Day 17 - Nanaimo to Tofino

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Trip Start Aug 20, 2008 Previous
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  Tofino, British Columbia, Canada
Friday, September 5, 2008

Next morning we got off to a flying start and after a short halt at the campsite office to launch the latest Blog update we were on our way.   The Blog was proving quite a challenge to keep up to date - firstly to find the time to record the events and, secondly, to find an internet connection to upload the story.   As we drove out through the town, we commented on the phenomena that we were less familiar with from /uk and that is roadside signs.   It is not just the quantity of signs, advertising anything and everything, but the size and gaudiness of them all.   We were so mesmerised with them that we missed several directions as well as important signs like look out - children playing as they got lost in the myriad of junk signs adorning the side of the road.
 
Our first stop was in MacMillan Provincial Park, were we walked through an area called Cathedral Walk, which went amongst huge great Douglas Fir Trees.   It was a most eyrie feeling as we stepped back into almost prehistoric woods and walked amongst trees several hundred years old.   Then we pressed on to the west coast of the island passing spectacular lakes, mountain, waterfalls and roads.   The sheer number of spectacular sights was becoming a real challenge to us, not because we stopped marvelling at any of them, but because it was getting so difficult to remember them all.
 
The road across to the Pacific Rim National Park was a challenge in its own right.  It was narrow, a little rough bone shaking and almost frightening grappling to keep the RV on the road or at least on two wheels.   By lunchtime we had arrived at the park and soon after we got our first sight of the Pacific Ocean.   We came upon a place called Long Beach that stretched for miles, with golden sands and roaring surf.    Monty was the first to get his feet wet.   We decided to get a campsite straight way, but the National Park campground was full and we began to think that we might struggle finding a spot for the night and have to face the roller coaster journey back in the same day!   We pressed on up the coast toward Tofino and by luck spotted a campground sign offering vacancies.   Crystal Cove Beach Resort turned out to be the best campground we had stopped in.   It was slightly more expensive than the usul costs, but it was so clean and well presented and was right on the coast and had everything we needed.   We liked it so much what we made the decision there and then to stop for two nights.   That night we watched Sunset on the beach, before settling down with a campfire.

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Douglas Fir	Fallen Giant	Not to big to stop leg cocking	These are big trees
The land that time forgot	If i move, will it fall?	Another wiggly road	We arrived at the coast
Oh no - we did not expect this!	Tofino	The boys at sunset	Sunset in Crystal Cove

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