VANCOUVER ISLAND: day 13

At 6am I was shot out of bed in agony. To spare the details, turns out wearing a thong biking does more damage than you might at first think. I powered through the misery till a reasonable hour, ditched all plans of hiking the scenic meadows and drove back to the nearest town Courtney, to ask a pharmacist what the hec I can do to relieve this anguish.

I spent a long time walking up and down the aisles of Shoppers, digging deep for the courage to explain the situation to the pharmacist. The courage never came, so Isaac asked on my behalf. So incredibly grateful he did, but unfortunately subtlety is not first nature of a booming, Australian accent. Needless to say I hid far away, down the toothbrush aisle. Got some things, fingers crossed this crack is healed ASAP.

Debated whether we should go back for the hikes or just cut our losses and head onto Campbell Lake. Concluded that hiking might not be the best idea for my current condition (surprisingly debilitated), so chose the latter and drove north.

Stopped at Elk Falls on the way (just passed Campbell River) and wobbled across the suspension bridge. Realised that I’d been here last year with the girls on our first ever roady in the van. Continued inland towards the lake and passed some absolutely insane camping spots, all with their own private beach!! Annoyingly they were already occupied, but made a mental note for the journey back.

Drove up and down the same stretch a few times, before settling on a more communal spot between some Canadian bros and a couple of oldies and their RV. Despite the crowds and being just off the highway, it was actually very peaceful and still. The lake is beautiful, only slightly ruined by previous campers who left a half deflated unicorn. That makes me sad and mad. Why are people so irresponsibly lazy.

Forced myself to have a freezing shower bag shower, made some dinner, watched Game of Thrones in bed, then said a few prayers to the universe to heal me quickly.