up island & back east.

comox, courtenay, cumberland, campbell river, sayward, telegraph cove, port mcneill, port hardy, tofino. we've covered a lot of ground since we left our beloved port renfrew. & though the west coast - with its tall trees, rugged coastline & driftwood lined beaches - is a slice of heaven, we haven't found a permanent place here.

while port renfrew was a dream, the population in the off season dwindles to two hundred & forty [ from five thousand ]. & while the idea of spending the winter cozied up in front of a roaring fire in a remote town on the wild west coast wearing plaid shirts & hiking boots is romantic, the reality is we could very well end up like john & wendy from the shining if we did [ heeeeere's lukey ].

tofino was stunning, & a close second to renfrew, but as far as we can tell, the only housing options are the campground just outside of town [ as much as we love living in our little van, it's getting to be autumn. & winter follows autumn. & camping on the west coast of british columbia for an entire winter would get ugly ] or staff accomodation [ we're almost forty. 'nuff said ].

the third [ & most practical ] option was the comox valley. but let's face it, as beautiful as it is, it's not the west coast.

so, if you haven't already surmised, i'll spell it out. we're not staying on the island. & that's ok. as you know, after my mother passed in january our plan went from making a permanent move to seeing what was out there. to healing. to exploring. to self discovery. to taking a journey. to having an adventure. & what an adventure we had, & will continue to have. we're heading east with a van full of memories, heads full of dreams & hearts full of hope.

for those of you that only know us via the internet, we'll keep posting. to those of you at home, we look forward to sharing our stories with you - live & in stereo.

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end of season.

fishing season is coming to an end here in port renfrew & that means it's just about time for us to move on. we've got three & a half days of toilet scrubbing, bed making, pantry cleaning & fish processing left. & as much as we're looking forward to wandering again, it turns out we're really going to miss this place. & these people.

though we've only been here three weeks, it feels like we've been here for ever. we've developed close relationships with a few of our fellow seasonal workers, we've fallen in love with the wilderness that surrounds us & our senses have become accustomed to the sights, sounds & smells of this beautiful port town.

we'll miss the sound of the ocean breeze whispering through the trees, the whizzing of the motorcycle clubs that come into town for lunch, the beeping of the golf cart when we housekeepers are driving out to the hiker huts in the morning & the ruckus the locals raise when the pub lets out [ at ten o'clock. eleven o'clock if you're lucky ].

we'll miss the smell of uncle mike's dinners, the day's catch being portioned in the fish room, peter's whiskey cigars & the clear, fresh water of lizard lake [ it is my new favourite smell. fresh water. i want to bottle it ].

we'll miss the wildlife sightings [ bears, banana slugs, sea lions, lizard lake salamanders, porpoises, humpback whales ], the spotty wifi [ ok, maybe not the spotty wifi ], the log balancing competitions [ i've gotten rather good ] & the blackberries that grow along the road.

but it'll be wonderful to return to the freedom we had. to do what we like when we like. it's been work, work, work for weeks & we've only had one or two days off since we started.  it's been worth it, though - we've doubled the money in our bank account. & that, my friends, means we can double our time left on the road.

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