Tuesday morning, we got up and headed to Craigdarroch castle, which is also a landmark of Victoria.

Left Victoria around noon, we took off for Nanaimo, a harbour city on the east coast of the Island. It is a small harbour, but very neat and beautiful. Stopped at Duncan for totem poles, Chemainus for Murals. Both cities are impressive.

We visited Englishman River Falls park. Disappointingly, The falls can barely be called falls. I guess no falls would impress me that much after seeing the waterfalls in Yosemite. We drove to a nearby down called Parksville for dinner. We chose a French restaurant and I ordered a roast duck. The duck was so tender and crispy. It was really amazing! The waiter and waitress seemed to be French speakers. This was the only time I met French speaking people in Canada. The only French I practiced was “bonjour” and “merci” though Drove in the dark for a while and arrived Alberni where we stayed for the night.

Wednesday morning, we took off and headed for Pacific Rim National Park near Tofino. Highway 4 is winding and graveled. It took us almost 2 hours. We saw a bear in distance on the car! We hiked a short trail to to beach. It’s a remote beach and since it was early in the morning, we were almost the only visitors. The sun was already up and shining.

We strolled on the beach, picking pebbles and taking pictures for a while before walking to Long Beach. It was nearing noon by then. Surfers were already fighting with the waves. Seagulls were hovering over the sandy beach.

We had a brief lunch in Tofino (expensive!!) and then headed back to the east coast for the ferry. We arrived Comox just ahead of the ferry schedule. The sun was nearing the horizon. I spent some time walking on the deck, saw a mother with his boy. She is a photographer, taking pictures of the cute young boy. I guess she was using an N65 or something. She lit a cigarette and smoked elegantly. I hadn’t smoked for days and began to crave. So I asked for a cigarette and smoked with her. It was a very beautiful and light cigarette, not like those American cigarettes.

After napping for 20 minutes, I walked back to the deck. The sun was setting in the Pacific. There were some clouds in the sky. The setting sun dyed them with such a rosy color. This is the most unbelievable sunset I have ever seen!