199 South to Vancouver

Monday 8th July 2013 Miles Today 209 Total 13095


We set off from Prince George at the usual time and pulled into a petrol station for some fuel. There had obviously been some sort of infestation overnight as this was part of the petrol station canopy. Covered in moths. Weird !
 

It's a bugs life

 After about 100 miles, we stopped to have a bit of a sandwich  we had bought at the petrol station. The view was nice. What was not nice was that I noticed the rear brake disk had  gone blue. A ecloser inspection showed that the outside pad had worn completely away and had badly scored the disk. I set about stripping it down and saw that the caliper had seized on its slides due to dust and grit. I put a new set of pads in and freed up the sliders. The brake worked OK but would not be at 100% till the disk was replaced.

The view whilst fixing the rear brake.

We found a crap campsite for the night. Why do these people think it's a good idea to camp on 3\4" crushed rock ?

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Miles Today 208 Total  13,303

We set off towards Whistler. An Olympic winter ski resort. The views on the last 100 miles or so got very pretty.

 WE stopped for a bite to eat and a fill up an this Guy pulled in behind us. He is the first RCMP (Mounty) we have seen on  bike. He said he has been having fun all day ticketing car drivers for phoning and texting whilst driving. Good lad.

I always get my man !

 We them came upon a beauty spot beside a lake where fallen trees had created a log jam. Another first. WE have never seen anything like this.

The view towards Whistler

Looking the other way at the log jam.

We then arrived in Whistler and it was a town built like an alpine ski resort. It was very pretty and quaint with lots of shops and bars all build in wood.

Whistler main square

Looking the other way with the Olympic symbol and the snowless ski runs in the background.

 We bought Karen a better sleeping bag here and will look for some better sleeping mats tomorrow. We found another campsite 20km south of Whistler and again, it was 3/4" gravel. What are these people made of ?

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Miles Today 123 Total 13,426

We drove the final 100km into Vancouver and our first port of call was the tourist information to find details of ferries to Vancouver Island and then to a camping shop to get some better (thicker) sleeping mats.

Vancouver is very modern and clean

We succeeded in sorting out our camping gear but almost got Wallace towed away from outside the shop. Despite paying the meter fee, the parking was only allowed till 3pm. Something not made obvious by the machine that readily took our money. A guy in the shop saw us in our bike gear and said "is that your bike outside, its about to get towed" I ran outside and the tow truck was just waiting for police authority to tow it. Close call.

Then we set off for the ferry terminal and jumped on the ferry to Vancouver island.

Vancouver Island under the low sun.

This is how they cart their timber about.

Once on the island the first priority was to find a campsite. On the way we saw a Racoon in someones front garden.

Not a good piccy but a Racoon never the less.

Tomorrow we are going across the Island to Tofino, which we have heard is very beautiful.