Our full day at Brentwood Bay was always meant to be a rest day. A day to get over the rigours and stresses of the journey. It turned out to be exactly that. Woke up at stupid o’clock (as expected), had coffee, wrote the blog, watched the rain, had more coffee, watched the rain, went to breakfast, watched the rain, Amanda went for a swim, watched the rain, then went out to find a supermarket. We wanted a few bits and bobs to have in the car for the longer drives ahead. Stuff like bottles of water, granola bars things like that. We ended up spending a bit more as we got sidetracked in there but nothing too horrendous ( although we’re brining back 100 mini ziploc bags which we can’t get at home).

When we got back to the hotel I took a little time trying to get to know the car and most importantly how to get decent music on it. It has satellite radio which is pretty cool but I have no idea how to get particular stations or indeed what stations are available. The good thing is that I found out how to plug in our iPhones so they can not only charge as we drive but we can play our music through the (excellent) sound system. It even shows the album artwork on the colour screen. Not sure want to give this car back.

We took a slow walk after the rain had stopped just outside the hotel and along the bay. It’s really beautiful here, a really lovely place to live or work or just visit. If you get the chance to come, you really should.

We had a bit of lunch around 3 in the pub (with a few locally brewed lagers) and then went back to the room to slouch (jet lag induced slumpage). Watched a show on NBC introducing US viewers (the channel is based in Seattle, which is pretty close) to the English Premier League. Thankfully it was being done by Brits and was quite entertaining. It’s strange to see something so familiar being explained to people completely unfamiliar to it. The premise was to get viewers who were interested in ‘soccer’ to choose a team in the Premier League to support and then, importantly, to stick by that team through thick and thin. This leads me to think that Americans, and I could be wrong, could possibly change allegiances depending on how that team is doing in the league. This notion fills me with shock and horror. You choose your team, or it chooses you, and then that’s it. As someone on the show said, ‘you can change your wife but you can’t change your team’.

Later on we went out for dinner in the Seagrille Restaurant in the hotel which was very nice. We both had salon and tuna sashimi to start, then I had slow braised pork belly with scallops and Amanda had Halibut with lentils. I chose to have a local BC Pinot Noir with the food. Not the best Pinot I’ve tasted but probably not the worst either. I like to try the local brews whether it’s beer or wine. Sometimes you’re nicely surprised…sometimes not so nice.

Today, we drive to Ucluelet., which is about 4 – 5 hours away. Another ferry (a little one this time) and then over to the other side of the island, the proper Pacific Ocean.