Exploring Vancouver Island – Part 1

I haven’t taken the time to sit down and post for a while. It’s been a busy time, settling on Vancouver Island, getting used to the new life in Victoria, getting new jobs and trying to keep exploring all at the same time.

Luckily, it didn’t take me too long to join in the island vibe. I bought myself an old mini-van, which we converted quickly into a simple but efficient DIY camper. Looking forward any suggestions of good places to go around the island is you have any!

Our first weeks on the island, we took some time to drive up to Comox and Campbell River, where we had to be flexible with our plans due to the wild fires and the heavy smoke. Our first plan to head for an overnight in Strathcona Park had to be slightly pushed to later, and we decided to stay around the town to explore the area without gaining any mountain elevation. 

We did a short, though beautiful, hike to Elk Falls on our first day, and we stayed in the Elk Falls Provincial Park. We started the hike directly from the camping, instead of driving up to the falls’ parking lot. 

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Campbell River was a nice little town that we decided we would have to come back and check out again. The idea of fishing straight from the dock in town makes it perfect for fishermen and sea food lovers!

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As we decided not to head in the mountains, we changed our plans at the last minute and ended up touring a few wineries and distilleries between Campbell River and Comox. I was amazed at the quality of the wines from the island! We also discovered many nice beaches on the coast between Campbell River and Comox. We took our time to stop at most of them, making sure to take note of any spots we would like to come back later to visit more in depth. 

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One of the highlights of the trip was this 2 hours we spent kayaking in Comox. I probably spent at least 30min trying to get a good video of the seals swimming around the harbour. 

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On our way to the West Coast of the island, we stopped to explore Horne Lakes Caves. We took one of the short tours, but if you feel adventurous, they offer a lot of more exciting and even repelling (literally) long tours inside the caves. 

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We concluded our short trip on the West Coast, heading to Tofino and Ucluelet. After a few days of surfing, we explored around some of the beach trails and made our way back to Victoria to get settled and start working (!).

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That’s a start and it was a great way to have an idea of what our new backyard looks like! I welcome any suggestions of places to go and hike, camp or just spent time outdoors in the area!