Today is our last day on the island, and we were on the road just after 9am, trying to make the most of our day. I noticed my the voltage gauge on the bike operating erratically not far from home, so at the first gas stop I pulled the seat off the bike to inspect the battery connections. Everything there seemed fine and we continued on to Port Alberni. The gauge was becoming more erratic, and it was cause for concern, the last thing I wanted was to have a voltage regulator issue that could destroy my battery and leave us stranded. We ended up finding a guy in Port Alberni who works on bikes, and he checked it out for us. His diagnosis was that it was probably a faulty gauge, as the readings looked fine when we put a multi meter on the battery.
After leaving Underground Performance (thanks again Bruce for not even letting us pay) we stopped at Canadian Tire where I picked up a cheap multi meter so we could monitor it a little. The gauge kept bouncing around, but the meter readings we holding steady, so we decided we were probably good to go. It was almost 2 hours that we lost here, time we didn't really have today.
The ride out to the west coast was nice, but I'll say right now that I was a little disappointed. The road was not in very good shape and we ended up stuck in a line of traffic for much of the way in. We had decided to head to Ucluelet first, and getting a look at the Pacific Ocean for the first time in two years was really cool. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and we could see as far as our eyes allowed. We walked along some of the Wild Pacific Trail, enjoying the views.
We didn't stay too long, our stomaches were telling us it was time for lunch, though it was after 4pm so not really lunch I guess. Our appetites were satisfied at the Cedar Grill, though i couldn't even finish my meal. The bike needed more gas, so we tended to that, and by then it was after 5pm. The ride to Tofino was about 40km, which we would have to repeat, and with the day getting away from us we decided to just head back to our temporary home. It may have been nice to see the beach and the town, but we will have to do that another time as I don't think it would have been worth the extra 2 hours to just quickly see it.
The scenery on the way back was better than the ride in, and there was less traffic to get stuck behind. I was battling a headache all day, so the rough road was annoying. Some advil and a coffee in Port Alberni was just what the doctor ordered, and the ride back to Cedar was my favourite part of the day. The evening rides on the island have been a treat, and I'm really going to miss this place. Maybe when we are old we can retire here, it certainly is a beautiful spot on this earth.
Now it's time to get a good night's sleep and then pack up and head back to the mainland tomorrow. We still have a little over a week before we get home, which is going to go by much too fast. All told, we put over 1,100km on the the bike here on the island and saw quite a bit, though there is a ton left to see here someday.
Too bad this pic turned out blurry, the cathedral of big trees was beautiful to ride through
Looking out into the Pacific Ocean
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