We intended to camp near Nimpkish Lake, but I hadn’t heard back from the owner of the campsite I emailed for a reservation, and we still had the afternoon free. With some extra time, we decided to drive to Port McNeil a day early and head to Malcolm Island for the night.

Malcolm Island is reached by a 25-minute ferry and is home to Sointula, a village founded 1901 by a group of Finnish settlers looking to build a self-sustaining cooperative utopia of sorts. As most utopian experiments, this one did not last in its original form, but the village of brightly painted buildings still exists as home to around 500 people, including many talented artisans.

Long before the settlers arrived and into the present day, the island is part of the historic territory of the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation.

After exploring the small town and its museum, we made our way to the campground at Bere Point Regional Park. On arrival, the manager informed that a “much better” campsite had become available for just the night, for only $10 more, if we’d like to consider it? Once we saw the spot, it wasn’t a difficult consideration at all, with its driftwood fencing and private pathway down to the beach.

In the evening we hiked part of the Beautiful Bay trail, through what felt like a hedge maze of salal and through a beautiful coastal rainforest. The trail lets out into a clearing with a viewing platform overlooking a spot where orcas like to come and rub their bellies on the smooth rocks of the beach. While we didn’t spot any, the walk was worth the while. Back at our campsite, we sat on pieces of driftwood and watched otters play in the waves until the sun went down.

The next morning, we watched the sun rise and then packed up and drove east to find Melvin’s Bog, a hiking trail that wraps through a bog and around a few small lakes. The highlight of this forest was the plethora of strange and colourful mushrooms lining the forest floor. There were several with what looked like bites missing front them. We eventually figured out that these were chomps from the giant slugs we’d seen all over the trails.

The bog itself was a little underwhelming, but we also visited during the driest part of the year. I’d love to go back after a good rain and see the place soggy and dripping, as a bog is meant to be. Still, though, there were a variety of birds and some loud bullfrogs making their presence known.

We drove back to town to park in the ferry line and get one last scone and latte from Coho Joe’s, the excellent bakery cafe in the centre of town. I’ll definitely add this to the list of places I’d like to return to someday.

We spent the rest of the afternoon meandering our way to Holberg, with a stop at the infamous shoe tree and walk through the beautiful forest around the Nahwitti Lake Recreation site. Eventually, we made it to the small cabins at Scarlet Ibis Pub. After four nights of tents, the outlets, showers, and cozy bunk beds seemed like a little luxury. We watched birds soar over the inlet while we enjoyed ice cold drinks and freshly baked pizza, then went to sleep at very decent hour in anticipation of a very early morning to come.