Vancouver Island, BC
What do local Vancouvians do on the weekend? They go to Vancouver…Island. So I jumped in a car and headed to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, only 500 m (1500 ft) north of the border with the USA, and made my way to Swartz Bay. The ferry ride is rather scenic and you’ll see plenty of sea planes, and a view of Vancouver City with a backdrop of the North Shore Mountains. Once disembarking from Swartz Bay Temrinal it’s a quick and easy 30 minute drive along Route 17 into Victoria, the capitol of British Columbia.
Victoria
Victoria is a bustling town, larger than I had expected. I only stayed a single night here on my road trip so only managed to try out one restaurant, Pagliacci’s. A seafood and steak restaurant, Pagliacci’s is a popular destination and we got lucky as a walk-in and didn’t have to wait very long to be seated. As someone who never orders steak at a restaurant, fish was the instant meal of choice, specifically wild salmon. Would I have it again? Yes, Would I recommend it? Of course yes. The beer list was nice and wide and avoided the usual watery multinationals. I kept it local and tried as many Victoria beers as I could handle.
Sooke
On the road the next day, our destination was Nanaimo, however we took the long way around and stopped at the Sooke Potholes on the way. This made a nice place to stop and eat our packed lunches. The carparks are paid, and the ranger does come around and check. I’d recommend not parking at the first carpark you come across unless it’s a popular day, instead see if there is any space in the rest stop at the derelict remains of the Deertrail Resort. The walks around the area are pretty easy, and there is even a rails-to-trails…trail on the other side of the road if you want it even easier. Continuing our drive, we chose the scenic option of going via Port Renfrew, Route 14 and Route 18, then connecting to Highway 1.
Nanaimo
Nanaimo was chosen as a place to stay due to its proximity to the ferry terminal at Departure Bay. Nanaimo is a much smaller town than Victoria, but still good food options to be found. Our favourite was the Le Café Francais, just be aware they don’t open on Sundays or Mondays. Let your taste buds decide, not your eyes on the plating. The escargot was the best I’ve had. We also dropped by Minnoz Restaurant and Lounge and had the Seafood Bouillabaisse.
Ucluelet
From our base at Nanaimo we did a day trip over to Ucluelet, which is a 3 hour drive, direct. We ate breakfast at the Old Country Market at Coombs. I originally wanted to stop here because their roof is grassed, and there’s goats grazing on top! I didn’t see any goats, but the breakfast was to be expected. The café inside made a decent cuppa, and sold some great meat pies, which made a good packed lunch choice for the day. There’s a gift shop and fine foods deli too. We stopped for a short hike along the way at the Ancient Cedars Loop Trail and at the Ucluelet Lighthouse Loop. Both walks are very easy and have fantasic views on a clear day down to what I assume is Olympic National Park in Washington.
On the way home we made a slight detour and had a rest stop at Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Provincial Park. This is a highly recommended stop to see the huge cedars, there is also a walking route here, plus a longer one to see the Cameron Lake Trestle, but I didn’t have time to do it.
Heading back to Vancouver we left from Departure Bay and traveled to to Horseshoe Bay, this is actually part of Highway 1, not too many places you can take a ferry on a highway. To be continued in the Vancouver and Squamish posts.
May, 2018
