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- Aug 10, 2024, 11:21 AM
- ☁️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 6 m
CanadaBritish ColumbiaRegional District of NanaimoQualicum Beach49°21’18” N 124°26’50” W
Mountains & Music Festivals

Not a lot of photos today as I was too busy admiring the spectacular scenery …. and trying to remember which side of the road I should be on.
Note: when there is a car directly ahead of you across the intersection you are probably on the wrong side of the road!
So I left Nanaimo to meet up with a fellow Rocky Mountain tourer in Nanoose. She lives in Port Alberni and felt I would be safer with two bikes together rather than one - particularly given it is high tourist season.
We then meandered along the coast up to Qualicum Beach which was beautiful.
We scooted over the mountain range to Port Alberni. On the way we passed Cameron Lake, Cathedral Grove and then over “the hump” and down into Port Alberni.
Why there I hear you ask? Well turns out there is an outdoor music festival there tonight and so, on the spur of the moment, I booked a ticket, booked some accommodation and that’s where I ended up heading.
We headed straight to the music festival as I couldn’t book into the motel until later. I think. My accent and the owner’s accent meant we didn’t really understand each other.
Around six o’clock I realised that I was probably fighting some sort of bug so I headed back to the motel to book in.
Let me tell you, this reception was the tiniest reception I think I’ve ever seen and it was so stuffed with old tourism brochures and newspapers sticky taped to the wall that I could barely breathe.
One of the articles was from 1993!
Next, I go to our room. Wowee. Flashbacks to my grandparents place. My grandparents moved into their home in the 1950s and I don’t think they ever updated their furniture. Welcome to room 26!
Vinyl chair. Lumpy couch that might be comfortable but I didn’t try it out so don’t know. Tiles in the bathroom have been painted so they didn’t need to replace them. Everything is switched off - including the fridge. Calendar hanging on the wall - actually from 2024! And that musty, unique, old person’s house smell. Not the wee smell though - thank goodness!
It does have a tiny window mounted air conditioner so I pop that on to help cool the room before I try for some sleep.Read more