Travelogue: Vancouver Island, Part 1 (Days 23-25)

Vancouver Island is so full of highlights that I’m splitting it between two posts- Nanaimo to Tofino on this one, and the south end of the island in another one.

After a few days on Vanouver Island, I started getting the feeling that I wasn't just in a different province, but on a different planet. Specifically, I felt like I was on the forest moon of Endor, from "Return of the Jedi" where the Ewoks live. (Which makes sense, since those scenes were filmed just down the coast a bit from here, in the redwood forests of northern California.)

We arrived on Vancouver Island via the ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo. Scheduled to stay in Tofino that night, we crossed the island on one of the most gorgeous (and extremely winding) roads I've had the privilege of driving. The road twisted and turned, sheltered by enormous trees and punctuated by stunning vistas to the point that I felt like I was in a car commercial (for a much cooler car than the one I was actually driving).

Two standout stops from the drive across to Tofino:

• Cathedral Grove - a quick forest walk through trees too big to wrap your arms around, and too old to wrap your mind around. Some of these trees were saplings when Genghis Khan was making his way across Asia. And they are so...so..."majestic" isn't quite the word. Maybe it's "magisterial"? There's something dignified about the way they demand respect but seem indifferent as to whether you give it or not.

• Hole-in-the-Wall Cascade - the island has countless waterfalls, and many are higher than this, but the fact that it flows through a huge hole in a wall of rock made it worth exploring.

Given Tofino's reputation as a surfer's paradise, combined with my reputation as most definitely not a surfer, I wasn't sure what I was going to make of the town where we spent three nights.

Turns out it's lovely. We were there out of season, of course, and I'm sure at the peak of summer it is crawling with people, but during our stay it was small and friendly and just generally very west-coast: electric cars with surfboards strapped to the roof, bikes specially modified to carry surfboards, young Australians filling just about every service job to be had.

There was also a small but enjoyable skate park and playground where our daughter took a landmark step, getting her first air on her scooter. I was super excited for her, but somehow even more excited that she should land her first trick in Canada's surfing capital.

Thanks to an Indigenous-owned and operated tour company called Ahous Adventures, we enjoyed an incredible boat trip up the coast into Ahousaht territory to visit Hot Springs Cove, where hot-tub temperature water flows out to sea via a small waterfall and a few pools just large enough to fit a few people.

The hot springs were wonderful, but the boat ride there provided just as many highlights, and the opportunity to see lots of wildlife.

On our way back across the island we had another stop in Nanaimo, with two purposes. The first was to visit the playground at Maffeo Sutton Park, a lovely little spot right on the harbour. Filled with accessible equipment and marine symbolism, it suited Nanaimo perfectly.

The second purpose was to drop in on a composer and sound designer who wrote music for a video game that was a summer-defining pastime for our kids. The game is called Sneaky Sasquatch, and it's one of the few video games that I would describe as "delightful." The composer's name is Gordon, and he is the founder of A Shell in the Pit, a studio whose mission / motto is "making games sound like themselves."

Gordon was so kind and generous with his time, showing the kids his studio, and opening up some old song files on his computer to show him how he assembled them. For both the kids (especially my son, who has started experimenting with putting music together on a computer himself) it was a fantastic experience.

And with that, we headed south to experience life "down island." More on that experience to come!

But before you go...if you believe in the power of play (and if you're here you probably do) please consider donating to our cross-Canada road trip by clicking here. It would mean a lot!