SUNDAY | Once we secured Christian below deck we headed up to the main deck and scored a window seat. The ferry took an hour and we spent the time enjoying snacks from the cafe' and exploring the different levels. Twice announcements came over the loud speaker that a child was missing, causing everyone to go into panic mode until they were both safely found. We exited the ferry with ease and soon found ourselves pulling up just off the main street in Nanaimo. Our arrival coincided with the town being shut down for a parade. The main street was lined with families sitting on the curb waiting in anticipation for the festivities to begin. We wandered up the main drag, dodging excited kids, looking for a lunch venue and by chance we found a restaurant, The Modern Cafe, that had a window seat free giving us front row seats to the action. The ending of the parade lined up with to us completing a meal, giving us the opportunity to walk through the town and down to the boardwalk along the marina. All the locals were still out and about enjoying the afternoon sun, giving the town an energetic buzz.' It was a scenic drive along the coast highway to Qualicum Beach, a pretty combination of greenery and coastline. Even though we weren't staying in town we did a drive through to suss out the dinner situation. Given it was Sunday everything appeared to be closed so we didn't bother parking and instead headed north to our accommodation for the night at the Spirit Spheres. Suspended in the trees the sphere is a mini home that gives you a sitting space during the day and at night your bed folds down. At the base of each one is a toilet and then the full bathroom is a 2 minute walk around a stunning lake in a guest house. Check in involved a tour of the digs and instructions on how to manipulate the furniture. Then we were left to hang in our sphere and enjoy the afternoon surrounded by nature. We had to tear ourselves from the sphere to go into town for dinner at Shady Rest Pub. It was a typical pub experience with the added bonus that our server was in training. As soon as we'd arrived Ash had her heart set on the Sheppard's Pie and was devastated when she was told they were sold out for the night. She settled on the schnitzel and i went with the Nachos. A couple of minutes after our food was served we noticed the table next to us, who arrived after us, we're about to tuck into the Sheppard's Pie. It was an emotional disaster for Ash, the meal couldn't recover after that. Hoping to ease some of the built up tension from the failed meal we went for a walk along the rocky beach and then sat to enjoy the view. Then it was back to Sphere to sit and read until the sun went down. Pulling down the bed was a tad challenging due to forgotten step in the process but eventually we got it down and shortly after we were climbing into bed. slept through the night, enjoying the slightly rocking motion of the Sphere. Ash on the other hand woke in the middle of the night having a panic attack from feeling claustrophobic. She managed to shake it off and go back to sleep, but wasn't feeling very refreshed in the morning. Breakfast came courtesy of the Spirit Spheres and we enjoyed it in Melody (the name of our sphere) after we'd packed up the bed. Ash then hung out in the Sphere while I got bundled up in a conversation with the wife of the dude who built the spheres. Once that wrapped up we bid them a farewell and were on the way down the road for a pit stop at Qualicum Falls. After another half an hour in the car we made our second pit stop for the morning at Cathedral Grove. It is a stunning rare and endangered remnant of an ancient Douglas fir ecosystem. The red cedar trees are massive and whimsical moss covers the terrain. It felt like we were strolling through a life-sized version of Fern Tree Gully.
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