VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 226

Rd., 250/247-0008, 7am-5:30pm daily, $8-12), a modern café that opens to landscaped gar-
dens. The food is typical island café fare—breakfast burritos, freshly made sandwiches,
and mostly healthy pastries. Adjacent to Mad Rona's is M Woodfire (500 North Rd., 250/
247-0095, 4pm-9pm daily, $16-24), a stylish dining room that is the perfect setting to enjoy
gourmet pizza such as The Valdez (seared steak, arugula, gorgonzola, caramelized onions,
and freshly made pesto) or classic pastas with a side of wood-fired vegetables.
Gabriola Island Visitor Centre (377 Berry Point Rd., 250/247-9332,
www.gabriolaisland.org , 10am-6pm daily July-Aug., Fri-Sun. only in spring and fall) is
north of the ferry terminal, near the turn-off to Gabriola Sands Provincial Park.
BC Ferries (250/386-3431) schedules 15 sailings daily between the terminal off Front
Street in Nanaimo (downtown, across from Harbour Park Mall) and Gabriola Island. The
trip takes 20 minutes each way and reservations are not taken. The peak round-trip fare is
adult $10.30, child $5.15, vehicle $24.50.
Highway 4 to the West Coast
From Nanaimo, it's 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) northwest up Highway 19 to one of Van-
couver Island's main highway junctions, where Highway 4 spurs west to Port Alberni and
the island's west coast. Follow Highway 4 to its end to reach Pacific Rim National Park,
a long, narrow park protecting the wild coastal strip and some magnificent sandy beaches,
and Tofino, a picturesque little town that makes the perfect base for sea kayaking, whale
watching, or fishing excursions.
ENGLISHMAN RIVER FALLS PROVINCIAL PARK
After turning off Highway 19, make your first stop here, where Englishman River—full
of steelhead, cutthroat, and rainbow trout—cascades down from high Beaufort Range
snowfields in a series of beautiful waterfalls. Within the park you'll find a picnic area,
easy hiking trails to both the upper and lower falls, crystal-clear swimming holes, and
plenty of campsites among tall cedars and lush ferns (519/826-6850 or 800/689-9025,
www.discovercamping.ca , May-Sept., $21).
COOMBS
What started just over 30 years ago as a simple produce stand has grown into the Old Coun-
try Market (250/248-6272, 9am-7pm daily), the lifeblood of Coombs, along Highway 4A