Every once in a while you need to take a few steps back, slow things down, contemplate… That’s what this next month is going to be all about for me as an entrepreneur. When you slow things down it really shows you what’s important in life. I’m now a week into travelling back to Winnipeg after making Sooke on Vancouver Island my base for the past 8 months. Instead of rushing across the country, my partner, dog and I decided to take things slow and see some of the off the beaten path sites that BC has to offer.
Our main goal is to see and experience things that we won’t normally get the chance to do and that said, we pushed our comfort zones a bit and definitely put my small Honda Fit to the test by travelling on some pretty crazy roads. But she’s a trooper 🙂
When we left Sooke, we were a little sad since it provided us with so many amazing memories and countless adventures in the wild. It was an inspiring place to work from nature wise, and on those stressful days you would feel instantly healed by a walk in the rainforest. Our neighbour mentioned that the island has a special energy and I can definitely agree to that.
Our first official destination was Strathcona Park in the interior of the island west of Campbell River. We weren’t sure what to expect and the weather is always a gamble. On route the sun started to shine and the beauty of the mountains emerged. Since it’s off season right now we had our pick of any campsite out there. When we arrived there was literally only one other site being used. We decided to stay at Ralph River and had a beautiful spot surrounded by snow peaked mountains and a river flowing nearby. We stayed here for two nights and Strathcona had some amazing trails, waterfalls, and mountains to explore.
Our next stop was to check out the wild northern west coast at Cape Scott Provincial Park. This is where the Honda Fit was put to the test on the logging road to get there, but we made it safe and sound. We weren’t prepared to do the multi-day hike so we just wanted to stay one night and spend some time at San Josef Bay. For camping we had the option to camp on the beach, but we have a lot of stuff with us and it’s a 45 minute trek into the beach, so we settled for a nearby campsite operated by a lovely man named Doug that’s originally from Teulon Manitoba. It was a bit of an eclectic campsite but we wanted to support a small business owner and he was so nice and welcoming. From the campsite we went for an evening and a morning stroll to the beach at San Josef. The beach was incredible! It had the softest sand and interesting rock formations along the coast, plus I found so many sand dollars, one of my favourite sea specimens.
After spending 3 nights camping we wanted to regroup in Port Hardy where we stayed in town. The town seemed like an interesting place to visit with a warm friendly feel. It’s a great base point to head to the North Coast Trail. The next day we set off to the mainland, catching the ferry across to Powell River on the Sunshine Coast. It was again a sad feeling to leave the island, but we had a nice visit from 3 orcas doing a little send off on our sunset cruise. We arrived on the coast in the evening and just “winged it” to find where we were going to sleep. We stumbled upon a recreational campsite just south of Lund on the coast. Ended up getting an ocean front site, and again reaped the benefits of being off season since it’s just us and one other person here. Woke up this morning to eagles calling, sea lions barking, and lots of other wildlife action.
I’m starting to get back in my grove again and feel balanced just from spending more time in nature – so good for the soul. Sometimes we travel far to feel balanced and to regroup, but Canada has some amazing sites to see. If you need any travel tips or advice for travelling in BC, I’m happy to share!
Stay tuned for more adventures as we make our way back to Winnipeg and for some travel inspiration visit us at www.travelroots.ca.