Well the trip certainly started off with bang… We just thought it was another rock hitting the bottom of the truck as we sped down 80Km of logging roads… however it turned out to be a rear tire blow-out (Rob – you were right, new tires would have been a good idea!). We changed the tire and soon after, we arrived in Bamfield.

After a speedy unpacking, I left Sarah, Josh, Abi & Kelly and set off for the 150Km logging road excursion to Port Renfrew. I was going to sleep there in the truck and take the bus back in the morning. It was the most economical way to get the 5 of us to-and-from the trail.

The journey was (thankfully) uneventful. I was very cognoscente of the fact that I didn’t have a spare tire, however at 10:40pm I arrived – “shaken, but not stirred”. I made a nest in the back of the truck, and crashed…(softly!)

The next morning after a breakfast that would have fed FIVE champions,. I boarded the West Coast Trail Express, and for the next 4 hours, revisited my old friends – ‘The Potholes’ – that I had grown so fond of the previous night!

The bus arrived at the trail head in good time for the Pre-Trek Briefing and as I came up to the Parks Building, there was “Team SideStix” ready to go. (The beaming smile that lit up Sarah’s face for a brief moment even outdid the sun! She hadn’t actually known that I’d made it there & back, because there was no cell reception in Port Renfrew!)