Qualicum Beach

We left Comox with some trepidation since when we opened the blinds in the morning it was clearly very wet outside. However nothing was coming down; it was already on the ground so we resigned ourselves to the spray from the road. It could be worse. Visibility was poor but this time it seemed to be mostly fog and not smoke.

We zipped along south on the old highway which was moderately busy but had a decent shoulder for the most part, and found the motel we would stay at for two nights. The manager let me use his hose to wash the road grime off the bike while Tara washed the road grime off our clothes.

We walked to find groceries, about 3km and up hill since we are staying at beach level. You could only see about 100m out to sea with the fog/smoke and no seals/whales to be found. Next door to the motel was a Schnitzel restaurant so schnitzel, red cabbage, and roast potatoes it was (or spaetzel for some) for dinner.

The next day we set a course for Coombs where the goats are still on the roof since when our family was there nearly 25 years ago. Many memories. We then carried on to Englishman River falls with only one minor GPS mishap to befuddle us. The falls were quite spectacular even without the high water levels seen in the spring and one wonders how the salmon go upstream at places like this.