Cider, a seal and jumping fish

An early wake up to ring Neil and wish him a happy birthday. Then breakfast, a quick clean up of the flat, pack and on the road. We rang Ocean Island Suites to let them know we were off and spoke to a lovely lass who said that she was from Church Stretton (who said Shropshire folk don't venture far?). After a quick stop to see the Juan De Fuca Strait when it is not raining, start at Trans Canada Highway 1 mile 0 and off to our first point of call, the Merridale Cidery, where I had a tasting after a tour of the Cidery itself. They make some lovely brews both traditional and novel, one of which tastes very similar to icewine. We came away with a lovely 10% 'Cyser', which is slightly sweetened by honey and makes for a delightful appetiser. The girl who did our tasting was from Kidderminster - yet more Brits abroad!

Village

Sue took the wheel for the next stage and drove us to Cowichan Bay Village where we enjoyed our packed lunch while watching the world go by in the little port. While we were sitting there, Sue spotted one of the buoys popping up and down and after a few seconds recognised that she was watching a seal.

I'm watching you!

We sat entranced for several minutes as it cruised the area.

Widest girth in the world

Next stop was at Duncan, advertised as the town of Totem poles. They were not exaggerating and we went on a circuit to see the major poles. I stopped counting at 20 – apparently there are over 80! It is not explained why there are so many, although as almost all of them are relatively modern, I guess it is for tourism. But they are quite entertaining on a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we had yet another record – the world's biggest girth for a totem pole! The girl who directed us from the Tourist Information Office was from Chelsea/Windsor - 3 Brits in one day!! You can't get away from them.

Back in the car again for the final leg to Nanaimo. We only drove briefly through it on the way onto the island and so when we checked in to the super flat in the Buccaneer Inn and had a quick skype with Ollie and Ang, we went out and had a walk down by the harbour. From the little that we saw, it really is quite an enchanting place with crystal clear waters despite the traffic.

Jumping fish

As we walked along the sea wall, quite suddenly huge fish of 15 to 24 inches started jumping out of the water within a range of 6 to 20 feet of the sea wall. I imagine they were being chased by some predator but despite the water being quite clear and the fish being so close, wasn't able to see anything.

As I write this, someone with 7-league boots is walking very heavily on the floor above, so if I have made any mistakes you know why!

written by

rickandsuejohnson on August 8, 2010 from Nanaimo, Canada

from the travel blog: Go west, then go west some more.

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