Wow this place is biiiig.

Stardate 28 May 2010, 14:54:33 PST, Captains Log
Well I think Eh, summed it up pretty good on face book when he said this place was biiiig! Many hours of driving and I have barley even touched the surface of what is here on Vancouver Island. There are a few things that are definite about Vancouver Island though. The people are friendly, it rains a lot (well almost constantly for the time I have been here) and it is a beautiful part of the world that I would love to revisit one day, preferably with a car. And a lot more money. And a tent. And many other things.
At the last posting I had been in Tofino and hadn’t been far. In the past few days I have ventured back to the east coast of Vancouver Island and am headed south to see that bit of the island later today.
On Wednesday I journeyed from Tofino to a town called Port Alberni, which is fishing and lumber town, with some lovely displaces of history and maritime stuff, and during the peak season, a fully operational steam train that services a tourist route, that I would be quite interested in taking at some stage. There is also a mill and falls, but they are the best part of 30 minute drives outside of town and were not within my range for that day.
After Port Alberni I headed into Nanaimo, and stayed with a scouting friend, Brad. He took some of his time off to show me around a bit of Nanaimo and the surrounds. Whilst not being a particularly old town, there are some lovely buildings and it seems that a large part of the town is supported by the ferries and some corporate organization that are within the town. But curiously there isn’t very much tourism focused stuff in the town, it is more of a passing through town kinda place. I’m kinda disappointed that I didn’t have a 3rd bus on Wednesday that I could have used to explore the township of Combs and add that to my list of places, but unfortunately scheduling & transport did not permit it and it will have to wait for another trip.
Well today I write to you from the town of Chemanius as I wait to take the bus down to Victoria. Chemanius is very proud of one thing, their murals. And they are quite extraordinary, painted on a large number of buildings throughout the town; my favorites would have to be the one done by a famous Canadian painter, Emily caar, and the one on the legion building, of passing the torch. As far as other things to see in the town there isn’t a lot, but I would defiantly recommend heading into Hansel and Gretel’s Sweet shop. Lots of English and imported sweets and such a lovely little store. The other thing to note is that the people in this town have just been soo friendly and always wanting to have a chat.
Well I am headed down to Victoria tonight, will get to see Speakers but have no internet at the time of writing, so we will have to see when this posting actually goes up.
Keep safe, as I plan to do so as well
Gonzo, with Eh and Stig riding shotgun