For purists, a holiday in the great outdoors usually involves a sleeping bag and tent, or, depending on the weather and if we're feeling a little spoiled, a rustic hostel somewhere high in the mountains. Suffice to say, the loo is always in a separate building and running water is rarely part of the package.
So heading off behind the wheel of a recreational vehicle to explore the rugged oceanfront campgrounds on the wild side of Vancouver Island seems out of step with my environmental ethic. But given the chance to trade the inland chill for warmer coastal climes, I decided to take a small “van conversion” out for a sleep/drive. Really, it was a pimped-out Ford passenger van, dressed to perfection by a company in Saskatoon, fully loaded with dishes, linen, pillows and necessities such as a coffee pot and a toaster, as well as leather seats, propane fridge and stove, and running water. Did I mention the indoor loo?
As we headed out in the soggy shoulder season, this would be the convenience that truly trumped the rest. I'm sure it would appeal to some of my bear-anoid girlfriends too – and anyone else who likes a modicum of comfort while out in the woods.
Even to purists like us, the idea of stumbling around in the dark, cooking by headlamp, or packing up a soggy tent in the rain was not particularly appealing.
So I loaded up the iPod with tunes, vowed not to learn canasta or shuffleboard and set out to commune with nature in relatively guilt-free comfort.
As it turns out, in the off season, you're pretty much on your own in the RV world. There were a handful of other campers in the stunning West Coast campsites we found, but we didn't encounter any hikers on the leaf-strewn trails and had most of the rugged beaches to ourselves.
Parked in a quiet campsite in the coastal rain forest, with the waves crashing on the stormy beach and a propane stove at hand proved to be an amazing way to escape, sort of like a weekend at your own portable cabin.
And, surprisingly, we didn't guzzle much gas – only about 90 litres for our five-day 500 kilometre journey on the island's Pacific Marine Circle route. The circle took us from Victoria along the meandering West Coast Road to Sooke,
Jordan River, past fascinating Botanical Beach and Port Renfrew, then across the island to Lake Cowichan (on a recently improved road), through Duncan and Cowichan Valley wine country, then over the Malahat to sleep among the tall trees in Goldstream Provincial Park.
I'm accustomed to driving a compact car, so there was a bit of an adjustment when it came to parking the beast, but otherwise it was a dream on the road. It didn't take long to figure out why the average family gets converted to this kind of camping. I felt like those famous TV hillbillies, everything, including the kitchen sink, in tow. The only things missing that might have improved our great RV escape were directions to a good local market and a shopping list of must-haves. The suburban grocery store we found en route lacked fresh fish and decent bread, and when we awoke in our rustic, oceanside campsite on day one – rested and ready to smell the coffee but with no coffee filters on board – some cursing ensued. True, I'm a food snob, but when you're spending five days in the middle of nowhere in a van, you'll want to eat well and enjoy a decent glass of wine to sip by the fire. So make a list and check it twice or you may find yourself up a creek without a corkscrew.
It also took us RV newbies a few days to figure out the intricacies of hookups (and the rather unpleasant reality of pumping out the conveniences). One night, we set off the carbon dioxide alarm and worried that we'd expire in our sleep, only to discover that our cozy propane heater was exhausting its carbon dioxide directly into our open “bedroom” window.
