Salt Spring Island to Ucluelet

Well, we've had an auspicious beginning! Jon and I began the first leg of the trip at 7:00 am with a quick ride from our house through Ganges and over to the Vesuvius ferry terminal. We are headed to Ucluelet today, but we arrived to find the terminal parking lot empty - never a good sign when you're expecting to be boarding in a few minutes! Obviously, both of us had read the schedule incorrectly. You'd almost think we were new to ferry travel.

Jon took advantage of the wait to zip back to Ganges for fuel and coffee. I believe the universe was sending me a message to slow down and relax, so I chose to sit quietly in the morning shade and start this trip journal.

Jon needs a new air filter so we stopped at Chemainus. He went for a filter and I went for breakfast. Turns out the motorcycle place was out of business so we carried on to a place in Nanaimo. Pig's Cycle Inc. had a filter so Jon got it on his bike and off we went.

It turned out to be a hurry up and wait kind of day. After we left Pig's, we ripped up to the turn-off to Port Alberni. A short way up the road to Tofino, traffic came to a dead stop due to road improvement work. Everyone left their vehicles and stood around chit chatting and waiting for traffic to start moving again. A couple we chatted with recommended a place in Port Alberni for lunch. After about 30 minutes, we got moving again and stopped at Porto Taco for a really excellent meal. I highly recommend this place.

After lunch, we carried on to Ucluelet and our lovely Airbnb, where we made ourselves so comfortable that we both had a little nap!! We decided to drive to Tofino for supper and had yet another fantastic meal at Shelter.

We got back to our Airbnb just as it was getting dark. It's been a day of good meals and sunny skies.Read more