Exploring Lush Vancouver Island, Canada Pt. 1

In the summer, my partner and I both quit our jobs to begin a wild and largely unplanned roadtrip from Vancouver, BC to the south western states of the US. We'd been living in Vancouver for the past year, and couldn't start a road trip without first properly exploring the incredible Vancouver Island right next to us, just off the coast of mainland British Columbia. The island is huge, and full of the most amazing wildlife - orcas, elephant seals, wolves, otters, bald eagles and black bears, just to name a few! We spent about three weeks on the island and fell head over heels in love with its raw, moody and natural beauty.

Here's what we got up to in this slice of Canadian paradise.

First up, we got the ferry from North Vancouver to Nanaimo, to head straight to Tofino, which is Canada's beauty of a surf mecca. On the drive, a waterfall stop at Little Qualicum Falls was hard to say no to.

After a day of driving, we arrived in Tofino, aka the most beautiful place on Earth. This little surf town has the most other-worldly beaches, luscious forests and a jaw dropping harbour that looks out to small, mysterious islands often covered in fog.

The sunsets and sunrises are also unreal..

Can you see why we loved it yet?

After a lot of time spent in the chilly water surfing our hearts out in thick, hooded wetsuits, it was time for a hike amongst some huge trees in Pacific Rim National Park and nearby Ucluelet. We've never experienced a more lush and dense rainforest before. The amount of life we saw in here was astounding. Mosses, fungi, frogs and birds we didn't recognise were in abundance.

We were there at the most incredible time, golden hour!

After much exploring, we devoured a locally made treat of candied smoked salmon and prepared a home cooked meal in our cosy, warm van away from the approaching rain.

After a few days in Tofino with the perfect formula of surf, hike, eat, sleep, repeat, we hit the road back east to refuel our supplies with intentions to next explore the lesser known northern parts of Vancouver Island. Follow me and stay tuned for my next post about our explorations in the wild northern region of Vancouver Island.

See you soon,
Eleanor!