Vancouver Island Part II

BC Capital building in Victoria

We went whale watching out of Victoria hoping to see Orca or Grey Whales but came up empty.  Ironically most of the whales hang out on the Washington State side of the strait of Juan de Fuco.   Seems very easy to illegally cross the border via boat along the strait. 

 

Consolation prizes.

Buddy getting much deserved playtime.  He’s adapted well to the trip.  Although he’d much rather be at a house with a yard,  he’s getting some great hikes and he’s seen buffalo, bears and more (from the Van). 

I love this shot, it captures so much.

Butchart Gardens.

Butchart gardner.

 

 
Royal BC Museum,  Victoria

 

 

We spotted this river otter on a hike outside Nanaimo.

 
Hanging w/ my gnomies….   If you see a giant gnome on the side of the road, stop and take a picture.

 
Kayaking in Ucluelet.   Hoping to see bears.  No luck.  We did run across some wild natives who were particularly interested in Himne and Gaudia.

We were able to get quite close on the kayaks to this baldy.

TD: West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim Nat’l Park.  Incredibly beautiful.  Probably ties for first place as the most beautiful hike I have ever done.

 

 
We hadn't seen any bears after several days trying so we hire a fast boat out of Tofino which guarantees sightings.   It’s still pretty cold, thus the safety suits. 

Ahhhh!  Finally we spot this guy working the low tide seafood buffet.
 

This gal was working some seafood growing off these dead trees.  We got up real close (~8ft away) from the boat.  She could care less.  She actually fell asleep for a few minutes while we were there.

 

 
Harbor Seals

We passed a flock of eagles sharing or vying for a kill.  Our boat passed this crevice in the rocks and out came 5 or 6 bald eagles.  This guy was the lucky winner.

Vancouver Island

 

We retraced our drive back through Vancouver down to the suburb of Tsawassen to ferry over to Vancouver Island. The Canadian ferry system is very efficient and upscale, A bit expensive as well. About $150 for the camper w/ 3 adults to go from the mainland to the island.

Whistler

 

 

Goal of the Whistler excursion is to catch a last bit of Spring skiing and put some ski’s on Gaudia. She was, by far, the best Namibian born skier on the mountain. The drive up to Whistler is incredibly beautiful, it could be a national park in itself. Luckily and surprisingly I got fresh powder again. I didn’t think I was missing out on anything so I didn’t hurry up the hill – which was a mistake because the morning would have been nice. It was kind of white out conditions but happy to get one last day of boarding in. Whistler mountain was closed, but Blackcomb was open for another week after we left.