Double moose - part 2, act 1
The German trip!
Second trip was across from Vancouver to Vancouver Island for four days of sun, fun, alcohol, and wild times. Started out thinking that the trip would be a complete disaster. I mean look at the line up of nationalities: 6 Germans, 2 Swiss, 1 Belgian, 6 English, 2 Canadians, 1 Spanish, 1 Japanese, and only 1 Irish. Where is the Aussie? How can a backpacker trip run without one? Also the native English speakers were outnumbered by the German language gang and you know what a reputation the Germans have for not knowing how to have fun. Well, after four days with them, I will defend any German against that charge. This was by far the best trip so far (even beating the Algonquin trip). Not only was the scenery absolutely stunning, the driver/guide was wicked, the alcohol flowed freely (or at least very cheaply), and the wildlife turned up right on time. Plus the added bonus of the gender mix being very much weighted towards the female of the species (incl John the guide, there were only 5 guys out of a total of 21).
Started with the normal tour around the city picking up everyone from various hostels. Per provided the first comedy moment by still being in bed when the bus rolled up. Arrived downstairs looking just a little (!) sleepy 5 mintues later. Alex (henceforth known as the king of bullshit) then proceeded to convince him that the bus he had got on was the wrong one. Poor guy wandered bleary-eyed down the bus to ask John the driver whether we really going to Vancouver Island and not the Rockies as Alex had just convinced him.
First break from the bus was the ferry across to Nanaimo during which someone turned on the wind machine. Lovely and sunny encouraging you to head up on deck just in case any whales happened to appear near the boat. Eventually we headed downstairs for a good talk on the ecology of the area which passed most of the time before docking. Then headed to a lovely set of falls for lunch and on across the island passing lakes, rivers, forests, and an occasional village. Final stop was a quick look at Long Beach (and an even quicker dipping of feet in the water) before finishing up in the small town of Tofino and a great hostel almost right on the water (and more importantly only just down the hill from a bar).
Obviously a very good night ensued. Group cooking of pasta and consumption of beers bought on route. Made the mistake of deciding to sample a fairly local Canadian cider. V nasty - way way too sweet. Then off to the bar for 80s night. I was right at home! And finally another couple of nasty ciders down by the water just below the hostel.
Saturday was spent on a day-long zodiac boat and activity trip. First part of the day was spent hugging the coast line of the multitude of islands trying to spot bears on the shore. V successful - two of the critters gave good views to the watching crowd.
Then it was on to a set of hot springs that flow into the ocean. Had a lovely walk from the boat drop-off through a beautiful forest with some enormous trees (tree size demonstrated by my glamorous assistant Claudia below).
Springs were wonderful too - almost too hot to start with but very relaxing once you'd been in there a while. Claudia also spotted a lovely pool down by the ocean. Try and guess the temperature of this in comparison to the pools. Clue 1 comes from the phrase "down by the ocean"! Yep, bloody freezing. Anyway some of us decided we were going to take the plunge anyway and whilst Per and myself played scissors, paper, stone to decide who should go in first, Claudia bravely threw herself in. Obviously being guys and not wanting to be upstaged by a girlie, that meant we both had to follow. This foolhardy act was followed very soon by a dash back to the hot pools. Did also go down to the ocean for a dip as well and Niamh bravely joined us. Finished this part of the day with Claudia and yours truly proving that we were the most in need of being locked away in an asylum when we went back to the cold pool for a swim!
Anyway having survived that without losing any body parts to the icy water, we headed back to the boat and on to the whale watch part of the trip. Return trip was out into the offshore ocean which made it a lot more roller-coaster like and far more exhilarating than the outward journey. Finally spotted more boats moving slowly on the water (which I now know for certain is the easiest way to spot that there are whales around). Had distant glimpses of three orcas swimming slowly along. Our captain tried to position the boat to get the best view of them, but they were swimming far more slowly than he had reckoned, so we overtook them. However he then just turned the engines off and waited for them to surface. Well, he is either very very clever or very very lucky: the whales surfaced exactly in line with the boat and only 20 or 30 metres away. Wow!!!!
What a day.
Obviously we had to celebrate our luck by having a bbq back at the hostel accompanied by a few more beers (lager this time - replenished supplies meant I could forget attempting Canadian cider). And then naturally it was time to go to the pub. And then an early night (not too long after midnight from what I remember).
Enough for now: stayed tuned for the next thrilling instalment. Act 2 to follow shortly when we find our heroes travelling south to the provincial capital of Victoria. Will they all make it? Do any fail to cope with the pace? And just how much alcohol can they consume in Big Bad John's? Find out next time.
Second trip was across from Vancouver to Vancouver Island for four days of sun, fun, alcohol, and wild times. Started out thinking that the trip would be a complete disaster. I mean look at the line up of nationalities: 6 Germans, 2 Swiss, 1 Belgian, 6 English, 2 Canadians, 1 Spanish, 1 Japanese, and only 1 Irish. Where is the Aussie? How can a backpacker trip run without one? Also the native English speakers were outnumbered by the German language gang and you know what a reputation the Germans have for not knowing how to have fun. Well, after four days with them, I will defend any German against that charge. This was by far the best trip so far (even beating the Algonquin trip). Not only was the scenery absolutely stunning, the driver/guide was wicked, the alcohol flowed freely (or at least very cheaply), and the wildlife turned up right on time. Plus the added bonus of the gender mix being very much weighted towards the female of the species (incl John the guide, there were only 5 guys out of a total of 21).
Started with the normal tour around the city picking up everyone from various hostels. Per provided the first comedy moment by still being in bed when the bus rolled up. Arrived downstairs looking just a little (!) sleepy 5 mintues later. Alex (henceforth known as the king of bullshit) then proceeded to convince him that the bus he had got on was the wrong one. Poor guy wandered bleary-eyed down the bus to ask John the driver whether we really going to Vancouver Island and not the Rockies as Alex had just convinced him.
First break from the bus was the ferry across to Nanaimo during which someone turned on the wind machine. Lovely and sunny encouraging you to head up on deck just in case any whales happened to appear near the boat. Eventually we headed downstairs for a good talk on the ecology of the area which passed most of the time before docking. Then headed to a lovely set of falls for lunch and on across the island passing lakes, rivers, forests, and an occasional village. Final stop was a quick look at Long Beach (and an even quicker dipping of feet in the water) before finishing up in the small town of Tofino and a great hostel almost right on the water (and more importantly only just down the hill from a bar).
Obviously a very good night ensued. Group cooking of pasta and consumption of beers bought on route. Made the mistake of deciding to sample a fairly local Canadian cider. V nasty - way way too sweet. Then off to the bar for 80s night. I was right at home! And finally another couple of nasty ciders down by the water just below the hostel.
Saturday was spent on a day-long zodiac boat and activity trip. First part of the day was spent hugging the coast line of the multitude of islands trying to spot bears on the shore. V successful - two of the critters gave good views to the watching crowd.
Then it was on to a set of hot springs that flow into the ocean. Had a lovely walk from the boat drop-off through a beautiful forest with some enormous trees (tree size demonstrated by my glamorous assistant Claudia below).
Springs were wonderful too - almost too hot to start with but very relaxing once you'd been in there a while. Claudia also spotted a lovely pool down by the ocean. Try and guess the temperature of this in comparison to the pools. Clue 1 comes from the phrase "down by the ocean"! Yep, bloody freezing. Anyway some of us decided we were going to take the plunge anyway and whilst Per and myself played scissors, paper, stone to decide who should go in first, Claudia bravely threw herself in. Obviously being guys and not wanting to be upstaged by a girlie, that meant we both had to follow. This foolhardy act was followed very soon by a dash back to the hot pools. Did also go down to the ocean for a dip as well and Niamh bravely joined us. Finished this part of the day with Claudia and yours truly proving that we were the most in need of being locked away in an asylum when we went back to the cold pool for a swim!
Anyway having survived that without losing any body parts to the icy water, we headed back to the boat and on to the whale watch part of the trip. Return trip was out into the offshore ocean which made it a lot more roller-coaster like and far more exhilarating than the outward journey. Finally spotted more boats moving slowly on the water (which I now know for certain is the easiest way to spot that there are whales around). Had distant glimpses of three orcas swimming slowly along. Our captain tried to position the boat to get the best view of them, but they were swimming far more slowly than he had reckoned, so we overtook them. However he then just turned the engines off and waited for them to surface. Well, he is either very very clever or very very lucky: the whales surfaced exactly in line with the boat and only 20 or 30 metres away. Wow!!!!What a day.
Obviously we had to celebrate our luck by having a bbq back at the hostel accompanied by a few more beers (lager this time - replenished supplies meant I could forget attempting Canadian cider). And then naturally it was time to go to the pub. And then an early night (not too long after midnight from what I remember).
Enough for now: stayed tuned for the next thrilling instalment. Act 2 to follow shortly when we find our heroes travelling south to the provincial capital of Victoria. Will they all make it? Do any fail to cope with the pace? And just how much alcohol can they consume in Big Bad John's? Find out next time.
posted by Alan at 7:49 pm
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