Our first couple of days on Vancouver Island were spent in a cheap Victoria hotel. We did a brief tour of the beautiful city, found Donna & Sam’s house, and watched the end of the Nameless Evil known as Stephen Harper’s government. We also officially bought our extended health coverage, and decided to start it for November 1st. This meant we had about two weeks to hang out and explore the island.
After two nights in Victoria we headed north to Parksville area, setting up our nylon home in a nearby 
provincial park. The park protect a grand old forest of huge coastal trees, some of them with at least 2 meters diameter trunks, and towering far into the sky. We found a site near the shore and settled in for what turned out to be over a week. The weather was mostly damp and cool, but we had a fine setup with tent, tarp and fire pit, so managed to stay mostly dry and relatively warm … at least most of the time.
One morning I was awakened by what my groggy brain initially thought was loud barking dogs. Damn annoying dog owners to let their dogs bark away so early in the morning, I thought as I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.
The next morning the same thing happened … which is when I realized it wasn’t yapping dogs, but harping sea lions that I was hearing. It sounded like they were right outside the tent, so I hopped out of bed (well, more liked slowly crawled out), and went down to the shore. It was low tide, so I walked out 1/2 km to observe the antics of seals, loons, 
herons, sea lions and porpoises. Amazing!
We had thought about heading over to Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park, but chatting with a few locals convinced us to stay on the eastern side of the island. Apparently the west is a lot wetter, windier and colder at this time of year, and our goal to stay warm and dry was becoming harder.
In the end we stayed put for over a week at the campsite, which was enough time to get into the rhythm of the tides and sea life, and also get to know the park, and nearby Parksville. Ann also visited Qualicum Beach a couple of times to 
relive her early toddler memories of nearly floating away with the tide, and also to go swimming and take a shower. Since I naturally smell like roses, I declined the shower.
Winter is definitely starting to take hold, but a winter on Vancouver Island is nothing like a winter in Northern Ontario, or Alberta, or even southern Ontario. It’s cool, and damp, but so far no hint of snow or real cold. Despite this, we discovered the joys of the local Public Library, 
and spent a few days camped out at their study carrels. This was great to stay warm and dry during the rains, charge up all our doo-dadds, and finally get started on this bloggy thing.
With our travel health insurance scheduled to kick in for Nov. 1st, we had planned to
move back into Victoria for a couple of nights to prepare to cross over to Washington. We both needed showers by then (especially Ann), and it was time to do laundry. A prediction of four days of rain encouraged us to move under cover even earlier, so we packed up and drove back to Victoria.
It was sad leaving the park after all that time. It was just over a week, but it already felt a bit like leaving home. But warm showers and soft beds beaconed, so off we went. Amusingly, we ended up back at the same cheap hotel that we stayed in the first nights. It’s a fine place, although the booking system never seemed to know who we were, or how long we were staying. Funny.
Tomorrow we take the ferry across to Washington. We’re now on the wrong side of the jet streams, so the weather is cooler and wetter. This will make travel and camping more difficult, but we’ll figure it out. Tomorrow night we’re planning to be in a cheap motel in Port Angeles, WA. After that, who knows…