Into every life a little rain must fall—somehow I feel I’ve had more than my share lately. I’ve spent the past week on the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island, much of it looking out at the rain. Between showers I managed to make it up to nearby Sidney to get groceries and back again to look through their bookshops and find a book of poetry by my favourite West Coast Poet Tim Bowling. On Good Friday drove into Victoria to drop in on an old friend I haven’t seen in a quarter century. On Saturday I just went exploring and saw farmers working their strawberry fields rhubarb for sale. The Islandview Campground in the middle of the park of the same name looked cramped, windblown and desolate—made me thankful for the site I have. Got my kite out for a flight—no lack of wind. Sunday dawned with torrential downpours making biking uncomfortable at best and even the thought of going out to unhook to drive an exercise in getting soaked—I stayed in. Later Sunday just after I’d put my bicycle away on its rack the clouds blew away and the sun came out.
Some days everything goes right and some days one just needs a beer. I got myself ready for travel this morning with no particular sense of urgency but arriving at the local ferry dock to see the ferry had pulled away 2 minutes ago added nothing to my day. I opted to make the trip around the bay instead of waiting. Drove up to Nanaimo along wooded highways which afforded little in the way of picturesque views but plenty of hills. The road to my chosen campground is a construction project. Having arrived I promptly ended up waiting 15 minutes for service. The first three sites I was assigned were still occupied. The next disappointment was the discovery that Wi-Fi is not accessible at my assigned campsite. If this is one of the top-rated campgrounds in BC I don’t want to visit a poor one. Reality does not seem to live up to the Living Forest Website.
Tomorrow I hope to have better fortune catching a ferry to the mainland in Vancouver and a visit to the Vancouver Aquarium. Somehow I don’t see me making a 6:30 sailing. From there the nearest campground is in Surrey. Wednesday night I expect to camp in Revelstoke and then it’s on to Calgary. From what I saw earlier today anyone who bought Easter Daffodils from the Cancer Society will be waiting at least a week for delivery.
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