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