VANCOUVER ISLAND: day 9
Had another extensively long shower this morning, because who knows when the next hot one will be. Missed the campsite’s check out time, had a fight with the campsite man about it. But who’s fault was it really if previously, he’d kicked us out of the tumble dryer forcing us to use the crisp Canadian air to dry our sheets?
Headed further north towards Qualicum Beach, stopped for lunch near some easy bike trails. They were just what this nervous girl needs to practice on. The steep parts were smooth and the bumpy parts, relatively flat. All went v well until we heard a bear growling in the bush and subsequently made a hasty exit from the woods.
Got to Qualicum Beach, 10/10 views, but all the potential sleeping spots were already taken/on the highway. Found a spot on iOverlander slightly more inland. It was off a logging road and next to some ATV/dirt biking trails, but an open area with surprisingly pleasant views. Not the cleanest though, lots of dumped rubbish and shotgun cartridges were everywhere. But we were tired, so decided to overlook it.
(Not Qualicum Beach, but alas I took no photos of it. Instead, a similar looking beach on Savory Island, off the Sunshine Coast)
Hung out the washing and Isaac made dinner (tofu stirfry, was yum). The sunset was unexpectedly amazing. Rays of pinky light were strobing through the clouds down onto the mountains in the distance. Crazy nice, but slightly ruined by people zooming past on ATVs every 10 minutes.
As soon as it got dark however, it was suddenly a very creepy place to be. I had an abrupt sense of being right in the middle of a dense forest (queue anxiety about cougars and bears). But also had a weird freak out about other things. People were ripping the trails till pretty late and I catastrophised in my head that a dirt bike gang (who were obviously responsible for all the shotgun cartridges) had scoped us out and made a plan to come back in the middle of the night, break into the van and kill us both. Obviously, we lived to tell the tale, but it did lead to a horrendous nights sleep.