Misplanned
Today there was only a fast and simple breakfast, because the day was fully planned with stop overs. Too much, as it turned out. 
We did not take the TCH, which has its starting point here in Victoria, but the coastal road # 17 where some worthwhile destinations should be found.
First, we visited East Sooke Park, where we went to the beach and a small peninsula in just 5 minutes. A nice spot. And especially the islets lying in the fog looked great in the bright morning sun.
The Sooke Potholes PP should be a favorite destination of the locals. The Sooke River has flushed out a lot of small and larger pools where you can swim and splash around. Only as a short visit and for photographing it was less suitable. It was way too cold - strangely enough we only had around 17/18 degrees today. So, we didn't need to cool down here. To find suitable places for beautiful photos, you would have to take the time and walk or climb down the shore, because there was no real path along the shore. But I didn't have exact locations where the great photo stops were. So, the detour was rather time-consuming.
Yes, and then the path stretched along the coastal road. Sometimes the speed limit was throttled up to 40km/h. But many drivers did not even reach the 40km/h
. And it took an eternity until we finally arrived at China Beach.
Not only we wanted to go to the beach here. The two parking lots were overloaded. We ended up putting Frank at the side of the road. The description of the location was too promising to skip the visit.
The way through the rainforest was great: Over countless roots, steps, boards and a very wobbly suspension bridge we went to Mystic Beach. Because of the fog it looked really mystical. And the fact that the waterfall, which fell directly onto the beach here, was only a small dripping was not so bad. By the way, waterfall #3😐.
Because of the now very advanced time, we decided to drive to the campground without further stops. Much to my chagrin, because I still had some nice spots on my bucket list
. But still the way dragged on for over 2 hours.
In Lake Cowichan we stocked up again - unfortunately we still had no luck with Off! (Insect repellent) The shelf was empty. But we were successfully in purchasing local wine, beer and whiskey in a liquor shop
. In Canada special permits are needed to sell alcohol. So, usually it is not possible to by it in supermarkets.
We were able to take a quick glance at the Cowichan River, where many people were still doing river tubing with rafts, boats and other inflatable water toys. Sure, here it was over 30 ° C. So, such a stay on the river brought some welcomed cooling. But it was quite crowded on the river.
Actually, that was also on the agenda for today. But since it took 2 – 4 hours until you were driven downstream by the current to the destination, the tube rental closed accordingly early.
Finally, the car navigation system led us astray. Instead of being on the campground, we were ending up in the middle of a residential area 
. Thanks to google we found our campground in the Cowichan River PP. Unfortunately, still Campfire Ban was in place, but we found other ways to warming up our hearts. 
- Accommodation: Cowichan River Provincial Park
- Time on the road: ~10 h
- Kilometers driven: 187km
- Kilometer hiked: 5 km
- Waterfalls: #3 ohne Namen
- Specialties: The way via the #17 was nice, but not a must see. If you want to take this road, then it is recommended to plan an overnight stay in Port Renfrew at the latest. In fact, it only brought us cooling. The whole day we had between 17 and 22°C, while Lake Cowichan welcomed us with still 32°C at the afternoon.
