Day 165-166 Central Vancouver Island, Sept 15th- 16th, 519kms 3

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Another fairly cold morning at the Buttle lake camp ground but no humidity this time. Today’s route is to make our way towards Tofino. Along the way we stopped at the motorcycle shops in Campbell River that helped us get my rear tire and tubes, 1/ to dispose of the old tire, 2/ to swap the front tube that was the wrong size and 3/ to see if they could remove the tube from my tire, replace the valve and balance the wheel. We succeeded at 1&2 but failed at 3. The tire doesn’t feel too out of balance and I guess I can keep going with the tube for a while so we decided not to waste anymore time and start heading south. Before proceeding we stopped at the Tim Hortons where I lost my ignition key a few days back in the hope that someone might have found it… I looked around the park again but no joy, I guess that one is a gonner!

Cool coastal carvings across the road from Tim Hortons

We took the faster less scenic highway heading south until Fanny Bay then joined the coastal road to Parksville. We picked up some groceries in Parksville, used the stores Wifi and got going again on the road to Tofino with the plan to stop at Sproat Lake campground. Along the way there we passed through the very ‘hip’ town of Coonbs, which we pulled over to check out some bully goats that lived of a turf roofed building. Pretty neat. We succeeded in reaching our destination-  The campground was busy; at first glance it appeared full but a man flagged us down and told us about a few hidden tent sites closer to the lake. With our bikes we got down the (foot)trail and had an nice spot, close to the bathrooms and away from the crowds. It pays to be on 2 wheels sometimes.

Billy goats of the roof

The 239kms from Buttle Lake to Sproat lake

We set our alarm for 0700 with the intention to get to Tofino with plenty of time to see the place. When the alarm went off, it was so cold that we had a hard time finding the motivation to get up! Eventually Zoe left the nest and got the stove going. We were packed and on the road at 09:30 which for us is good going! 

The road to Tofino was a beautiful curvy paved road but quite bumpy in places. The 80 kms to Ucluelet took us about an hour and half. Ucluelet used to be a First Nation coastal settlement but has become a touristy and artsy village. At the end of the road we parked and carried on on foot on the Pacific Coast Trail around the cape. It followed the rocky shores overlooking the small islands and bays, through dense rain forest. (A lot like NZ’s South Island, bar different trees!)

The road to Tofino/Pacific coast

Artsy roadside store on Uclulet

A cabbage tree and a small fishing boat… How much does that look like NZ!?

An hour later we were ready to look for food and carried on to Tofino. Early afternoon we arrived in the surf town of Tofino, larger than Ucluelet but equally touristy. Whale watching tours and floatplanes were coming and going and even though the season is in its last days, it was still busy with RVs, tourists and surfers. I looked for a place to eat with a view, which took some searching, eventually settling for a restaurant in a beautiful old building. The food menu was limited to just sushi but what they had was tasty. The patio had an nice view over the bay but being in the shade it was really cold! We watched the marine fog start rolling back in the inlet, quite bizarre. We didn’t hang around and went for a walk around the small town, in time to watch the fog creep through the streets.

Watching the fog roll in, downtown Tofino


As the day was getting on and we still had to find a place to camp we left Tofino behind and headed back along the coast towards Ucluelet. We stopped at several of the sandy beaches, what Tofino is famous for. Some were foggy, others weren’t yet, quite cool. The campsites along the coast appeared very busy and with the cold wind we weren’t too keen on spending the night here. We figured we had enough daylight left to make it back to Sproat Lake campground if we didn’t hang around. We fueled, picked up food and hit the road back towards Port Alberni.

A cold foggy beach day!


We made it back before dark to our same camping spot and got ready for rain as per tomorrows forecast…

Round trip to Tofino and Ucluelet 280kms

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3 thoughts on “Day 165-166 Central Vancouver Island, Sept 15th- 16th, 519kms”

  • Reply ↓
    Smeyers Danielle

    Tires are set for a safe route …. too bad you couldn’t find you’re keys..strange ….
    Beautiful Elephant heads ! I wonder what kind of wood they have used.
    Nice “contre jour” pictures of the goats as well.
    You did quite some distance due to the fact that it was busy along the coast and the fact you were looking for a quiet place to stay for the night. Brrr…. and the weather isn’t helping neither. Time to go further down south I guess. Keep warm !
    xx

  • Reply ↓
    Luc Adriaenssen

    Goats on a roof, prevents building a fence I guess, still …
    2nd post with wood carvings, is that a local thing there?
    More worries with the tyres, key lost and bags unzipped, so much not like you!
    As long as the roads are nice and time is not a problem, you’ll keep riding, called freedom!
    Be aware of it and enjoy it!
    Baci