Vancouver Island Day One

Amongst the massive cedars of Cathedral Grove

First Nations Face Mask ( photo of a photo in our room)

Our Beach, late afternoon. Here, in the bay,numerous small islands calm the waves hence the name "Tin Wis"

Sunset Walk at Tin Wis

After a foggy ferry float from Tswwassen ("Facing the Sea)" to Departure Bay on Vancouver Island (two hours), we drove west, stopping at MacMillan Provincial Park (Cathedral Grove) to see the massive cedars, some over eight hundred years old. We arrived in Tofino just in time for sunset photos, before settling in to our beach side hotel rooms at the Tin Wis ( "Calm Waters") Resort. The hotel is owned and run by First Nations Folk. We were greeted on the lawns outside our rooms by an unexpected treat: a flock of handsome Greater White-Fronted Geese ( Anser albifrons). They were nibbling on the grass....

By the Fraser River

Evening on the New West Quay, Vancouver BC.

The Quay is a busy spot!

Paddle Steamer for trips on the River

Reflections of the Paddle Wheel

Simon Fraser Himself.

On our first day traveling with Wells Gray Bus Tours we arrived in Vancouver, staying in the New Westminster Inn on the Quay, balanced on the edge of the mighty Fraser River. There we celebrated a lovely evening and dinner right by the water with daughter Elise and partner Adam. The sun came out so we were able to wander on the quay and take some photos. There we found a statue of the famous 19th Century explorer Simon Fraser: his colleague explorer David Thompson named the river in his honour. There are at least a dozen bridges that have been built over this important river, important not only for trade but for a route for our young Pacific Salmon to get to the sea, and come back four years older for spawning. We slept well and set off in the morning for Vancouver Island with about twenty in our group of keen cross-continental explorers....