About 400km of cycling later, here we are in Jasper, Alberta. We last posted at our Warm Showers hosts Gili and Maya's place in Vancouver, so that's where I'll start.
Our next two nights were spent at our good friend Jamey's parents house in Vancouver. Despite our last day there being rainy and chilly, Carey and Myra showed us a great time driving us around town, taking us to White Spot for delish burgers and tasting paddles of beer at the Main Street Brewery. Thanks for having us guys we had a brilliant time and we really enjoyed your company.
The next day we set off on our loaded bikes to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. We were racing the clock for most of the way along busy main roads - first to get shuttled by mini bus across The George Massey Tunnel (does not allow cyclists through), and then to make the ferry itself. It was a tense three hours but we made it just in time, being the last to be loaded onboard.
We spent five nights on Vancouver Island with the main objective of cycling the Pacific Marine Circle route. Starting in the south-eastern end beginning in Brentwood Bay, we stayed at a very quaint 'tent and breakfast' run by a family on their hobby farm.
Our first day was pretty hard on the legs and mind. It was a 50km ride to Cowichan River Provincial Park via the Trans-Canada trail. At first it was a beautiful ride with wineries, cideries and the famous Kinsle Tressol en route. However ended in a gruelling two hours bouncing and avoiding rocks, pushing bikes through mud, and darting eyes from left to ride as the path narrowed and we realised the chances of a bear encounter had quickly increased. Paranoia breeds more paranoia and we were hoping our defensive strategy of frequently ringing our bike bell would hold up.
The fear was compounded as we had been warned while catching the local ferry to Mill Bay that morning that per square metre, Vancouver Island had the most cougar numbers in North America. In fact we met an avid 60-something cyclist who showed us the dagger he strapped to his waist when cycling in case of a cougar attack. Eeek! Needless to say we didn't encounter any wildlife apart from the odd rabbit and squirrel.
From Cowichan River we headed up to Lake Cowichan, before taking a turn south down to Port Renfrew and Juan de Fuca National Park. This is a beautiful area along the coast looking out to American land. We had an 82km day through forestry land with some serious inclines on which I played tunes on Spotify to distract me from the pain. That night we decided to purchase some morale and paid for a motel. The hot shower, ribs and beer made us feel like royals.
The Kinsol Trestle
We then moved along the coast to camp at French Beach in Juan de Fuca. We had an epic hill to conquer at the beginning, requiring us to push our bikes most of the way. Neil was such a trooper, riding up ahead, dropping off his bike and running back to push mine, all the while feeding me amble muesli bars. French Beach was a beautiful camp ground, especially after a rainy night!
Our last night we cycled across to Victoria, where we spotted a pod of Orcas in the Strait and had the nicest breaky and coffee at a gem of a cafe called Shirley Delicious run by a South African, come Australian, come Canadian surfer dude. That night we stayed in a rather interesting Air BnB, and unfortunately didn't have too much time or energy to see a lot of Victoria.
Our final day we cycled along two brilliant cycle paths - the Galloping Goose Trail and the Lockside Trail, two very well signed and maintained bike trails around the greater Victoria region. They took us all the way back to the ferry back to Vancouver. On arrival to Tsawwassen, we took the plunge and threw all our panniers into canvas bags we had been lugging around, clicked our bikes in the front of a bus, and paid the $6 total to save us 26km of peddling.
After finally picking up a bottle of bear spray from MEC, and dodging the many touring cyclists that want to tell you about every trip they have taken on highway 108, west of the 102 and "take a left down 77", we paid for a shower at the local community centre and headed to a nearby bar for dinner and a sleeve of brew before catching the 18hr train to Jasper.
Surprisingly we slept very well despite being next to the toilet and bins... Our 6.30 breaky and cup of Joe hit the spot, and the views were amazing all the way.
We are aiming for a relaxing couple of days off the bike before starting our 1000km journey to Missoula via the infamous Rockies and Icefields Parkway!
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