Archive for the ‘# 112 July / August 2006’ Category
Our trip to one of my favourite places — Long Beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island — started on a warm April morning at the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver. The one hour and 35 minute crossing of Georgia Strait to Nanaimo cost $105.10 (off-peak time) for our nine-metre (30-foot) motorhome and two adults. Our dogs rode free.
At the ferry dock in Nanaimo we headed up the hill to Highway 19 and turned north, driving 32 kms ( 20 mi) to Parksville, our stop for the first night. The Sufside RV Park on North Corfield Street is right along the shoreline of Georgia Strait. At low tide, the water recedes for more than half a mile ( 1 km), making it perfect for walking and beachcombing. We paid $38 for full hookup (electricity, water and sewer), for a campsite on the beach.
The Highway 4 junction is in the heart of Parksville. The next morning we took the west fork, passing through the century-old town of Coombs whose small shops and handicraft markets invite tourists to enjoy a simpler time. We followed the winding highway along Cameron Lake and past the Provincial Campground. This 12-km-long ( 7.5 mi) lake is said to be bottomless and its high winds create dangers for boaters and swimmers. At the end of Cameron Lake we stopped at Cathedral Grove, a magnificent stand of old growth forest — 136 hectares of 800-year-old Douglas fir trees, given to the province in 1944 by H.R. MacMillan. As we walked one of the tranquil trails, slivers of sunlight streamed through the branches of the ancient towering giants touching the ferns and moss-covered logs on the ground.