A two-ferry trip to Nanaimo (June 6)

Langdale Ferry Terminal

Leaving Langdale

 The original plan was to join some daring Sunshine Coasters on a bike trip from Nanaimo to Comox (113 km).  This already sounded a bit far, so I shortened my personal pensum to a trip from Nanaimo to Parksville.

Leaving the Mainland behind

But how does the saying go? Man makes plans and God laughs?  Only two weeks ago I had paid a rather hugeish sum to Evolution Bikes in North Vancouver to have the Bosch motor of my electric bike replaced by a brand new motor to eliminate an ANNOYING SOUND that I can only describe by likening it to the sound of a paint spray can being shaken. Know that little steel ball inside those cans and the noise it makes when you shake the can?

Departure Bay seen from the other side. The Steel Ball Noise is back !!!!

What can I say?  The first steep hill in Nanaimo, and the sound is back.  You can imagine my mood ;-(

That sound upsets me so much that I stop paying attention the map on my phone, with the result that I end up riding 16 km to Darlene's Island View B&B instead of the normal 11 km.  But after a glass of peach Chardonnay (!) with Darlene, the world balances out again. And the deer walking from house to house to eat the freshest flowers doesn't hurt either ;-)

I make the mistake to go to Piper's Pub close to the B&B for dinner.  As soon as I am greeted by the waitresses, I sense in the depth of my memory banks some bad memory from last year.  The waitresses are overworked so it's not really their fault.  
When I ask whether there is a trick to get the Piper's Pub Wifi working, I am told that their Wifi is acting up a little 'at the moment'. Then I remember: That's exactly what they said 14 months ago.  FIX THE FRIGGIN WIFI, you LOOSERS !  The local seafood in a 'tomato and vegetable saffron broth' does actually have some seafood in it, but the tomatoes are out of a can.  PFUI.  No, I do not want to prevent any customers from being enchanted by the Piper's flute, I just want to remember next year when I come here, NOT to go there again ;-)

Darlene's B&B is about 150 meters from the beach and there is a beach access right at the end of her street.  She had told me how gorgeous the sunsets at the beach can be, but I was not quite prepared for this harvest of pictures:

The difference a bird can make ;-)