Patagonia Pete

That old blues standard, A Foggy Day in London Town, needs to be re-written as A Soggy Day on Vancouver Island.

It’s been a short ride today, barely 65km, to a town called Qualicum. Normally I would have pushed on another 50km, which would have brought me to the town of Nanaimo, but there is a rumour that there is a folk festival nearby tomorrow and, you know me, any chance to wear a chain-knit sweater and folda-roll with the best of them and I’m there. However the weather is obviously not a folk fan and has been conspiring against it. And the forecast isn’t good for tomorrow, so although I would dearly love to hang around in a drenched mud-pit, finger in ear, swigging local gut-rot, I think I may have to decline. These things are all well and good if you have somewhere to clean up and fresh clothes to change into, but since I have neither of these things, then I think this will be the definitive rain-cheque (is it ‘cheque’ or ‘check’?).

Perhaps it’s a bit soon to be reviewing Vancouver Island, especially since my experience of it has been very much limited to cycling the main highway, but it does appear to be predominantly a tourist island. There is logging, but it must be just for the locals. I mean they’re not short of the odd tree or two on the mainland. And the fishing has a similar story. And if they are dependent on the tourist dollar then this poor summer must be hitting them hard. I have seen lots of ‘For Sale’ signs the entire length of the island. Not just for houses, but for plots of land, cars, a farm was up for sale and even a horse was going cheap (it needs a special bit and lots of training, I thank you). Now it’s obviously not just due to this one poor season, no, it’s the economy, stupid. Which makes you wonder how a heavily tourist-dependent island like this is going to survive without the tourists coming over and spending their tourist dollars. Or maybe it booms in an economic downturn, bolstered by the domestic tourist. The ‘For Sale’ signs say otherwise.

That hasn’t really given you enough information to form a decision on whether to come here for your next holiday, has it? Vancouver Island is lush, verdant and, I hear, sunny on occasion. There are just enough wild animals roaming about to make it interesting without being terrifying and the locals combine the characteristics of an American and a Frenchman… they’re happy to please, but if you don’t like it, ‘bouff!’ From what I’ve seen it’s pretty cute. Come with a car and some out-door toys and you’ll have a blast.

I’ll be heading off to Vancouver on Sunday 17th, so if anyone has some must-see places to visit (thanks Jim, yours is at the top of the list!) then please let me know.

Love
Pete
And here’s a photo of the rain steaming off the road…