"Heaven on Earth!" a Vancouver Island Travel Page by rcargo

My visit to Vancouver Island marked the first time I had traveled to a new place on my own. During my first year at MSU, on a whim I decided to get on a bus to Seattle for Spring Break. After a 12 hour ride, I spent a day in Seattle with some friends and then continued on to Vancouver. From there I boarded a ferry to Vancouver Island. That night I wandered the countryside until I found (what I thought) was a campground and set up my tent. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized I was in fact camping on the outskirts of a Nanaimo city park! People out for their morning strolls didn't seem to mind, however, and instead stopped to chat and share stories of their favorite camping spots. This hospitality proved to be what I would encounter for the rest of my visit.

While hitch hiking is supposedly frowned upon, I had nothing but good experiences doing it. However, because much of the island is unpopulated, I found it common to walk many miles without seeing any cars, especially as you move away from the South-Eastern portion of the island.

Soon after packing my tent and leaving the city park, a nice fellow picked me up and we drove west, towards the interior of the island. Along the way he asked if I would like to see his favorite spot on the island, and so we stopped at MacMillan Provincial Park & Cathedral Park. Seeing his favorite spot ended up involving an hour hike to the largest Douglas-Fir tree in the park!

My next hitching experience was with a man who not only drove me as far as he was planning on going, but on an additional 60 km loop to Tofino so I could get pictures of what he thought was "The most beautiful scene of ocean, fishing boats, and coastline in the world!" It truly was quite a sight, although I found it hard to concentrate on the scenery after such wonderful hospitality. After camping on the coast for a few nights I again hitched a ride back towards Naniamo. This time a couple picked me up and after taking me to lunch, also stopped at Sprout Lake to take me on a two hour tour of the fire fighting airplanes there!

After a quick bungee jump in Naniamo, I made my way to Victoria and then by ferry to Port Angeles, WA, and then by bus home to Bozeman.

Since that visit I have planned numerous trips back to Vancouver Island but mysteriously all of them have fallen through. To give some idea of how wonderful my experience was there, going back this year ('05) was a close second to traveling to Eruope.

For the best overall information I've found about Vancouver Island, visit:
www.vancouverisland.com