Birthday and Christmas in this wonderful place.

Hi,
I woke up on my birthday with my sister who made me breakfast!!
Then we dressed up warm and got ready to do what we came here for. Storm watching!!
First we went to a small beach across the cottages, we couldn't get on the beach cause of the high tide. Then we walked to the lighthouse a bit further ahead. The trail was closed because of damage from the storm, so we followed the road. There it also said to watch out. Also that this was an area with bears, wolves and cougars :) But the waves were so huge, it was really nice and stormy ocean. The water was far away so we went to sit on the rocks to take some pictures, there were a lot of people doing the same thing. You could just sit there and watch, it was so beautiful. We found a nice little bench and just sat there for a while. Then we walked a bit by the trail and took pictures.
We were there for a good part of the day, so beautiful.
Then we went back to the cottage for a late lunch. To then head back out to see the sunset on big beach a little further away. I found a really nice sea shell, but did not take it with me... The sunset was so nice, so beautiful.
After that we went back to the cottage and had a pizza with a movie.
So we had a nice evening in :)
Oooh yeah I bought myself a lemon meringue pie, but my sister is allergic so I ate it by myself during the whole stay in the cottage :)
The next day on christmas eve, we went to Tofino, known for it's surf vibes.
We stopped at one of the beaches and yes found some surfers!
The village was really nice and really had the beach village vibes. We walked around for a bit and did some last grocery shopping. Then we went back to the cottage and called home to see how there celebration was going. To then start our own cooking and celebrating. We had some food and watched Harry Potter, cause we didn't found any christmas movies on tv.
On our last day, so Christmas day, we had a late start and then went for a walk to the beach and lighthouse. We were so lucky to see a bald eagle or 3 :) We really didn't want to leave this place. Then we cooked our simple Christmas diner and watch Home alone on tv :)
We enjoyed our time in this place so much!!! We plan to come back one day, cause it was really perfect!! Best place in Canada so far :)
Love,
Sarah

Stuck in the snow.

Hi,
For my birthday we rented a little cottage in Ucluelet.
But to get there was a long road, there was that big storm 2 days ago and there was still a lot of damage everywhere and some places didn't had any power back.
So we started the +2 hour drive, we did a stop at Coombs to see the  goats on the roof. We did not find the goats, I guess they were inside with this weather. We did go into the shop and bought some snacks for the road. We wanted to stop at Cathedrall grove to see the big trees, but it was closed cause of the weather. So we only stopped once more for a pitt stop, we needed some petrol in the car and a hot drink for on the road. And this was the last village before our final destination, so we would drive in nature for a long time. It was raining but the nature was so beautiful, then we saw some snow and we found it so nice and great with Christmas coming. But then the snow got really bad, like really really bad!!! At one point going up the cars before us started to stop, so we all stopped.

Then after 10min or so we started driving again...some cars got up the little hill, but then the truck in front of us got stuck in the snow going up the hill. So we needed to stop again, then cars started to pass the truck so we were like, ok lets try this, we got next to the truck but then it didn't want to go any further and the truck driver was like, you girls are making the road slippery like this, just go back behind me the snow truck will be here any minute. So we waited, then the snow truck arrived, but made a big pile of snow in the middle of the road. A lot of cars started to go again, but the truck was still stuck. Then a car got stuck mid hill next to the truck and people started to push the car, my sister went and helped.
All this time it's still snowing really bad. So then someone told me to go and drive, my sister and 3 other people started to push the car and we went up the hill. Then one of the guys said "don't stop driving now", so I yelled to my sister "RUN", she ran and jumped into the driving car. Finally we could continue. The weather went from snowing bad, to snowing just a little, to raining so much!!! Finally we got at the end of the road and in Ucluelet. We checked into our little cottage. It was the cutest place, they put up christmas lights on the cottages, so nice!! After such a horrible/stressful drive we were so happy to get there. Our small cottage was also so cute. Once settled in we went back to the office to get some free DVD's. So we watched a movie and went to bed.
This was the most stressful ride I've ever had. We just don't have that kind of snow in Belgium.
But now I know I can do this :)
Love,
Sarah

My sister is here!!

Hi,
I know it has been a while, but so much happened :)
So 2 weeks ago my sister arrived in Vancouver!!
The first day we did her paperwork, so she also can work here while she stays.
In the evening we went to Aurora Winter Festival, I bought the tickets a few days before.
It was so nice with all the lights and there was a maze where we needed to help the elfs. So we put the app on our phone and we needed to find some pictures to scan in the maze. I couldn't work with it for some reason, but my sister could. At the end we would win a prize if we found everything and we did, we won some bracelets who light in the dark :)
Then we went to find some drinks and some food, there where a bunch of food trucks and it was really good food. We had a great night even when it started to rain so hard when we walked back, it was crazy!!
Her second day we went to Stanley park to walk around. In the afternoon we went to the bank to open up her bank account. We had an early night, because the day after we had to get up early to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island.
In the morning we went to the ferry stop early in the morning, but already in the bus we heard that the ferries till that point were cancelled. There was a big storm on the ocean.
So once we got there they said to wait 10min and they would let us know if the next ferry would go.
It wouldn't, the next news would be at 1pm so we went to get some shelter, because it was cold and windy. We went back at 1pm to see if the ferry from 3.45pm would go, good news it probably would. So we went to the waiting room to hear the next feedback. It said we would not go and the next news would be in about an hour. At the end the called in that the next and only ferry would go at 6.15pm and that we should get ready to board. The boat ride was wild and they said we should not walk around. We were supposed to rent a car that day, but we wouldn't make that anymore so I called them and we could get it the next day. Once in Nanaimo we got a cab to get to our hotel in Parksville, because there were no busses. After a long day we went to bed, we were so tired!!
It were some long first days for my sister, but we also had so much fun :)
Love,
Sarah

Moving on to the next adventure

Hi,
It's been a while since I wrote something, but I was mostly busy working in Subway.
Yesterday was my last day of work and some colleagues I won't forget :)
I've been working there for the last 3 months and happy to have found that job.
Duncan is known for it's many totem poles, you can even make a walking tour of all of them. This is such a nice little town. I enjoyed my time here.
Saturday I leave my workaway family here in Duncan, where I stayed the last 3 months.
They will be missed as well as the family dog Oliver :) They were like a second family to me.
I was so lucky to have found them, because I didn't know what my next move would be.
They welcomed me in there home and it felt like I was a part of the family.
Their daughter Essa who came home in the weekends was always happy to do some things with me (you can read our adventures in previous blogs). I really appreciate all that she has done for me. Also this weekend will be one of our last adventures together. I'll go over to spend the weekend with here in Victoria, before taking the ferry to Vancouver on Monday. I have a view rooms to visit in Victoria on saturday, cause thats me and my sisters plan B for the next working part of this journey. And monday I'll see a view in Vancouver as well, before deciding..
Sunday Essa will show me around Victoria a bit and I already know it will be a fun time :)
The son of the family Nolan also took me on a hike while here (see other blog) and gave my rides to work at times at well, I'm thankful for that as well :)
Tom and Lael are such nice people, I can never thank them enough for taking me in and showing me around the Island. They were always there to give me a ride after work as well. Because buses in Duncan have weird hours :)
They're always welcome to visit me when I'm back in Belgium.
I made so many memories out here and met so many nice people.
Like going to the hockey game, going on hikes, seeing Vancouver Island, see goats on a roof,...
Now it's time to continue my adventures with my sister, she arrives monday evening!!!
I will continue my blog, but also we will film some of our journey on our youtube channel :)
I hope you enjoyed my solo travel blog as far, cause I did enjoy traveling by myself. But can't wait to see my sister after 7 months apart!!!
Love,
Sarah


Wanted to end with some pictures of all the things I did while being in Duncan.
See you next time ;)

Another weekend, another adventure.

Hi,
Last weekend I did something I've never thought of doing, until Essa told me about it and I was like yes why not :)
Horne lake caves are natural caves situated on Vancouver Island.
We came prepared with long pants and long sleeves like the website said, we also had a total other outfit for after. The tour we did is called the wet and wild, the days before it rained a lot so we rented some boots and bought some cloves on the spot. Lucky we did cause the water was high in the caves.
We were a small good group and the guide gave us a lot of information. First we started with a hike uphill to get to the first cave.
The first cave we did was said to be the easy one :) I was thinking really? There were big rocks to go down on, we were told to always have 3 body parts touching the ground. So your arms, legs or bum should always touch the ground. The further down we went the more we heard the water that was flowing under us. We also went up like 2 steps to see a buda in the rocks in the middle of a little pool of water. At some point we all went to sit down and turned out our flashlights, a minute sitting in pitch black listening to the water, magical moment it was. Then we went back up and to the second cave.
To get into the second cave we had to go through a narrow passage, where I got stuck, because I was to short...But with some help it worked out :) We couldn't touch the whole right side of the caves cause that was crystallized rock and protected. So here I found out why the first cave was the easy one...It was so small in the second one and sometimes you got to almost crawl to move on. At some point we all stopped at a waterfall in the cave. That was when the guide said, we're going up, climbing the waterfall. He said we didn't have to, but we could all do it. So I was like ok lets to this :)
The waterfall was in 3 levels, at the second level there was a really small passage. Again I was to short to get over it, but the guide lent me his leg to stand up on, poor guy :( I won't lie, it was hard for me to get to the top, but I was so happy that I did it. And not once I was thinking of being afraid or that I was doing something crazy. Oooh yeah the only protection we had was a helmet with a flashlight on top, no ropes or whatever. After the waterfall we went further on and got down on a slide and went back out the cave.
The third cave we did was narrow as well. At some point we went down to the water and we could only do that on our bum because the rocks were to wet and slippery. Then once with our feet in the water the guide showed us a whole in the rocks and said you're going through that now...So we did :) We came out in a little cave and he said to turn of our lights, then he lighted up a piece of the rock and turned his light out. And the rock gave light, so cool to see :)
Then we had to go back out through the same little whole in the rocks and the guide said to go head first, which seemed weird, but else we would be in the water with our whole body :) So for some reason I went first, it went ok just got some water in one of my boots :)
Then we were standing like what it seemed closed in, so I asked where are we getting out? And he pointed to a horizontal crack in a rock, I was thinking no way I can fit there. He showed us how exactly to follow his lead, so thats what I did...and I passed, but ripped my pants while doing it hahaha :)
After that we went back down and it was the end of our adventure.
We did need to change, cause we were wet and dirty :) and I had ripped my pants hahaha.
I had a great time and never thought I was going to say one day that I climbed a waterfall in a cave :)
The only downside was the days after, when my legs were in so much pain of all the efforts I did. Till this day my 'bad' knee is still hurting. But it was well worth it :)
I had a great adventure with Essa, once again :)
And if you guys are ever on Vancouver Island, this is something worth doing!!!
Love,
Sarah

Hiking to Skutz falls...and falling

Hi,
Today I went on a fun hike with Essa again, near Duncan this time.
We were going to find Skutz falls, something she even never went to before :)
So on the way there we parked near a canyon to enjoy the view and then it would take us 2km to get to the falls, not bad. The trail is pretty flat and easy to walk on and the nature is just amazing.
This is known to have bears and cougars wander around, but I still haven't seen any big wild animals.
The falls weren't really waterfalls like we thought, it was more of rapid water flowing, still nice to see. On the way back we took a bit of another way, first did a bit next the river and then a bit on the road before having access to the trail again. Then we saw a path a bit more beneath and decided to go and check that out. We came out on a nice campground with a wilder trail to follow back. So we took that one, it was not flat anymore and a lot of tree roots on the path. We did take some really nice pictures. At one point we were going down, on one side the forest on the other side the cliff with the river at the bottom. Thats were I started slipping on some tiny rocks...I fell but luckily on the side of the forrest and I just hurt my leg, gonna be hurting more tomorrow I guess :) After letting a big group of hikers pass we also went back on our way.
I've been really careful the rest of the way back :) but we were almost at the end.
Another hike and still no bear sightings for me...
Maybe one day...
Oooh yeah, after the hike we went to try out my first rootbeer float....it wasn't as bad I thought it would be :)
Love,
Sarah

Port Renfrew and Avatar grove

Hi,
Last weekend I spent my sunday with the daughter of the couple where I'm staying doing a little road trip :)
We left in the morning to go to Avatar grove and Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Gnarliest tree

The drive up there alone is worth doing this, beautiful nature all along the way, we were lucky with the nice weather to.
On the way up we did a little stop along the way to see a big old tree, you would miss it if you didn't know where to stop, but of course my great guide new where it was :)
After first passing Port Renfrew to go to see Avatar grove, we did a little toilet stop and I had to go into a outhouse... That was a first hahaha, Essa (the daughter) told me that those were pretty clean, there are worse... Well  don't think I'll do that again :)
Arrived at Avatar grove we did a little hike to get to the gnarliest tree in Canada. Just being there is like being in another world, I get why they call it Avatar grove. They've put in some wooden stairs and walkways to make it easier to access, because it's really ruff nature up here, love it!!
We also had Oliver (the dog) with us and he just loved it, he kept on running up and down :)
The hike up wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and the surrounding are stunning.
After that we went to Port Renfrew and Essa brought me to a beach where they go camping once a year. This place is just breath taking. It's also at the start of the west coast trail, a famous trail in Canada, but I won't do it cause you have to go up and I don't do good on heights :)
We had our picnic on the beach and enjoyed the view. From here going straight in the ocean the next stop is Japan. You can see the west side of the island is more wild, just so beautiful, this is one of the most beautiful places I've been so far.
After showing me the little town of Port Renfrew we started to head back home.
It was a beautiful day in nature, so thankful Essa brought me here to witness this beautiful nature.
I hope you enjoy the pictures :)
Love,
Sarah