North Vancouver

Following my recent layoff, half a day of existential worth crisis, and a productive week of portfolio re-vamping, ukulele learning, and catching up on some much overdue meetups, I am ready to depart on another road trip to explore the wonderful sceneries our local neighborhood has to offer. I had the privilege to be at odds with my own thoughts while waiting for my ferry in three hours at a local coffee shop, and to come to terms with my feelings on the matter. A sense of new adventure brings with it a corresponding balance of excitement mixed with anxiousness, as does this amazing morning cup of Iced Caramel Macchiato from Nomad Cafe.

While I did have a rough itinerary planned out for the rest of the week, I still can't help shake the feeling of FOMO for all the places of interest I wasn't able to incorporate into the trip, as well as a slight fear of the what ifs I might encounter. Alas, that is what an adventure ultimately is in the end, and hopefully I brought enough bear sprays. Perhaps one day I will find a partner in crime other than my new Insta360 X3 who I can share these memories with, and maybe one day I'll mature enough to tackle such epics with nothing but enthusiasm. But until then, I'll caffeinate to the next opportunity of social and physical escapism from this beautify place that I call home.

Nanaimo

Upon landing from the ferry in the early afternoon, I immediately departed for my favorite Nanaimo Bar place: Smokin' George's BBQ, where I settled for a half rack of ribs for lunch, also a weird encounter where the Casher did not accept a tip for the second transaction around, you would never find this shocking behavior on the mainland. An opportunity for a short afternoon digestive stroll presented itself in the way of Royston Seaside Trail, where I scheduled a visit to see the Royston Wreck which did not live up to my anticipation as it was much further out than my eyes allowed me to appreciate clearly, but was a vibe nonetheless in the sunset glow. After a brief stay to appreciate the island air, I departed for Mt Washington for the late afternoon.

Mt Washington

Arriving at the peak parking lot at close to 6pm, and forgetting that we are already in the season where the sun sets before 7pm, I had no choice but to get ready to camp out for the night while planning my hiking route for the morning while setting an alarm for an hour before sunrise.

The alarm to wake up an hour before sunrise was way too ambitious on my part, as I ended up waking up half the parking lot of campers (woops) from looking for my phone, only to dismiss the alarm and head back to sleep until close to sunrise. I started my day with a toasty can of chowder soup before departing for the hike.

While Helen Mackenzie to Battleship Lake was a popular trail and well-marked, Cruickshank Canyon was less so. A few well constructed cairns marked the way for me to cross a stream and navigate through the mountains to arrive at the breath taking canyon itself. Surprisingly, I did not have to hike 1/3 of the 6 hour hike with both my legs cramped up, which provided me the confidence to depart for the next three days of spontaneous hikes.

I left the mountain feeling nothing but excitement, and ended up releasing that energy by visiting the local gym for another workout in the late afternoon before camping out for the night. Bright and early in the morning I completed a short stroll through the woods to reach Elk Falls, on route of which I appreciated the history and upcoming changes to the John Hart Dam.

As all morning strolls end up making me snackish, I took a visit to Ideal Cafe and dosed myself in a few cups of coffee while enjoying a delicious Benny while preparing for the long drive ahead.

Port McNeill

Two hours with spotty reception went by in a flash as I arrived in the port down of Port McNeill to visit Mugz 2.0 which was recommended to me by Nick Chubbs who is also a travel enthusiast. Having done a little bit of resting, caffeination (amazing caramel apple latte here by the way), and a bit of portfolio work, I got back on the road towards my next destination.

Port Hardy

Upon arrival the first thing I noticed was how quiet the area was, although the port city has signs of civilization with the parked boats, ferry route, and marina, the tranquil atmosphere provided a soothing sense of relief as the sounds of nature resonated within the harbor area. I took my time here to polish off the rest of my coffee before checking out the two world's largest burls and answering the call of the mountains.

Honestly this was much shorter of a hike than I expected, granted I should have paid closer attention to AllTrails' statistics. With some much appreciated rope section and a few mud swamps to cross over, the crash site was easily reachable as evident by the two groups of families with multiple kids I passed along the way. One of the boys even recommended an "adventurous" route as opposed to a muddy route for crossing as well, needless to say I took the adventurous route. I really hoped I could have toured through the interiors of the crashed plane as well, but jagged metal and creaky unstable structure deterred me from doing so. A hop, a change of clothes, and a quick call to catch up with my friend back home later, I departed towards the remote parts of Northern Vancouver Island.

San Josef Bay

The road to San Josef Bay was nothing short of unforgiving, with 60+km of gravel road posted at 50km/hr max speed, it was hard not to reminisce on my last road trip when I took my Corolla onto an FSR and popped a tire in bear county with no reception whatsoever. It also didn't help that Google Map's offline mode gives faulty directions to San Josef Bay, taking me onto a deserted and overgrown narrow which thankfully had a sign at the front that warned of the misdirection. A mid journey stop at Holberg with a Co-op student from Burnaby revealed to me that the town had a mere permanent population of 10 (Fact check from the census shows a declining population of 15 since 2021), and that luckily, San Josef Bay was only another 20 or so kilometers out! Unfortunately though, it was FSR the entire way through as I found out the hard way. After getting to the parking lot about an hour after sundown, I quickly realized how spooky it was at night with no other cars parked in the vicinity, and with how quiet it was such that not even the sound of the forest was heard around me. I ended up having a quick bowl of instant noodles, indulged myself in an hour of reading, and doze off into the night.

Waking up refreshed from a great night of sleep, I departed for a quick hike towards San Josef Bay beach. While it was only 3km one way, it was nothing short of breath taking views within the forest itself. Coming onto the actual beach itself, I was overcame with appreciation as I took in the majestic and undisturbed nature all around me. After engraving the atmosphere into my psyche, as well as taking a few medias to share with the people back home, I came across two sets of fresh bear tracks, and hurriedly paced myself back to the safety of my vehicle, and back onto the road towards civilization.

Victoria

A quick few hours later of driving, I am back on Southern Vancouver Island on route to Victoria to meet up with a friend for lunch, the persistent showers did not make the trip any better as my little car spent a fair amount of time fighting the urge to hydroplane, especially on the single lane highway sections between Nanaimo and Victoria, but alas we made it!

After spending lunch at Sen Zushi and catching up with Raymond, amazing Ika Mentai Udon by the way, I spent the afternoon catching up on much overdue work for my portfolio site, and bounced between Gigi's Cafe which had an amazingly homey vibe, and the Greater Victoria Public Library. I found dinner at Smile Chicken which I truly believe was the best Korea fried chicken I have ever tasted to date, before climbing back into bed for the night in the heart of downtown Victoria.

The next day, I was meant to participate in some cave exploration at Horne Cave, but the recent weather has not been kind to me and so the trip was cancelled. Instead I spent the day exploring various coffee shops, the most memorable of which is Java Jo's which was by then already fully decked out in Halloween decorations (with amazing coffee too of course).

Got some early productivity squeezed out during the day so I planned an afternoon sunset chasing drive across multiple sea-side parks to end the day, during which I came across what I presume to be a mama deer and a baby deer, and got a few glimpses of amazing sunset while enjoying two amazing bowls of soup at Fishhook (my favorite was the lobster bisque) before hitting the gym and pool and having more sushi to end off my night in Victoria as I make my way back to Nanaimo for one last attraction before departing home.

Sky Diving - Nanaimo

Bright and early in the morning, I wake up in anticipation for my first sky diving experience ever. This location was recommended to me by a friend who promises the best view out of the local sky diving spots, and so with glee I showed up for my 200km/hr plunge into the world. After signing a few quick waivers and such, a 5 min introduction video, and a 2 min demo with the instructor, we were off to the airfield. The plane ride up was a lot faster than I expected, as the small plane shot up at a much greater angle than I was used to with commercial aircrafts, and looped around to show me all the breath taking views of the Vancouver channels, the surrounding mountain terrains with the combination of beautiful fall colors as well as the snowy peaks, and the beauty of Vancouver Island all in one go. But as all things rise, they must fall... or something like that. Once altitude was reached, the plane door was abruptly lifted up for me to come to term with what the outside world was like at this altitude. I nervously shuffled my feet across the ledge out of the plane and handed all control to the Tandem instructor attached behind me. As he jumped out of the plane a wave of relief quickly washed over me as the nervousness faded away, as I glanced around during the descend to take in the beautiful scenery and rush of sky coming towards us at speed. After a less than a minute descend later, the parachute was pulled and we drifted back down towards where it all started.

Now I have a new hobby I am interested in pursuing, so time to make that bank so I can become a solo sky diver and perhaps one day, a wing suit flyer. After another quick sushi meal in Nanaimo, I was off to be shipped back home.

Arriving just in time to spare for a night at home, I was hoping to catch up on some content editing but alas, socialization calls. After a night spent at home later I proceeded to attend 4 socials over the weekend, where I proceeded to lose my car keys downtown, but that is a story for another day!

Northern Vancouver Island Trip Plan