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Day 5

Today was beautiful! The weather was beautiful (again)! We started off the day with a hike through an old forest in MacMillan Park. It was a nice way to start our morning! We ended up hitting the road around 9am. It was definitely a net downhill, with a wicked tailwind! It was smooth sailing into Parksville, with rolling hills. Then into Nanaimo it was significantly downhill! It was wonderful and quick! Before hitting Nanaimo we stopped off at a rest area where we met a couple who were cycling down to Nanaimo for the day. They recommended an alternate route into Nanaimo (instead of Highway 1) which we ended up taking (the Island Highway). It was nice and scenic, and we found a bike path which took us all the way downtown. Our first plan: get a nanaimo bar! We did. actually we bought 6. I could barely finish 2 (they were SO big and sweet!) so Michael had the other 4 (well, 31/2. A homeless woman came over when Michael was halfway finished the last and asked for some food so we gave the last bit). We ended up staying in Nanaimo for 4 hours (and still managed to cycle 105km for the day!). Other than the nanaimo bars, our other priority was a shower! Seeing as how we haven't showered since like day 1 (don't judge.... we do our best with no facilities!), it was essential to feel clean again!!! We also called home and got our tires pumped at a local bike shop. Afterward, we took advantage of the tail wind and continued on to Chemainus, where we stayed at a campground (first time we've paid for lodging since we left Tofino). The people who owned it were very nice and let us use their computer to figure out how to get to Travis tomorrow. We had some technical difficulties with the stove, so just snacked for dinner then passed out! I still felt sick from the nanaimo bars until bedtime! ...but they were definitely worth it! (Michael and I were planning on eating nanaimo bars in Nanaimo since we officially decided to go through there!).

1 comment:

  1. The talk of Nanaimo bars makes me want to try one...slightly.

    Sounds like you're off to a great start. Keep it up!

    Melanie

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