We luckily woke up the day after the wedding without too much of a hangover, I think it was thanks to all the talking we were doing! The few of us that were left after the wedding party sat up late on the deck with a few margaritas and bottles of wine and laughed the night away at each others funny travel stories until our throats were horse and we could barely keep our eyes open.

Our noses finally dragged us out of bed  following the heavenly smell of fresh waffles, bacon, eggs and coffee coming from the kitchen. Clark had cooked us the mother of all breakfasts and sent us out for some fresh blackberries from the garden to add to the fruit bowl in the middle of the mountain of food.

We ate until we could barely move and then went for a lap around the lake in the boat until we were feeling ready to face the day. We went into Nanaimo and took a stroll along the path by the Oceans edge and into the harbour. The sun was shining and there was a jazz festival playing a soundtrack to our day.

The tide was out and the gulls were enjoying the readily available oysters scattered all over the beach. Clark and Angie walked in front of us holding hands and we quietly smiled at the thought that we will still be holding hands after 29 years of marriage like these guys who are so clearly still as much in love as the day they got married.

The cities harbour is a busy little port with boats coming in and out all day long to the surrounding islands. The nearest one being Protection Island whose 300 or so inhabitants have a 5 minute boat ride to get to Nanaimo as there is no bridge. The Island is known as a bit of a hippy island with very few cars and mostly artists of several varieties living there. We had talked of getting a little boat over to the Dinghy Dock pub which is a floating pub/ restaurant attached to Protection Island but after our late night we gave it a miss that time although Im sure we will make it there before we leave Nanaimo.

We watched the boats come and go and then we saw the sea planes coming in which was great to watch. Clark mentioned that we could fly in one of the sea planes to Vancouver airport for our flights to Hawaii so we went in to look at prices. It was going to be cheaper to fly than to get the buses and ferries and trains we had thought of getting, plus it turned a 4 hour trip into a 20 minute flight and a 10 minute free shuttle to the airport! PERFECT, an adventure commute to look forward to!

We walked along the Ocean front and looked in the man made tidal pools that have been built so the children from the local schools can come here and learn about the marine life on their doorstep. There was a starfish in one of the pools and I tried to pick it up but it wouldn’t come away from the rocks (I was quite glad as I know how starfish eat and didn’t quite fancy starfish stomach in my hand) and we watched the crabs scurrying around. There was someone explaining to a group of children gathered around him about how crabs carry their eggs and handing around a tiny black crab for them all to hold.

The whole place had such a friendly feel to is and everyone was happy and enjoying the sunshine. We liked it here…alot.

After wandering and taking in the sights for a few hours we set off home for yet more food with the family and then back out to the lake to watch the sunset…we could really get used to this!

The next morning after our wake up cruise around the lake with our morning coffee we set off on the drive to Victoria to see the sights and to celebrate the birthday of a special lady, Clarks Mum. We had been kindly invited to the family BBQ for this special occasion and we were excited about meeting Clarks family whom we had heard so much about.

Clark took us on the scenic route and we even popped into a little village with an empty run down restaurant that Clark and Angie have in their sights and got excited with them about the prospects of the gorgeous place right on the Ocean. I was ready to apply for the head waitress job and to move into the flat below but alas we have a way to go yet! This special couple are just completely on our wavelength and we have so much in common it is unbelievable!

We popped in at Mile 0 in Victoria where the Transcanada HWY ends. We didn’t unfortunately get to travel the whole highway from St Johns in Newfoundland although we covered the mileage. The trans canada highway covers the 8030km from the East to the West of Canada and we have driven 11,000km since we left Toronto. The Mile 0 point made me think of the cyclists we had met in Kenora, Manitoba and how far they had gone already when we saw them. We had had tiring times just driving that distance, doing it on a bike is just an amazing achievement!

We continued on the scenic route and popped into check out Autumn and Hazens new flat. They were due back just as we left for Hawaii and had arranged everything from their westfalia on the road! As we were viewing the house a deer wandered down the street and he only had one straight antler which made him look like a unicorn, which made my day!! Once that was done we went to the waterfront park and watched 100 plus OAPs rocking out to a mini classic rock festival going on on the Ocean front! It was so great to see the whole community having a good time, even the dogs were joining in with the dancing! We grabbed a cocktail or two in the sunshine and then went to Clarks parents house in time to light the BBQ.

We had such a great evening with Clarks family, we all sat around the table and Frank (Clarks Dad) said Grace while we all held hands and we were even privelaged to get a mention. We all got stuck into the great family prepared dinner, everyone had brought a dish with them and a bottle of wine, and had a good old family meal. The banter flew around as fast as the bowls of food and we laughed and joked and just fit right in. It felt like being at home with our own families and we laughed at how everyone thinks their family is a  little crazy!

We left late and were too tired even to go out in the boat by time we got back and went straight to bed, we had a busy day to look forward to! We had to get Peggy serviced and put into storage and pack up our things. Its amazing how quickly you can move in somewhere if you are given the space, our room looked like it belonged to a teenager!

We got all of our jobs out of the way and even managed to talk Clark into leaving the kitchen to us to make dinner that evening and picked up a piece of pork belly and the ingredients for Yorkshire puddings. We were going to make a Sunday dinner Yorkshire style! Clark sat and watched our every move as we cooked, basted and moved pork fat from one pan to another and laughed at Alex as he sieved his mash through a colander. We loved being let loose in the kitchen however Im not sure Clark was so thrilled, he poured the wine and asked if we were trying to give him a coronary with all the fat and butter! We explained that it was what we lived on back home and he relaxed a little bit! The dinner was a success anyway (except the flatish Yorkshire puddings) and I even made enough veg to make sure there was leftovers for bubble and squeak for lunch the next day.

The best surprise of the day however was Autumn and Hazen arriving home late that night! We waited up until midnight for them and had a drink with them before letting them crash out after driving the full length of Canada over the last few days for 13 hours at a time to get home!

We spent the next morning catching up on their adventures,dramas vehicle mishaps and finishing up packing. We force fed everyone bubble and squeak for lunch which I think was better than they had expected, its quite difficult to make it sound tasty…leftover veg mashed up in a frying pan..yet we all listened for the bubbling and squeaking!! We had booked our flight to the airport on the seaplane and Clark, Autumn and Hazen all drove down to the harbour to wave us off on our next mini adventure!

It was sad to be leaving but exciting to be flying in an 8 person plane to the airport…I felt a bit important although it is a common commute for some that live on the Island.

We had had such a great time with the Garnett family and can still never thank them enough and we were just so pleased to get to see Autumn and Hazen arrive home safe and to hear them discussing their next travelling adventure!

The travel bug is definitely contagious in their home!

See what happens next in our wedding travel adventure!