06 September: We woke on our own this morning. While chillaxing, and hearing the variety of birds around us, a decision was made to take a hike...at Helliwell Provincial Park.
As usual, on a Sunday, parking was sparse yet not in excess. I'd say 15% less than a normal Sunday afternoon over Labour Day weekend.
We walked clockwise on the trail and absorbed the majesty of the forest and cliffsides of the park. An excellent way to stretch our legs and relax.
When done we travelled to Ford's Cove, near our campsite, to see what the new restaurant there was like. It was called, imaginatively, Ford's Cove Restaurant (they're still working on their website). Turns out the entire structure of the old convenience store and home were replaced with a two story new structure. The convenience store is on the lower level while the restaurant is above. The restaurant has a multitude of two story high windows with open views to the Striaght of Juana Fuca. The menu looked good and had city bistro prices. The convenience store has much wider isles with a greater selection of items including fresh vegetables. These things were noted for the future.
Instead of eating at the restaurant we went back to our campsite. For lunch we heated up two cans of lentil & vegetable soup and added sun dried tomatoes and cheese. Delicious with a side of Guinness dark roast, purchased at the Co-Op.
For the afternoon, we drove to the opposite side of Hornby to try a new trail route within Mount Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park. The first bit was EXTREME with a very steep climb up several stories of height. Our leg muscles got a good workout.
After that part of the hike, it was moderately straight forward, although the old Scout training in orienteering came in handy for determining what trail we were on and where we were in the park. This is why we carry a compass when travelling. Trees do not have a password to their natural wifi network. Our nature loving batteries received excellent recharging here under the forest canopy.
Back at the camp, we had mac 'n cheese, with vegetables, and a nice dessert bought at a roadside stand we like. The sunsets tonight were particularly wonderful and quick changing. 10.1km walked and 37 flights climbed
07 September: We always try to leave our campsite by 930am because we want to be at the ferry line early. In our early years of camping on Hornby, for Labour day weekend, if we arrived after 10am there would be two sailing waits. After 11 and there would be four waits. After 1pm and...you're there for a while. In this case, after carefully wrapping our tent and common area tarp (because of a pitter patter of rain at night) we left the campground at 945am. Ouch. Yet, we need not have worried. Because of the reduction in "folks from away" staying on Hornby we had no sailing waits! Same as when we got to the Denman ferry to Vancouver Island! Huzzah!
Our next destination was Coombs, always a fun stop and even at this Island hotspot I could detect a little lack of folks. I picked up a Patrick O'Brian book, in its extensive Cozy Corner book store, and examined the contents of their satellite comic book store. Meeting my wife in the market we finished off purchasing a few things, brought them to our car, then lined up for Cuckoos Trattoria and Pizzeria to open at noon.
I ordered their rustic ciabatta, as I normally do, with the tomato soup. I would have gone to Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import store, for liquorice, but we had some at home. From there it was smooth driving back to Victoria while we listened to The Debaters podcasts. 3.3km walked and 3 flights climbed
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