Out in the Boonies

Not sure what the 'boonies' are - it's Brian's word for the back of beyond. Anyway, despite the heat, we decided we should travel up country to see what else we could find on Vancouver Island.

We hired a car for a few days and set off along the coastal highway, way up into the Canada of school geography lessons where there seemed to be nothing but huge mountains and thousands of acres of trees. Evidence of the logging industry was everywhere, and we enjoyed the contrast of this wilderness and its forty shades of green after the pampered gentle pace of Central Vancouver Island.

We spotted Bears 6, 7 and 8 on this trip, or rather I did. Brian missed one of them, so he is a bear behind, if you see what I mean.

As usual, we were tempted by a dubious gravel road and left the main highway to follow it to an old gold rush town ringed by high forested mountains and bordered by a sparkling deep harbour. This town was quaint, weird and beautiful all at once, so we stayed overnight to make the most of stepping back in time. Driving back the 24 miles to the highway, choking on the dust with teeth rattling as we bumped over the holes in the road, we agreed we couldn't be persuaded to live there despite the stunning beauty and peace of the place, and we set off back to the creature comforts of Parksville.