Vancouver Island Day 2-130 miles
Today I was on my own and was looking forward
to meandering around on my bike and looking at whatever fancied my interest.
Riding with someone else is great but each detour always seems to be a negotiation
between riders and priorities and often they don’t match. Today was an
exception, it was my own day to do as I wanted. I started the day out wandering
down to the beach just a few feet from camp with my laptop and updated my web
pages, preparing for the next time I got internet access and could do an
upload.
The beach was totally deserted except for the occasional person running by. I couldn’t imagine where they were going in such a hurry. I wouldn’t run on my vacation but most people wouldn’t bring a computer and make web pages either. I guess they were doing some form of exercise that to me looked painful.
I finally wandered back to camp and loaded up and headed out for the day. Along the way I couldn’t help but notice all the wildflowers blooming along the sides of the road with the ocean bays and trees in the background. It made for quite and impressive site.
Up the road a little I decided to pull off and get a closer shot of this explosion of color.
As I headed into the town of Charles River,
crossing the river I was struck by something I saw. Being from Arizona, I’m not
used to seeing someones airplane docked on a river behind their home. But there
it was and I made a second pass with the camera ready to make sure I recorded
it.
Outside of the Campbell River I came up on an
overlook of the Seymour Narrows. Apparently this passage used by ships is a
treacherous section that has incredibly swift currents and has caused many
ships to sink trying to navigate it.
A little bit of bushwhacking allowed me to get down to get this picture of the narrows. I’m glad I didn’t see the dead rattlesnake on the road until later in the day.
Highway 28 heads into the interior of
Vancouver island and I drove a little way down the road and found some gorgeous
lake views on the way. Campbell river should have been my stopping point for
the day as I was supposed to meet back up with David Smith at a campground
outside Campbell river but I decided to change plans. Looking on the map I saw
a camping area called Rock Bay. This little point on Vancouver island is a spot
where 3 passage straights come together and form a large bay of water and I
thought it might be a cool spot to camp for the night.
When I headed out of town I didn’t realize this was a rough dirt road to Rock Bay but for me that really made it even better. As I headed towards it I was getting glimpses of the bay ahead and so far it really looked like something special.
I made it out to the bay just I time to catch a cruise ship passing by. This spot is a hidden gem on the island and most tourist pass it by. The campground was full of locals from Campbell River and I got strange looks when I pulled in on my motorcycle. I approached and introduced myself and found that these were some of the nicest people in the world and they were curious to know what I was doing out in the middle of nowhere on my motorcycle. One of the folks, Bill Huxham was most interested in the fact that I was posting my trip to the web. It turns out that Bill created an Internet site, beersports.com selling different items that are found local to the island. One in particular is a handmade cedar canoe that a local craftsman makes one at a time. I guess he sells everyone he makes and I didn’t get a chance to see it but as I understand it, they are fantastic.
It was fortunate for me that I met these nice
people because I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and was planning to get something
when I got to Rock Bay. I had no idea when I decided to go there it was so
remote. They invited me into their camp though and offered me moose sausage,
smoked salmon and beer and wine. By the next morning when I walked over to say
goodbye, I counted 11 empty bottles of wine in the wheelbarrow. No wonder my
head hurts.
I also got the opportunity to meet groucho the performing dog.
As the 10:00 PM sunset on a wonderful day I was already looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.