Vancouver Island

4,771 km

Nanaimo and Mount Benson

I arrived in Nanaimo on Thursday night and spent a day in and around town. I stayed at the painted turtle guesthouse which was a great and cheep hostel in Nanaimo. 

I decided to take in some outdoors on my own to decompress a little and headed out to hike Mount Benson. I headed up early and already the cloud cover was thick and low, but it did not stop me. I decided to give it a try and hope the sun pops out and visibility improves. 



I got to about the 2,000ft level just after a gruelling steep rock exposure area that you must pull yourself up with ropes. It was fun! Once I got to this point I decided to turn back as visibility did not improve and was not worth teeming on.

I head back to Nanaimo and picked up a six pack of beer and hung out on an embankment in Maffeo Sutton Park and ate lunch and a Nanaimo Bar. The park offers great views of the harbour and surrounding islands, and it was cool to watch all the sea planes take off and land!

Summer Solstice

Later I caught a ride with Mattis from couch surfing down to a summer solstice party near lake Cowichan. The party was fun with great food, music, morning yoga on a lake, and great people. We all camped there and I chose a remote spot to set up camp in the quiet surround of the forest. 


I onlly have this one photo from the solstice party. Haha.

At the party I met Ruth, Malinda, and Dominique and as a group we drove down to Victoria with a stop to hike at Goldstream Provincial Park to climb Mt. Findlay. 

Mt. Findlay offers some great views of Victoria, the Jaun de Fuca straight, and the day we were up there we could even see the Olympic Mountains over in Washington State. A great ending to the longest day of the year.

Victoria

I spent Sunday milling about and taking in the scenes from around Victoria. I started by walking downtown and checking out Chinatown and the surrounding hood. I found a neat little cigar shop called Goodfellas Cigar Shop. The shop has a great selection of cigars, pipe tobacco, pipes from England and Ireland, and even hot sauces! This was not your typical tobacco vendor.

 Next I found a nice bakery called Cascadia Bakery, and it offers a wide selection of pastries, breads, beverages, and sandwiches at reasonable prices.

I then went to the Swans Liquor store and picked up a bomber of Philips White IPA and wandered along the waterfront and across the historic draw bridge to Songhees point.

Songhees Point offers a spectacular view of the Victoria harbour, downtown and the parliament of BC. I sat on the rock bluffs and drank my beer and watched as the ships, rowers, planes, and even a little pirate boat drifted by.

Swans brewpub was my next stop. Being in the craft brewing capital of Canada, I felt I should take I. A bit of the great craft beer there is to offer. Swans brewpub is on pandora street and has an awesome and bright glass enclosed patio and awesome beer. There is also a hotel upstairs if you can't find your way home. 

Now it is Monday and I'm going to head back to Vancouver this afternoon, but I will go for another walkabout through Victoria and discover some more gems hopefully.

W