Amy and Grant on the Coast

Cox Bay coast

Did I ever mention that my sister is the best?  When I lived in Namibia for three years, she came to visit me twice!  We even got to explore Cape Town together before I moved there in 2009.  This summer she made the trek west with her partner Grant to visit me on Vancouver Island.

With only a week to explore we made plans to visit the West Coast of the Island, stopping in at Tofino, Ucluelet and exploring the Pacific Rim National Park in between.  We stayed at the Pacific Sands Beach Resort and then the Cox Bay Beach Resort both offering amazing views of the pacific ocean sunsets, direct beach access and self catering suites.

I could not get Amy and Grant in the ocean, they considered the water temperature far too cold for swimming.  I did manage to entice them into a Vancouver Island mountain lake which they thoroughly enjoyed.  We stopped at Kennedy Lake and had a good swim on the way out of Tofino which was much a warmer body of water.  On the way home we then proceeded to stop at Sproat Lake and Cameron Lake along the way.

Following the West Coast trip we spent a night in Nanaimo and had a great dinner and campfire at my house.  The next day we head south to the wine lands of Cowichan Valley doing some wine tasting on the way.  We ended up in Victoria and explored the city a little, dining at my favourite restaurant in Victoria Prima Strada.

On the way back up to Nanaimo we stopped at the Cowichan River and did some tubing down the river.  Tubes can be rented up river, and you spend 2-3 hours floating downstream through mostly mild moving waters, but a few fun rapid sections.  The tube rental company picks you up down river and bring you back to your car.

All in all a great visit with my sister and her partner.  I love exploring with them!