As the rain drops dance dramatically on our deck, I reflect back to last summer when we escaped to the wild west coast of Vancouver Island. Leaving behind bursting schedules, birthdays, and the rigidity of life structure, we eagerly craved the solitude, rawness, and beauty that was waiting for us on the ‘other side.’
Of course, being very methodical about preparation for these types of trips is essential. Although we travel as safely as we can, we must remember that we are often a few 100 kilometers away from civilization, and thus we must be prepared. Garmin In-reach charged and functional – check; Extra food for emergency back-up – check; Extra fuel topped up in our jerry cans – check; functional winch and recovery gear –check; MAXTRAX ready in case the truck gets stuck – check…
Our daughter, then freshly 7 years old and now a seasoned off-grid traveler was becoming quite the co-captain of the “Ninja truck” as she calls it. Although we were hit by deactivated logging roads, the trip was relatively straightforward and the sound of the crashing waves welcomed us as we neared our destination.
With a fun 4WD across the beach, we set up camp and enjoyed the views, as well as an ocean swim. Yup, so warm that no wet suits were needed. Many thrilling moments and laughs were had as we dodged in and out of the west coast waves. Even Pete (our dog) had a perma-grin on his face!
We settled in easily with adventures planned daily. Beach critters became our entertainment. Eclectic skies became our eye candy, whilst warm sand between our toes, crashing waves and the smell of kelp and salt fulfilled our other senses. On occasion, the wolves performed a symphony of howling for us from afar.
We brought our Zodiak inflatable boat which made it easy to explore the crooks and crannies of the coastline. A big part of our days, we spent beach hopping and beachcombing. I quickly got used to battling with the thick west coast salal and relentless firs when crawling on my hands and knees through the woods, in an attempt to locate treasures. (Mounds of buoys that each were as tall as me), random flip flops and bike helmets welcomed us. We found humor in the broad selection of bike helmets that we figured must have come from a shipping container that had fallen overboard. From Paw Patrol to mohawk hairstyles, the style of helmets was endless. We were awarded a Japanese glass float, the second one we found. We also found a note in a bottle written over ten years ago. Good searching techniques pay great dividends at times.
The reality of these longer trips is that fresh food supplies begin to dwindle as time goes on. Although we pride ourselves in being creative with fewer ingredients, we were thrilled to enjoy some beautiful west coast bounties like; lingcod, gooseneck barnacles, turban snails, wild onions, sea asparagus, bitter cress, wild mushrooms and whatever else we can forage to tide us over. This is quite the reward you see when the next option is Annie’s pasta and canned chili!
As the end of our vacation came near to close, we embraced the sense of balance that our experiences had brought us. As the ding of messages, emails and phone calls bombarded us as we came into service once again, we strived to hold onto the sense of balance that our experiences had brought us. And as we looked behind in the rear view mirror, we knew we would be back once again.
