Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

April 2026:

We picked a beautiful afternoon to cross from Port Angeles, USA to Victoria, Canada, capital of British Colombia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. We had heard Victoria has a very British feel to it and we were looking forward to one of its famous high teas. The ferry docked deep into the harbour with sweeping views of Victoria’s beautiful buildings. We passed through immigration and customs with minimal fuss and then ‘stealth’ camped in the heart of the city for three nights. It is a really nice city with plenty to see and do. Of course, Francine researched the best Afternoon Tea and we chose the historic Pendray Hotel for ours. The city was in bloom and it was lovely to explore the old buildings, the wharfs, the long breakwater and the parks.

Leaving Victoria, we set out on the Pacific Marine Loop, a 200km drive around the south of Vancouver Island. The route starts of by tracing the rugged, wave-swept coastline of the Juan de Fuca Strait. We stopped at Sooke to walk out on the Whiffen Spit, Sheringham Point Lighthouse for another short hike and Sandcut Beach to explore the waterfall. We camped overnight at a dramatic campsite right on the beach.

The next day we visited Sombrio Beach, with its hidden waterfall, and then Botanical Beach, at low tide, to explore the rockpools.

From the Botanical Beach / Port Renfrew we cut inland, stopping at the most photographed tree on the island, the ‘Fairy Tree’ – a lone tree growing from a nurse tree trunk in a lake and again at a giant spruce tree before visiting Ducan and its collection of totem poles.

The next day we visited the old Kinsol trestle bridge – its 44m high and 188m long, making it the largest wooden trestle in the Commonwealth of Nations and one of the highest railway trestles in the world.

Later in the day we took the ferry from Departure Bay, Namaimo to Horseshoe Bay, north of Vancouver city.