all now a bit of an anti climax since it has not really sunk in yet

Today we headed south back towards Nanaimo.  It was road all the way very sore on the bum and very dull.  We spent the night at our old faithful Westwood Campsite where I had a great run around the lake.  On the way here we passed Mary and Kim going in the opposite direction and yet again it was raining.  I suppose that travelling through rain forest should mean that we are not surprised when it is raining.

It turns out we did 16800km (10080 miles)

Breakfast spot

Now where did I put that straight peg?

Success. We made it and we are the first

So this is it the final day and we followed the track for an hour or so only to find that the route disappeared when we got to a Provincial Campground.  We rode around for about 10 minutes trying to locate it and then looked for an alternative.  The only one was back on the highway and as we rode along it we passed the 2 girls on their bikes.

We made a rough estimate and this tree is over 900 years old and the typical action of a 

human was to kill it :-(  It was on the gravel road to Grant Bay at a place called Holberg.

Our final destination and what a destination

Grant Bay with a beach backed by virgin rainforest

What a stunning conclusion to our journey

and what a great nationality to be first to ride the whole Trans Canada Adventure Trail:-))

We set the Union Flag afloat to go and discover more of the world

In the pub on the way back from the bay we met Guy who spends a lot of his time in the pub.

That night we camped at Port Hardy.

Not a lot to see in Port Alberni or Woss so took these of the internet

More logging tracks today that were a little slippery due to all of the rain.  We rode through a lot of rainforest but due to the rain did not feel inclined to stop and take pictures so these were stolen from the Port Alberni and Woss websites.  Woss is where we spent the night at the municipal campground where we met Mary and Kim who were cycling around parts of BC and the island.

Since when have these 2 flags been flown at these positions in the same ship.  The action starts with N and end with R

The sign on the entry into Woss

These last 3 days are going to seem very very very long

From the Westwood Capsite in Nanaimo a quick breakfast at the Jungle Pot and then on the road.  We followed paved road for the first part and then got onto some gravel.  We had probably only done 5km off tarmac when we found our way barred by a bolted gate that had been closed due to the high risk of fire so it was an about turn and the only work around took us be paved road so we missed about 30km of gravel :-(

We had a couple more instances off locked gates over what they deemed as 'private' property but we were able to get round them.  Apparently these were locked since there have been instances of people vandalising the forest.  How do you vandalise a forest?  Not knowing how to vandalise a forest we assumed that the locked barriers did not apply to us. 

We got absolutely soaked in the afternoon so we made the executive decision and got a cheap hotel in Port Alberni for the night.  Port Alberni is on an inlet and is close to the centre of the island and it has clearly seen better days.  I think that the main industry is shipping wood pulp/wood chips from the port.

Amazingly Alex did not feel sick on the ferry

Today we worked on the bikes.  New chain, front sprocket, rear sprocket and a rear tyre for Alex and a new rear tyre for me.  Fitted all of that stuff and caught the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to start the final push for the finish.  Fortunately a great couple on the ferry did some phoning round for us and got a spot booked at the Westwood Campground.  We must have woken the whole world as we hammered our tent pegs into the gravel/soil.

My nice new tyre

That there be Nanaimo

Very nearly there :-)

Today we left Lillooet which is worth noting again to be the location of Alex's breakdown and traveled ever closer towards Vancouver.  In fact we got so close to Vancouver that we arrived there and camped in an RV park close to the city centre.  I have never been in a campsite that has been so crowded and how little space each person is allotted.

Try doing this with your sunglasses on!

Great cafe for breakfast and even some healthy options.  Alex went for Subway instead.  I know where I would prefer to be.

A Pakastani corner shop run by genuine Pakastanis.

and the racehorse throws a shoe :-)

We stopped off at Whistler as we passed through just to say that we had.

Sardines and all that

Race horse and a donkey

After a very bad night’s sleep camped next to yet another major road we took off with heavy eyelids.  For the morning we thought that we were back in the Prairies since the landscape was very similar and then the afternoon returned to the scenery that we were used to.

That would be me down there

That would be Alex over there

A sockeye salmon caught the old fashioned way with a net on a stick just like how we used to catch sticklebacks

I asked the fisheries officer how many finish are caught this way and he told me that he thinks 700 fish had been caught in 9 hours and one lad got 3 fish in one net

A KTM rider we met on the road

Why the grumpy look?  I am concentrating.  But you over fill the oil every time and have to remove the excess with a syringe it should now be a totally automatic operation.

Not a lake to fall into

A true old fashioned ferry.  Angle the boat across the river and let the flow of water take you across

The racehorse breaks down.  Get yourself a donkey of a DRZ400.  This time the hydraulic cam chain tensioner had lost its pressure.  Hi tec = more to go wrong

The night's campsite at Lillooet.  Sounds like somewhere out of Gulliver's Travels

Many switch backs and steep gravel roads throughout the day