the way back to the eastern coast of the Island to our AirBNB for the next two nights in Nanaimo, we just HAD to stop near Coombs to have the famous and yummy ice cream at the creamery at “Goats on the Roof”.
We had booked a studio suite at a house in Nanaimo ($205 USD) for our final two nights on the island and were able to check in 2:30 after getting gas nearby for $1.479 (cheapest we’d seen on the island). Here we have a very nice almost brand new unit complete with all we need including Wi-Fi and free parking. It’s a basement suite in a house owned by a couple with three girls; he is from Ghana and she’s Canadian.
We had a quiet lazy day on Sunday, lying in in the morning and just taking it easy the rest of the day after exercise. Fran got a nice walk in on the Parkway Trail.
It’s definitely cooled off this weekend and we love it as again, we have no AC here so we hope that continues when we get to North Van tomorrow! Doug has taken to drinking cold brew coffee in the morning and is getting used to it.
Monday morning when we got up we saw the ferry sailing we wanted to take had on 5% space left on it so we packed up and left at 7am for that 10:55 am sailing – yes FOUR hours ahead of it. It’s only 5 minutes from where we are staying so it didn’t take long. The woman in the toll booth said we MIGHT make the 1:25 sailing but more likely the 4pm!!!! WTH? She said we could call and try and get a reservation for a different one; we weren’t sure how that was different from looking online but we tried and we were told no reservation bookings available for the rest of the day and that the other ferry, Duke Point (which goes further south of Vancouver) was also fully reserved. So we settled in to wait. Luckily it’s sunny out and we could walk around. The 6:15 am had already left by the time we got here and the 8:40 left without taking any vehicles from our line up (which was a bit of a surprise) so we continued to wait. The 10:55 sailing arrived a bit late from the mainland all the reserved vehicles got on and we thought we were out of luck but then our line began to move (we were 20th in line). About five cars from our row joined in and it all stopped again. Then a few minutes later, off we went and made the sailing as did about eight vehicles behind us. The ferry left eleven minutes late but, hey, we were on it and not sitting waiting for another 3 or 5 hours! We had some lunch onboard and arrived safe and sound in Horseshoe Bay outside West Vancouver.
This is WHY we don’t want to live on an island with no bridges to the mainland! It’s ridiculous to have to wait three sailings to get across – this crossing needs more ferries this time of year. The fact that they now can book up to 90% of a sailing is also ridiculous – not everyone can afford that extra cost so it’s just a money grab from those who can.
We approach the mainland at Horseshoe Bay:
We’ve quite enjoyed our time here on Vancouver Island and it gave us time to get back into a routine (more or less) with downtime most afternoons to read and chill.
You can here here to see all the photos of our two weeks and a half weeks here. There are not a lot of people pics as, like we usually do, we forgot to take photos of our visits!
