Exploring Wild Vancouver Island in our Vanagon. Port Renfrew and Nitinat Lake

Рет қаралды 3,989

Жыл бұрын

We finally get back up to one of our favorite places, Vancouver Island. This time we stay on the southern coast and visit the charming village of Port Renfrew before trying to visit Big Lonely Doug and Avatar Grove. We take some terrible roads out to Nitinat Lake before having to make a decision on what to do next.
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Check out this amazing video the local teens of Ditidaht First Nations made outlining their struggles:
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Пікірлер: 55

@paulcombs3143 Жыл бұрын

As a longtime fan of your adventures, I am awed at the quality and content of your videos. You two have figured out what life is all about. Happy trails!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Wow! Thank you Paul! We are still learning about how to capture and share our adventures and hope we are getting better every year. I don't know if we have it figured out, but we know what we like to do and do it as much as we can! nate

@paulcombs3143 Жыл бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife Well, the question comes to mind-Are you two cinematographers that happen to enjoy the Vanagon life, or Vanagon travelers that are really professionally skilled in cinematography? Your footage from your drone and how you skillfully blend the footage together makes me feel that I am right there along for the ride! Keep it up!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Until we started this channel in late 2020, we had never picked up a video camera beside filming our kids a bit growing up. I had never used editing software or flew a drone. We are completely self taught, trying to learn as we go. I have managed production facilities for 30 years so no experience in the creative trades at all. We just happen to love VW's and wanted to find a way to share our adventures with anyone who is willing to come along for the ride! We really appreciate the kind words and it helps motivate us to keep on learning and getting better. nate and nancy

@cheryllamb8831 Жыл бұрын

Those forever roads are hard on the psyche. It was beautiful though and no dust! Thanks for another great adventure.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Good point, no dust! Way to look on the bright side :) nate

@hooh125 Жыл бұрын

Great video and amazing scenery, thank you for sharing!!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! nate

@paulbaldwin9906 Жыл бұрын

Westy needs a bath and all wheel drive? Adventures are us!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Well it got a bath but not gonna get all wheel drive!

@TIMWHY2 Жыл бұрын

All that mud and those roads would definitely create new swear words, lol. Looked Fun just the same!!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

You are right about that! Pavement never felt so good! :) nate

@jatorresrv Жыл бұрын

Great additions to the previous Vancouver Island trip. Thanks for sharing.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Thanks! We just love the Island so much. Already making plans for our next trip! Nate

@jatorresrv Жыл бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife I plotted a route around the island following your previous trip and now I have to reroute that thanks to you. Sounds sarcastic. Instead, I appreciate this addition as it makes for a better single-trip route. Thanks.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Haha! Love it! Have fun exploring the island! Nate

@projectsinthebarn Жыл бұрын

Hi Guys, another great video of a lovely looking part of the world. I hope the rest of the trip was just as cool and you had a great time. all the best, simon 🤙

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Thanks! It is an amazingly wild and beautiful part of Canada. We had a great time in Victoria even though the ferry back was a ROUGH one! Super windy. Take care Simon nate

@danwhiteman2529 Жыл бұрын

Great video guys! Happy Trails

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Thanks Dan! Nate

@pyronitro Жыл бұрын

amazing locations! take care out there!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Right? Such a beautiful place nate

@flemcadiddlehopper Жыл бұрын

Okay, I am watching this again as we are about to go to the Island for a couple of weeks in our Westy. I know you guys are huge into the disbursed camping, which I would love to embrace, but when you are destination travellers it would really suck not to be able to camp at your destination. Our trip will be just north of where you went. We are booked for Pacheena Bay (near Banfield) then heading to Euclulet and Tofino to get our fill of Surf Culture. Then we are hoping to head back to the Okanagan by visiting Neah Bay and then driving through the Cascade highway, if it's open. Our adventure starts May 15th, if you plan on being in any of those areas at that time we would love to bump into you.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Excited for you guys, Vancouver Island is pretty magical. I get the destination thing, we went to Tofino a few years ago and you need to reserve a campsite there in the summer or you won't be camping. The Tofino area is nice, a bit touristy, but nice. Stop and see the goats on the roof of the buildings in Coombs! Hope the road to Bamfield has been fixed and graded, I assume you're coming down from Port Alberni? That road is supposed to be better. Not likely we will be in that area at all as we will just be getting back from Syncrofest and prepping for Descend on Pinnacles. Have a great trip!! nate

@k_clack Жыл бұрын

I’ve been having the same issue with my sliding door! So annoying. The hammers look fine and all, so not sure what to do at this point. Great video!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

You know what’s funny? It’s happened twice to us. Both times near Port Renfrew! Cursed! 😁. I adjusted the striker out a bit and it didn’t do it again. But we will see next time we go to Port Renfrew! Nate

@carlosmora4908 Жыл бұрын

Awesome video, you guys got a new subscriber

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

🙏🏻 Thank you Carlos. We’ve got lots more amazing adventures planned!! Nate

@toddyoung2272 Жыл бұрын

Loving your content! Found you guys while scouring KZfaq for westy vids, I’ve been shopping for a van for a few months and the backroads travel you showcase firmly moved me from the Eurovan to the Vanagon camp. Thanks for sharing your very well-crafted stories and images!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Welcome aboard Todd! We actually had a 2001 Eurovan for a long time and took some amazing road trips in it when our kids where young. Great van for pavement trips. If you wanna get into some dirt roads, the Vanagon is a much better choice. They are an older German vehicles so make sure you go though it and understand the in’s and out’s before heading out. Good luck! Nate

@toddyoung2272 Жыл бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife thanks, great advice, and thanks again for sharing both your travel and repair/maintenance experience! Watching the Painted Hills trip right now and anxiously waiting for a Craigslist reply about an ‘85 Westy that I’m trying to buy. Cheers from Vancouver Island!

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Hope it works out! Nate

@user-pw5oi4vy1p 4 ай бұрын

Love your videos ❤

@ThatBaldwinLife 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! Appreciate the kind words nate

@JohnInDaHouse2015 Жыл бұрын

love to see some high Mt ranges exploration.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

It was a great trip! nate

@planetmarrs5239 Жыл бұрын

Wow, looked like luck just wasn't with you, but,..... at least you didn't get snowed in......

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

As long as we make it home safe, luck is always on our side!! 😁

@Yvan77 Жыл бұрын

❤🤙

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

thanks! nate

@clove_st Жыл бұрын

Looks like a great trip! I'm heading there with my family in my westy this summer, cant wait. Do you like your air compressor? I have an ARB in my truck but don't really want to shell out that much money again.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Hey Daniel you’ll have an amazing time on the island. The compressor is good but is a bit slow. But for the price it’s great. I think we paid like $70 for it. It’s a Viair 85p compressor. Nate

@Tanya-uo3qq 2 ай бұрын

You are lucky to have stayed at Nitinat Lake. It's First Nation's land and usually you need permission to camp on it.

@ThatBaldwinLife 2 ай бұрын

We actually drove back out of the lake area to what we could tell was not First Nations land anymore. We always want to be as respectful as we can when traveling and try our best to obey all property designation. Thanks for watching. Nate.

@Tanya-uo3qq 2 ай бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife I was lucky to have a friend who had friend who’s Ditidaht Nation and we stayed at his tiny shack right on the lake…Beautiful…We went salmon fishing, crabbing, saw a grey whale swim under our boat…Incredible. There is a campground up there now run by the Nation so if you’re ever up again, check that out!😉

@ThatBaldwinLife 2 ай бұрын

Sounds amazing! What a great experience that must have been! Will check out the campground for sure. Hope to get back up there sometime! nate

@bindumiller Жыл бұрын

Another great adventure! Keep them coming. As a Vanagon engine swap advocate, I admire how you get the most out of your almost stock engine and how it is perfect for what you do. Maybe I'll see you at the upcoming Descend event-haven't decided yet. Best wishes.

@ThatBaldwinLife Жыл бұрын

Thank you! We have a love/hate relationship with our WBX. Well mostly love but wish we had a bit more power for some steep hills. Or maybe a crawl gear :) We will be at both Descends and Syncrofest if you're around!! nate

@bindumiller Жыл бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife Great! I'll look you up.

@firstname7330 6 ай бұрын

Any chance you could put together a video on how you do the dispersed camping stuff? I've tried to understand looking up campsite on BLM grounds. What tools are you using to semi-plan your trips? Google maps? Etc?

@ThatBaldwinLife 6 ай бұрын

Hi! It can be confusing, especially if you are visiting an area that is new to you. We always start with Google maps and see a large view of where we want to go. Then after a general route is planned, we use the satellite view and look at roads and general areas. You can also use Google maps to get an idea if the area is in a national forest, state forest, etc. iOverlander can also be a resource for planning as well. We do not use a gps but do use Maps.me for routing when we have no cell signal. Always pay attention to private property signs as well as no trespassing. We are fortunate that on the west coast there is ample land to explore and camp. nate

@firstname7330 6 ай бұрын

@@ThatBaldwinLife Thanks. The Maps.Me explains a lot because one thought in my head was that cell coverage would definitely be limited. I live in Bay Area. One day, I want to take the "Lost Coast" tour that you did in one of your other videos. That and Vancouver Island.

@ThatBaldwinLife 6 ай бұрын

You should so the Lost Coast before everyone finds it! 😁. Vancouver Island is something special. Nate