Vancouver Island ?

To my Canadian neighbors: My husband and I are thinking of a road trip on the island later this week. I've had no luck getting anyone to respond to website email inquiries re lodging. Can we just wing it and find spots along the way? Any suggestions of where to go or what to see? We're good with roughing it and don't need fancy. Thinking of going up to Port Hardy. Thanks for any insight. We could bring our camper but I'd prefer to just take the car. The dog can either come or stay home. As you can tell, I'm not too big on details. It's our 37th anniversary.

A friend just recommended the Executive House in Victoria to me. She said it's behind the Empress.

I went to Ucluelet and Tofino a few years back. They are on the northern part of the island. Stayed at the Terrace Beach Resort in Ucluelet - very nice, right by ocean. Tofino has a lot of artists, a charming town. The Pacific Rim National Park was beautiful. I camped most of the time, but I suspect a lot of the accommodations are booked up this time of year. It was a lot of driving coming from Tacoma.

More recommendations from another friend of mine:

Victoria - Abigail's B & B....There are some nice places in Parksville or on the beach at Nanaimo - very nice places in Sooke, too

Still can't get any responses from anyone on the island so we are now thinking of sticking to the sunshine coast. Or perhaps delaying until after school starts, when things will likely be more open. So odd to have emailed 4-5 different places with absolutely nothing in reply. Maybe they don't want tourists??

We have fished in Uclulet with the Oak Bay Marine group many times in years past. Love it there. The organization also has a "nice" resort at April Point (?).

There are also some nice camping parks in the area of Uclulet/Tofino.

Try looking at the web site OBMG.com or google the Oak Bay Marine Group. They are headquartered out of Victoria but are getting involved in more and more tourist type of ventures all of the time.

Tofino, Uclulet, anywhere in between. Hot Springs Cove is the ultimate. I have only been there by kayak but there is a hotel there now I think. Absolutely wonderful

I'm sorry you're not getting too much of a response for accommodations. What I'd suggest is contact: http://www.hellobc.com/ 1-800-435-5622 and get a bit of assistance from a specialist. The Gulf Islands are quite nice as well. Driving up the east coast of the island is nice and everybody talks about Tofino but I'd suspect accommodations are limited. Here's a site with various campgrounds for very reasonable: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/ I hope this is somewhat helpful.

There is very little in Tofino. Use a tent. Much worth it. I have spent my life in hot springs across N. America and this one is the BEST. You can sit under the falls at the top and sauna underneath, drop one pool into a cavern of smooth rocks, down and down until you reach the high tide of salt water washing over your body as the warm spring washes underneath. An experience I have never enjoyed more. Oh I forgot the sunset taking your breath away. http://www.vancouverisland.com/hotsprings/?id=16 Lodging: http://www.bctravel.com/vancouverisland/lodging/index.html

We ended up going up the Sunshine Coast side and found a very cozy little cabin at Back Eddy Resort near Earl's Cove, off by itself with a deck overlooking one of the inlets. Very peaceful.

Way cool spot. I will be hitting some of those on my trip from AK on my motorcycle. Hope it doesn't snow on me this time. September should be OK.

If anyone else is still following this, The Executive House, where I stayed years ago, has an excellent location for seeing the city---that means things to do if the weather is foul, or even fowl (yuck, yuck!). I imagine they would answer e-mails or just allow a direct booking on their website.