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<\/a>Driving north, the expedition stopped in Ladysmith at Sealegs Kayaking<\/a> for a kayak rental. Despite refusing to pay $250 for a few hours in Whistler, we easily dropped $80 to kayak for an hour in a couple of tandems. Priorities. It felt great to stretch my paddling muscles and the water was relatively calm and pretty. The kids enjoyed it as well and even paddled when the spirit moved them. I coached them gently. Short Pants took it very seriously and worked on his technique diligently.<\/p>\n As is becoming typical, we arrived in Tofino around dusk and started looking around for a campsite with little success. Tofino is built at the end of a narrow cape of land and space is tight. When the population swells during high season, accommodations become scarce. We finally squeezed our trailer into a leftover tent site at MacKenzie Beach Resort. Our site was really just a tiny wedge of gravel next to the main entrance. There campground itself was just a gravel lot supporting a few tired looking trees between sites. Cars were parked bumper to bumper everywhere, and the campers were surprisingly noisy. It was more like a music festival parking lot than a campground, including the dirty bathrooms. We were all tired, but our noisy drunken neighbours kept us up until 1 AM, when I finally went out to speak with them. It was by far our worst campsite so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Waking up in Goldstream Provincial Park, we are pleasantly surprised. We had passed through a unattractive industrial suburb on our way in, but the park is filled with beautiful big redwoods and feels idyllic. After breakfast Those Johnston Kids took their bikes and went to find a playground. Mama followed in search of a shower. … Continue reading No room at the inn<\/span> I believe that was my first time sea kayaking in the Pacific. I loved paddling in the clear water and seeing the sea life in the shallows. So long Ontario. We are moving to the west coast.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>We continued north to Nanaimo, and then west towards Tofino. Along the way we stopped in at at the Coombs Emporium. I’d like to say we were drawn in by the giant pink castle built out front, but really it was the restaurant with live billy goats on its green roof. We bought some cheap but very colourful clothing and browsed the myriad of shops in the area. I also found wild blackberries growing alongside the road and picked a litre to take with us. They were amazingly juicy and sweet. Why doesn’t everybody live here?<\/p>\n<\/a>We came across a particularly scenic section of the Beaver River where the river ran through a rock massif. At some point in the distant past, the water has been higher and carved channels and pools in the rock. As the main channel wore deeper into the rock, it left <\/a>behind a marvellously sculpted landscape. The water in the river was crystal clear and shone like green glass. Baby Girl and I would have loved to swim in one of the calmer pools, but the water was like liquid nitrogen. It was chill and cloudy on the 22nd and we decided that swimming would be better saved for a hot day. We would have to pass by again on our way back.<\/p>\n