Ro Wells Travel

I went back to the U.K. for a couple of weeks at the start of April for my brother’s wedding. Since I’ve been back I’ve found it really hard to get back into the swing of blog writing, but I’ve also started an entirely new chapter in my Canada journey. Whilst my first 5 months were very much about travelling the country and seeing as much of it as I could, I’ll be spending the next 6 months staying in one place whilst I do some work, earn some cash and explore the local area. My previous blogs have mostly been about what I got up to in each place I’ve been and so, whilst I’ve been to several places in the month I’ve been back in Canada, it’s had a very different feel to it. So let me catch you up.

I had the best time back in the U.K. I spent the first week visiting friends and catching up with everything they’ve been up to over the last 5 months. It felt amazing to slide straight back into those friendships, as if I hadn’t been absent for 5 months. Those are the best kinds of friendships. The ones where you don’t have to talk regularly but know that they’ve still got your back and care about you. The second wedding was at the start of my second week in the U.K. and it was really special to be able to celebrate my brother’s wedding with him and so many of our family. It was a truly beautiful day. In fact, it was so good that we ended up having an afterparty a couple of days later once everyone had managed to get rid of their hangovers. The next few days I spent with my parents, catching up and enjoying spending time with them. I also went to visit my uncle who had been battling a long term illness and I cannot overstate how grateful I am that I did. He died 2 days after I went to visit him. I spent my last couple of days with family, repacking my bags and starting to make plans for when I got back to Canada.

I arrived back in Calgary and met up with a friend I had made in Banff. We went to a country bar and tried our hand at some line dancing. I am a huge country fan and thoroughly enjoyed learning to line dance. I was in awe of the couples doing country swing dancing and have added it to my bucket list. After a couple of days in Calgary, I took a 13 hour bus through the Rockies to Vancouver. It was LONG but so rewarding. I saw 2 herds of elk, some long-horned mountain goats and I saw my first black bear! I was very excited and too busy staring at it to take a photo. I spent a few days in Vancouver looking for a van to buy.

Before I had left Canada in March, I had secured a job working on Vancouver Island for the summer. I’ll be working on a campground for the summer and so needed something to live in on site. I thought about a tent but figured I’d want something a bit more waterproof – and bear proof! So I’d been searching for a van for a month before I’d arrived back in Canada and hadn’t yet found anything suitable that was within my budget. I did some research and found a couple in Vancouver, and several more in Victoria on Vancouver Island. The couple in Vancouver again weren’t right so I took the ferry over to Victoria. The ferry ride alone was more than worth the trip to Victoria, regardless of if I found a van or not. It was the most beautiful day and the journey took us past a number of different islands that honestly looked like something out of a fantasy movie. I had never seen scenery like that before.

I stayed in Victoria for about a week, looking for vans and eventually found one! I bought it off the sweetest old man who gave me a great tour of Victoria and who has been unbelievably kind in guiding me through the vehicle purchasing and insuring steps which are very different to in the U.K. Whilst most of my time in Victoria was taken up with van viewings and test drives, I did take some time to explore the city as well. I walked along the harbour and down to the legislature building which is of very similar architecture to the government buildings in Ottawa. I took myself for a walk through Beacon Hill Park and stumbled across some turtles sunning themselves on a log in a pond. It took me longer than I care to admit to realise that they were alive and not just ornaments! I went to see the world’s tallest unsupported totem pole – can confirm it is very tall – and to see the Mile Zero monument marking the start and end of the route for running across Canada!

After a couple of van related trials and tribulations (all will be revealed in my next post!), I drove to Ucluelet over a couple of days. It was the most beautiful drive through rainforest and lakes that truly took my breath away. I feel unbelievably lucky to be experiencing this country and everything it has to offer. I arrived in Ucluelet, where I will be working for the summer and set up camp at the campground. The campground itself is stunning, right on the water with rainforest around it and mountains in view in almost any direction you look.