Willow (myself) and Fern (Davina) met up one lovely night in Vancouver, after almost exactly a year apart. We had a lovely reunion and caught up on each others gossip, mine from Melbourne and Davinas from her adventures of riding her bike across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver. It was here that Davina told me that we would be camping for the next few weeks. She swears she prewarned me, I swear she didn't. So off we went to Canadian Tire, basically the Walmart of camping gear, where I bought up big, literally. There was a cheap tent for $36 which we thought was a 2 person tent and turned out to be a 5 person tent which we appropriately called the Deluxe Dome, when compared to Davinas tiny one person tent. Sleeping mat, check. $7 sleeping bag, check (regretted that one immediately, who would have thought that $7 really doesnt include much insulation and therefore causes hypothermia), and small pillow, check, which Davina laughed at. My theory was that if I was forced to camp against my will, then I was going to do it in style. $110 later at Canadian Tire and I was prepared (or so I thought) for the next few weeks. And as reluctant as I was to camp,I have to admit that it has been a great way to see all that British Columbia has to offer.

We couchsurfed in Vancouver city (well we camped in a guys backyard anyway) as the city was PACKED for Gay pride weekend. We were staying in a really cool area with the indie Main Street and Commerical Drive offering us plently of cool shops and yummy food. It was a pretty big walk to the city, about an hour and a half each way, sometimes longer if we were stumbling. But it was a brilliant area and its such a nice place to walk around that it didn't matter. Vancouver is so similar to Melbourne in many ways, and has a stunning backdrop of water and snowcapped mountains that melted my heart straight away. The first few days in Van were spent exploring, eating (highlight was some amazing Pho which rivalled Saigon Pho in Footscray, almost) and going out to lots of gay bars where the vibe was insanely cool. On the Sunday we attended the gay pride march, which was so brilliant. It was the best feeling being there and experiencing such freedom, joy, acceptance and pride with some beautiful souls. We had a great day filled with laughter and colour and were both floating on cloud nine for the rest of the night. One of my favourite days of my trip without doubt. The next day we began our travels to Vancouver Island!

We staying just out of Victoria for the first two nights, with a friend of Davinas whom she met in Montreal, and her family in their amazing home. It was this beautiful house with a stunning and huge backyard which overlooked the sea and the Olympic mountain range in the US. The family we were staying with were very welcoming and took us on a tour of Victoria, and also gave us the smores experience the Canadian way, on an open fire as the sun was setting across the water. Cathy, Davina's friends mum had spent years trying out the best methods to make smores, with the ultimate chocolate, marshmellows and gram crackers. I sugar overloaded that night.

After leaving Victoria, the real adventures of Willow and Fern began. We took on these pseudonyms due to the fact that we planned to hitch hike around the rest of Vancouver Island and we thought it best to have fake names. Though in hindsight that was probably stupid, as if we went missing then all people would have to go off were our fake names. Then again some people (Mum) will think that hitch hiking is stupid in general, so why not add to the fun. ANYWAY, we planned to hitchhike from Victoria, all the way to a hippie surf town called Tofino, about a 6 hour drive away. We started on our way at about 12pm. By 9pm, we had reached our destination after 5 different car trips. The first was with an 80 year old guy who was lonely but lovely and drove us for about an hour until he had to turn off the highway, but offered us some wine back at his place which we kindly declined, as tempting as the wine sounded. The next lift was with two guys in the back of their van which was full of air conditioning pipes, which we had to sit on top of to fit in. Not the most comfortable method of transportation, but beggars cant be choosers. After this ride, we were about half way, and were feeling pretty proud of our efforts. And then we realised we had left our home, the Deluxe Dome in their van. This caused a few explicit words aimed at no one in particular, but then our luck turned around as we walked down the road. The clouds parted, and there shone a Canadian Tire store. It was meant to be, walked in there and for the low low price of $22 got a brand spanking new TWO person tent, much lighter to carry and makes snuggling at night time whilst freezing much easier. So we were on our way again with a new ride in a 4WD with a lovely lady who would talk the hind leg off a donkey. She took us about 30 mins closer. Then we got picked up by another guy, a windsurfer, who took us to a place called Port Alberni, about 120km from our destination of Tofino. We thought we might have to stay there for the night, as it was almost 7:30. Just as we were about to resign ourselves to that fate, a guy in a sweet BMW pulled over and said he could take us all the way to Tofino. Sweet. Or so we thought... lets just say that this guy fancied himself some sort of race car driver, as we hit speeds of about 150km per hour overtaking people on the opposite side of the road with a corner about 20 metres ahead of us. My knuckles were white. He must have detected our nervousness as he reassured me that "I've been driving these roads for 3 years I know them back to front". Sorry buddy, would have felt a LITTLE more safe if you had've said 30. Anyway, the moral of the story is that we're still alive to tell the story, and MAN did we make good time on that trip.

Our race car friend dropped us off at a place called Pool's Land, which Davina had heard about from a guy she met earlier on her trip. We were greeted by the owner of the place, a 70 hectare property in the mountains, right next to the beach, Mike, an extremely eccentric guy who told us to find a place to camp, happy days. The way the place worked was that you paid $10 a night, and put in a couple of hours work of labour during the days. The options were weeding, gardening, watering, picking magic mushrooms and packing marijuana. We were set.
Tofino is a small touristy town known for its surfing and beaches. So beautiful there, and we instantly liked it. Pools Land was a really great place to stay and we met some cool people to hang out with, two Irish guys, Two Brits and us. Sounds like the beginning of a joke. It was great, had a few campfires with them a few nights and played some good drinking games and got properly messy.

On our third night there, Davina and I were chatting to a Canadian guy who asked us what we were up to that night. Our plans were minimal so he asked us if we wanted to go out on a boat for the night with him and his mate to go visit some hot springs and go whale watching the next day. Davina was keen straight away, I was a little reluctant as we had known these guys less than five minutes. All it took for me to be convinced was Davina serenading me on her ukelele and I was sold. So within 10 minutes we were packed, and heading off with Barry, Jay the boat owner and convicted violent criminal (and Davina wonders why I was hesitant) and his dog Debbie on Ju Ju I. All I can say was BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. (Well technically it wasn't but I was going by my Australian birthday, therefore giving me a full two days of celebrating).
That night we anchored in a bay about half way to the Hot Springs Cove and drank rum like pirates, sang songs like wannabees, and cooked creative meals that would rival Heston Blumenthal. After retiring to our swags at about 5am, we rose slowly the next day. On our way to hot springs we saw seals, otters, humpback whales, grey whales and plently of fish. Nature gone wild and we were hooked. Heated up some more at hot springs which were painfully hot, before heading back on the boat. While we were at the hot springs Jay had brought some halibut (yummy white fish) off some fellow fishermen. So on the way back we made Davina the vegetarian cook the fish, which she did a pretty damn good job of. Sailing home we saw a spectacular sunset, which truly capped off a dreamy 24 hours and a pretty special birthday.

The next day (my Canadian birthday which was a day filled of birthday luck) we headed back to the east coast of Vancouver Island in attempts to get to an Island called Lasqueti, where I'm writing this from now. The day started off with some fellow campers at Pool's land making us a hot breakfast! We then had some great luck hitching this time, only 2 rides. Stuck out our thumbs, and before I could even finish writing the sign with our destination we got picked up! The first ride was with a lovely guy from Belguim who took us about 50km and dropped us off at an information centre there. Walking out of the centre, a car pulled over and asked us where we were going, we told him French's Creek and he told us he could take us! Not only did he take us, but he took us sightseeing too! To a place called Cathedral Cove with amazingly huge douglas fir trees, and then to a town called Coombs where there is a pub with a grass roof and goats living on it. He then offered to take us to a supermarket, because he knew the island we were going to would be too expensive. So after we stocked up at the supermarket, he dropped us off at the ferry stop! On the ferry, we got talking to a guy called Ryan from Lasqueti Island. I asked him where a good place to stay was, and he offered us his backyard! We have a great set up here, huge property and amazing backyard filled with veggie gardens! We've spent both days at the beaches, watching killer whales and more seals. Perfection.

The plan was for me to originally leave Lasqueti tomorrow to head to Whistler for a few nights. But this laidback, quaint island has a hold on me and is a perfect place to relax in the last few days of my travelling, before I get to the hecticness of El Paso next Tuesday. Life is just so good.