We arrived at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island just in time for lunch. Had to exercise our patience since all the fun lunch spots were still an hour ride away in Victoria. A friend that lives in town suggested a fish and chips place as arguably the best one in a sea of options. The same friend also commented that it didn’t count as real fish and chips, since we ordered it grilled instead of deep fried. 🤷♀️
Meeting with friends is always fun, but we had places to be, and had to carry on. A highlight of the day’s ride was Ocean Blvd, a narrow stretch of land separating Esquimalt Lagoon from the rest of the Juan de Fuca Strait. Aside from the inherent beauty of being surrounded by water on both sides, the ocean facing beach featured numerous driftwood art installations created by a local artist, @driftedcreations.
We decided to camp that night in Sooke Potholes Provincial Park. Arrived at 7:30 pm, which was early enough that after setting up the tent, we still had plenty of time to hike around and enjoy the scenery. In warmer weather this would be a great swimming hole, but it wasn’t quite the time yet.
In the middle of the night, I woke up to a weird chewing and scratching sound. It was so loud, I thought it was a deer having a late night snack somewhere nearby. At some point I thought it was maybe trying to chew the tent right next to my head. What do I do? What if it’s a bear? A bear wouldn’t act so subtle. Eventually I got a light out and to my surprise saw a small gray mouse climbing the tent wall on the inside. I shrieked. The mouse got scared, jumped around a few times, and then took a swift exit through a small hole it had created. The hole was in a mesh pocket designed to store miscellaneous small items. It held a chocolate bar which we started earlier that evening and didn’t finish. I felt stupid for breaking my own rule of “no food in the tent”.
I explained the situation to Alex, who had woken up and was wondering what all the commotion was about. Out next steps were two-fold. First, patch up the hole with a piece of duct tape. Second, set up a camera trap for the naughty mouse, away from the tent this time. The perpetrator was now caught red handed, and we got evidence to prove it. Silly mouse did not even eat the chocolate, just sort of bit it, and let it be. No appreciation for the finer things in life.
The next day we were planning to make it to Tofino. A complication to that plan was a wildfire that closed highway 4, the only paved route connecting Tofino, Ucluelet and other nearby communities to the rest of the island. We predicted this would reduce the amount of tourist traffic to the area, making for a calmer experience for us, who didn’t mind using the backroads. In fact, we would very much prefer to use the scenic backroads.
What we failed to predict was the effect of redirecting all the commercial traffic onto those same backroads. The weather was very dry, and the large trucks picked up an unbelievable amount of dust as they drove along at speeds only slightly below ours. The signs everywhere were advising no passing, but it was downright dangerous for us to stay in these dust clouds, so as pilots in command, we prioritized safety over regulations.
There was no stopping for photos or to admire the scenery – it was a particularly bad time to be out on those dirt roads, and we wanted this part to be over as quickly as possible. There were public service tents with information about the route setup along the way. By the time we made it to the paved road in Port Alberni, every nook and cranny of the bikes and luggage was covered in fine dust. We did what we have rarely done before: gave our bikes a wash.
Squeaky clean, we continued at a more leisurely pace, even snapping some photos. Tofino itself was fairly quiet. There were quite a few restaurants in town, but having examined their prices we decided it would be a waste to let the kitchen in our Airbnb go unused. So it was a romantic dinner of grocery store roast chicken and freshly cooked pasta. I don’t think a restaurant meal could be more delicious than that.
