MacKenzie Beach, British Columbia, Canada
Green Point –
Mackenzie Beach
The famous National Park on Vancouver Island:
- It actually consists of 3 areas: Long Beach – Broken Group Island and West Coast Trail (and we are visiting only one part the Long Beach)
- It was not always a NP – in 1959 they made it a PP and also built Hwy 4 from Tofino to Port Alberni: this new road brought a lot of surfers in the 60s to the beaches with not enough accomodations many camped on the beaches – they built temporary shacks of driftwood and left behind garbage and vehicles sunk in the sand
- To protect it by 1969 they signed the West Coast NP act – the NP finally opened in 1971 – and still it took until 1988 until all was settled as the forestry and timber company needed to be compensated for not foresting anymore
- As the Pacific Coastline is also famous for it’s rainforest we came for the sandy beaches: when you check on the internet for the best beaches on Vancouver Island you will find most of them are here
Green Point Campground and Beach
It was 3 o’clock time
to head to our campground for coffee… we enter the famous Pacific Rim NP. At
the gate we get the story about all the wildlife the bears and the wolves which
are not used to people because the campground opened a month later than normal
(really!!!) – by the way you can have a cold shower but not a hot shower (?!?),
the electric hookup sites are open but not the tent sites (but you can put a
tent in an electric hookup site). Oh and nothing is allowed to be outside: no
water (What!!! Since when attracts water the bears) – not even if you go to the
washroom – Gine was wondering why the tents with the smelly sleeping bags or
the cloth on the cloth lines are fine – but not the water!!! And Paul said it
is interesting that the bears come always into the National Parks, but not into
the provincial and regional parks or forest sides. And he had the suggestion
that maybe they should make a sign for bears “federal parks this direction”.
Regardless we are not too impressed with our national park campgrounds – since
on top of the fee (with no use of the showers) you have to pay the 20$ NP fee
(really!!! Isn’t that park of our taxes). The next thing which doesn’t
impressed us is the campground is really shady and super dark!!! After a coffee
we went to check out the beach and discovered that it is a long!! Walk down the
hill to the beach: decision made this is the first and last time we camp here!!
And now we are off to:
Sun at Long Beach
From the day use area
of Long Beach it is a super short walk and we set up and the sun comes out!!!
Now we are happy – lots of sand – noisy waves – beautiful views – what more do
we want. We went to the water and it is cold!!!! I mean cold!! Clearly not warm
enough to go in – but the beautiful soft sand and the amazing view totally make
up for it. As where Paul went finally into relax mode after a long day of
exploring – gine walked along the beach to some “islands” in the sand. And
because it is so beautiful we stay nearly until 7 pm.
A late supper and fire
That means we have a
super late supper: dough over the fire and once we done our dishes and put
EVERYTHING away, it was nearly bed time … sitting a bit more around the fire
and then we hit our comfy bed in the motorhome.
Breakfast in midst of
the Pacific Rainforest.
Ready to wake up in
the morning to the fresh air – but then we were sleeping in and then having a
wonderful breakfast in the Pacific Rain forest. When looking around we actually
discover that the forest here is quite unique: there are patches which look
like barely dry – likely full of water most of the year – moss covered branches
and trees – Witch hair hanging down – trees fallen over and still growing which
gives them those funky curvy trunks – trees growing on top of other trees and
roots – and some of the trees looking like ghost skeletons – when you come
closer to the beach you can see the crooked windswept look: the more you look
the more you see
Not every beach is in the National Park:
- When you visit a beach in the NP you have to have a park pass: 20 $ - if you don’t want to pay and still visit a nice sandy beach: then there are a lot more
- Mackenzie Beach is another beautiful sandy beach – it is more sheltered: that means perfect for Paddle boarding (but the water is still freezing cold!!!!)
A Day at Mackenzie
Beach with Sue & Doug
Today we are going to
visit Sue, doug and Kingston, they stay at Bella Pacifica Campground. Once
there we walk the long way and find the campsite – where they have ocean view.
From here we went down to the beach and set up for the day: the best thing was
earlier it was cloudy and as we arrive and park the sun comes out and by the
time we went to the beach there was no cloud in the sky. It is absolutely
perfect. Sitting down – lying down – talking and having fun.
Walk along Mackenzie
Beach
We then went to
discover the beach a bit and walked down to the water – you should think when
the sand is that warm and there are no big waves that the water is warmer!!! No
way freezing cold – so Gine is not that enthusiastic to go out in that freezing
cold water to paddle to some islands… I guess we are not as brave as others
are. But we do walk along the beach to the rocks which are covered in shells
covered in barnicles: which is super fascinating. And then Kingston said that
there are some sea anemones – as we previously only saw the closed up: no we
could see them in bloom: some are green, some are white and some are red… the
colors are amazing and those anemones are super cool. On the way back we walk
more inland and came by a tidepool in the sand and here is the water warm,
perfect to bring our frozen feet to life again. Back it was time to be in the sand
and get warm again – you never feel the heat when the cool wind blows over you.
A short coffee break and then Paul said I think we should go everyone laughed
when Gine said that she thinks that Paul needs some Gine time – weird
Canadians.
Evening on Long beach
After supper we
skipped doing the dishes so we could head back down to the beach and enjoy the
evening sun: Paul was sitting down and enjoying the view and Gine ventured off
towards the south side to explore the rocks: climbing over – watching the waves
crash and the tide coming in – and all in the evening sun glittering on the
water – it is so beautiful here. If only it would be a bit warmer – then it
really would be paradise. Once we got a bit cold we walked all the way back up
and made a fire to warm us up – but we already had the heater on in the RV – so
that once we come in it’s nice and cozy.
2025-05-22