Continuing our stay on Vancouver Island, we’ve travelled North approx. 120km from Victoria to the sleepy logging and fishing town of Port Renfrew, where we’ve been spending the past couple of days hiking the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail and peering into rock-pools.

We’ve spent the last few days of our stay either on or near the coast of Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, named for the stretch of water that forms the strait between Vancouver Island and the US State of Washington. The waterfronts here range from the bizarre to the beautiful, from the driftwood-laden coastline adjacent Pacheena Road, the fascinating and varied rock-pool wildlife of Botany Bay and Botanical Beach, to the out and out beauty of Mystic Beach.

The Juan de Fuca Marine Trail provided us with some strenuous hiking opportunities under the shade of the forest, and we covered almost 12 of it’s 47km’s over the duration of our stay. Keeping to the moderately difficult paths, there were some tricky moments over deep that put our walking boots to good use, but with bridges over creeks, open clearings and views high out over the coast, there was always something interesting to keep us going.

For our tenth anniversary we decided to go all out and stay in flagship accommodation at the Soule Creek Lodge, a couple of kilometres off the main road up a gravel track. One of the main features that attracted us to the Lodge were it’s Yurts; Mongolian style “tents” that are stable, luxurious and comfortable with all the usual mod-cons, a glass skylight that wakes you gradually with natural daylight (also giving a view of the stars on a clear night), and a stunning vista over the strait and surrounding mountains from the balcony.

Run by brothers who also happen to be trained chefs, the food here is nothing short of spectacular, and served around a communal dining table shared with other guests. I usually hate things like this (mainly due to my own terrible table manners) but ultimately proved to be a very enjoyably experience.

All in all, our stay here has been nothing short of unique; and I don’t think we could’ve wished for a better set of circumstances or way to spend an anniversary. With tall trees, cool water and mountains in every direction, Port Renfew ticks all the boxes as far as near-idyllic locales goes; If there were ever a place in my mind that could encapsulate the idea of rural British Columbia, this would be a prime candidate.