The road to Tofino

We, the little people, welcome you to 'Yurt Land'.
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We set off from Jasper early and took the slower route to Kamloops than the journey into the Rockies but as the traffic was light we still made the 430km journey by 11am. Leaving Sam and the boys at the hotel pool I made the short journey to Kamloops Rugby Club to watch the rugby World Cup Final. Walking into a strange rugby club in a foreign country, several hundred kilometres from anywhere, and on my own I was more nervous than the match itself. But, finding a chair to one side no-one said anything so I could relax somewhat (with my sandwiches and a can of pop!). What I found strange was that there were more people watching the Kamloops game going on outside than watching the most important rugby game for 4 years inside. On inspection it turned out it was the ladies team playing outside so that answered that question. The game itself was hardly an advert for exciting, flowing rugby so the Canadians, even though they are minnows on the world stage, had little to learn, and those that did watch seemed to support South Africa anyway so they were pleased with the result. I however had to hide my disgust until I got back to the hotel and gave everyone double maths, even Sam.

Beware, It can swallow a whole pig.
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The next morning, the game long forgotten the night before with the help of a curry and a bottle of wine, we completed the journey to Tsawwassen, just south of Vancouver, where we caught a 2 hour ferry to Vancouver Island and then made the short journey to our lodgings for the night, Riverbend Resort which is mainly an RV site where people with huge live-in trailers hook up for the night. They do however have 3 yurts which are canvas structures with all mod-cons - basically tents with a kitchen and bathroom, and that was where we would stay. Although very reasonably priced, which made us expect the worst, the yurt turned out to be the height of luxury. Large comfy beds, lovely bathroom, smart kitchen, and even heating, it was hardly what I was used to from spending the last 4 summers working at music festivals (where the walls are damp and paper thin, your sleeping bag is covered in mud and you have to drink yourself into a decent nights sleep!).

"Take a sniff Stan, it's aaaaaaall good!"
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The next morning we played, in the bright sunshine,  throwing stones into the river, a short walk from our yurt (where we came across a grass snake on the track) and then made the last leg of our journey which, although was once again stunning as far as scenery went, was along a narrow winding road and took a bit longer than our bums found comfortable.