We arrived just after 2 p.m. Our site, #13, is at the far end of the lower campground. Not at the end as in at the end of a row, but at the end as in 90⁰ to the other campsites. When I wondered why I wasn't told to drive across the upper campground, then down the hill beside site #13, a neighbour camper mentioned that the gate across the bottom of the hill had just been opened. So, with vehicles parked on my left side, I had to do a 3-point turn to get Ali facing the right direction, then backing into our site was a simple task.
Here we are.
Monday Jul 20 – Thursday Jul 23 Lake Cowichan, BC
Today, Monday, we motored north thru Duncan then west on Hwy 14 to Lakeview Park campground in the small town of Lake Cowichan. It was hot (35C)! We don't usually bother using Alfie's a/c but we had to this afternoon.
Looking across the lake, there's been some logging in years past.
Wednesday we drove to the town of Youbou, 15 kms west of Lake Cowichan. Pretty much every piece of waterfront property had a house on it. And not small places either! Makes you wonder where you have to go these days to find peace and quiet!
We drove to the end of Youbou Road, to the point where it becomes a private road. Okay, so we passed a gas station and a small grocery store; the only coffee shop we saw was closed. We turned around and drove back to Bremner Road and out onto a small peninsula dotted with houses, RVs, and cabins. Heading back to Youbou Road, we pulled into the Youbou Little League Park.
We were just getting out to stretch when along came a lady walking her one-eyed Golden Doodle, Lucy. Being doggy people (yeah, we still miss you Matts!), we asked if we could say hello. Lucy was a little shy but she did allow us to say hello. We chatted with Doris for quite some time. Doris and her hubby live in Victoria and have a weekend home in Youbou. That's Lucy above.
After we said goodbye to Doris and Lucy, we headed back to camp for lunch.
After lunch we drove into Lake Cowichan for a walk-around. We parked just past Ts'uubaa-asatx Square. You probably already noticed the totem pole.
Tuesday was not nearly as hot as yesterday, thank goodness. We wandered along the trail away from the beach and found this floating dock.
After we set up Ali, we walked down the trail to get our bearings and check out the beach. We walked out onto a dock and I took this picture of the swimming area. In this heat, the water looks very inviting!
Lake Cowichan runs west to east and is 30 km (19 mi) long and about 4 km (2.5 mi) at its widest point. It is the source of the Cowichan River.
The ground drops away right behind us. Here’s a picture taken from the trail down to the beach.
Just a short distance further and we came to a walkway out to a floating dock. Seems like this is a favourite spot to launch your inner tube and start your floating experience down the Cowichan River. Only $20 to rent an inner tube!
Jen said there was a pedestrian bridge across the river. She wanted to investigate.
We walked across the bridge, and back again. Based on the superstructure of the main part of the bridge, and the large piling-type supports, we guessed that this was an old railway bridge. Continuing our walk along the shoreline, we noticed this sign.
We sat for a few minutes and chuckled at the various methods of inserting one's self into an inner tube.
One guy went right over backwards, launching everything he'd carefully placed on the floor of the tube.
Another guy looked like he was going to do the same thing and lose his fedora but wisely chose to hold on to it before launching himself backwards into the tube. Plopping his fedora on his head after successfully staying upright, he looked quite pleased with himself.
Walking past Alfie to a pedestrian crossing, we were intrigued by this display – the Forest Workers Memorial Park.
We watched this group launch an inflatable kayak along with their inner tubes.
We wondered (not for very long) where they were going to put the cooler full of beer (bottles no less!).
Yup, into the kayak.
There were cries of "perfect fit!!" as the cooler was placed in the kayak.
Made me think these guys didn't test fit it ahead of time.
Ah... the innocence of youth.
Me? I would have just hung a six-pack on a rope over the side of my tube, but then that's me.
When a foursome of young 'uns sat beside us with their rap music playing (not too loud, but rap??!!), we decided it was time to move on.
Circling back towards the station and the train in front of it, I couldn't not take a few pictures for the train buffs out there.
Thursday, our last day in Lake Cowichan, we drove out to Honeymoon Bay.
The weather certainly has moderated. Our site is fully shaded and with the wind, it is quite cool to sit out in shorts and a t-shirt. Shorts, yes; something warmer over the t-shirt is definitely required.
Anyway, on to Honeymoon Bay.
Here's Jen walking back down from the lookout point.
We walked along the shoreline and noticed a sign to the "Point Trail". Off we went. About 150' (46m) up, we had quite a nice view.
We continued on to Gordon Bay Provincial Park.
Surprise! The campground is full!
We headed for the Day-Use area, got out and had a look around.
There's a nice large cordoned-off swimming area.
Back at camp, we settled in for the rest of the day. The weather certainly has changed. There were whitecaps on the lake as we took our before-dinner walk.
Tomorrow we head north to Nanaimo and Mountainaire RV Park. We haven't stayed at this park before – time to give it a try.
See you there!
