"Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination"

There is a sense of ease boondocking(free camping) in Canada. Our forestry access roads are usually not gated off and open to public access. There is far less "posted" or "no trespassing" signs and even less "no overnight camping" signs at specific locations. Especially in the remote areas of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.We found a quiet forestry road pull out to set up camp for a couple nights.

This adventure has revealled to us a strong appreciation of nature. Being in the concrete confines of the city, it is refreshing to smell the neighboring cedar and pine trees and the faint sounds of the river below and the soaring bald eagles over head.We hiked a small section of the Juan de Fuca trail, which is around 50kms from start to finish

Canadian coastal hiking is much more rugged than any other hikes so far. Large areas of standing water and mud, unmaintained trails, slippery root sections. It was great! But a whole different type of difficulty.

Stunning ocean vistas and deep temperate rain forest foliage.We also checked out Botanical Beach just off of Port Renfrew and one end point to the Juan de Fuca trail. When the tide is out you can experience tide pools with an array of ocean life. If your lucky this can be a great place to see seals and a fairly easy but totally worth it hike to see the first glimpses into the open pacific ocean.

To the distance our final views of Washington and the Olymic mountains

Avatar Grove, a quick day hike. But we saw some pretty gnarly trees!

We spent a day by the river, the water was pretty chilly but so refreshing.

Next we drove into the middle of Vancouver Island to town of Lake Cowichan. Our first night we slept off the road at this stunning river look out at Skutz falls, definitely not all boondock spots are this easy and breathtaking, so we enjoy what we can!

Enjoying a morning coffee.

We spent a few days exploring on bike and foot the many nooks and crannies of the area.

Probably one of the most challenging aspects of this style of travel, along with navigating, is finding new stealth and comfortable sleep spots almost every night. That familiar feeling of nervousness that you are in an area that you are not supposed to be in, the many nights of sleeping with one eye open. So we decided to treat ourselves to an official campground for 2 nights.

I'd say we had full appreciation for this little slice of heaven.

Heading back to civilization to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

Goofing around in Chemainus.

Enjoying a craft beer

Until next time Vancouver Island!

We are learning and practicing to trust the process instead of worrying about every little thing that can go wrong. Its funny how this mind set creates possibility and ease. When we pulled off the ferry it was dark...one of our rules is to never look for a sleep spot at night. We didn't fret and honestly followed the road until we came to the end and voila! A quiet open parking lot in a park for us to sleep for the night. We even saw a racoon! We are moving a little quicker as we are excited to spend a few months in the Kootenay region. We spent a night in Osoyoos, but the area was difficult to find a spot to sleep as it is such a tourist area. A lot of "no overnight parking" signs. We actually ended up leaving the city and sleeping at a rest area.

Again we treated ourselves to 2 nights at a campground at Christina Lake. It was lovely...campfires, hiking, swimming and sunsets.

Nelson has always held a special place in our minds. We spend many holidays here. So what a better way to finish our trip here with 2 months left we have ample time to explore the many hiking trails, lakes and rivers. We are staying with friends, secret boondock locations and campgrounds with more details to follow! Much love Paul, Leanne and Benny