Jeep Trail Through the Rainforest | Caroline'S Reading List // EFRT S6 EP13

Welcome to another episode of the Epic Family Road Trip. Good morning. It is December 9th. Another absolutely stunning day here. As you know, we're kind of laying low here in the Tofino area. We've been here for over a month at least and with the travel restrictions we're just exploring the local area and I think we're going to give you the false impression that it's always sunny here because our last video it was gorgeous as well but in the meantime we had some some rain. What Tofino is famous for in the winter we get a lot of rain here. We're right on the coast. We're in the rainforest but we're also getting some really nice sunny weather this year so nobody's complaining that's for sure but we're making use of this good weather to get out and do some more exploring and Radar Hill is behind me and we're going to head up there but this is where they set up radars and guns back after Pearl Harbor and it was just Pearl Harbor day I think yesterday so they set up an installment here and they had had fears that you know there might be a land-based attack from Japan back in the day. So this is kind of a neat historic area and we're going to take you with us and show you as we explore around the beautiful Tofino area. Attacked relentlessly the Australians were also forced to withdraw. The enemy then ordered an assault on the Canadian position. The battle lit only by flares was fought hand-to-hand outnumbered and about to be overrun the Princess Pat's D Company ordered allied mortar and artillery fire on their own position routing the enemy. The bombardment forced a Chinese retreat. Honored for exceptional bravery the PPCLI received a unit citation from the President of the United States. The only Canadian battalion battalion to ever receive this distinction. This memorial honors those Canadians who fought for freedom and ensures that those who made the supreme sacrifice at Kapyong will never be forgotten. Wow what an interesting story. It's really cool. Looks like a foundation for one of the radars. All right that was uh very interesting um if you're here check out Radar Hill a little bit of history from the world war. There's not much left up there except a few foundations of uh I guess was the uh the mounts for the guns and the radars and um but one thing that we found very interesting is that there's a memorial up there for a group of Canadian infantry that fought in the Korean war and uh quite a heroic bunch. They fought alongside the our allies from UK and Australia and uh the United States so uh definitely worth checking out especially if you like history and you want to understand more about the folks that fought for our freedom. I think it's good uh our young generations coming up that they understand what it took and and uh the lives that were sacrificed to fight for freedom. Something we maybe take used to take uh for granted but now I guess with COVID and everything we're seeing more and more how fragile it is and how we all need to fight for freedom. So yeah definitely check out Radar Hill. Now we're going to go down the road and uh check out some more backcountry sites. We'll take you with us. All right showed you this sot before super handy it just folds away like this fits right under the seat. So we're on a tiny little trail right beside Muriel Lake. Someone told us to about Muriel Lake said hey you should get down there and check it out and apparently there's a cabin somewhere that you could just stay in but um some people walked ahead of us so I think they're probably going to get the cabin but we're going to go check it out and uh if not we'll if we can't use the cabin someone else is there then we'll turn around and find a camp spot. All right so we made it to um where the cabin is and anyone can come and camp here. It fits like it's a quite a big cabin. There's a group down there right now so we don't want to disturb them but you can see the beautiful pathway leading down to it and you have a dock to go fishing. It is just absolutely gorgeous. So we saw a group of people hiking in with backpacks that would be fun way to come out here as well and this spot opens up so that you can park your overland vehicle on the side hike down this little bit and have a lake all to yourself. All right so we've kind of hit the end of the trail here it starts to narrow down to just a quad or a four-wheeler trail so what we're going to do and since somebody already has a cabin we're just going to turn around now and head back. We saw a couple of good camp spots on the way in and we'll find one that's situated fairly close to the lake and set up camp for the night. Driving Worsley and Caroline's driving Vandy behind us and this thing is lit up like a candle. We've got the rock lights, the side lights, the pro 6 bar in the front so we can see where we're going. We definitely need to get some KC on Vandy. We were actually working on all that stuff and then we had to head out of town real quick. They were back last spring so we didn't get Vandy all decked out but we're going to do something very similar on that jeep. Probably get the pro 6. We've got these hood lights, dust lights in the back, side lamps and then the rock lights. All right so tonight we're making some Caribbean jerk rotis and I let the chicken marinate for about 24 hours now so it should be really tasty. Can't wait to get it on the scottle and cook up some dinner. You've probably seen us use this before it's called a scottle just for those who haven't seen one I'll just tell you a little bit about it. Basically it's just a wok shaped cast iron or metal disc and underneath you've got a propane burner that just heats up the middle and so you can the way to use it I mean you can cook almost anything on here. We use ours a lot as you can see it's a little it's well loved and well used but all the heat's in the center and then it gets cooler as you go to the edges so you know you can move things out as they get cooked and just let them sit there and warm around the edges and so on but it's a very simple contraption. I think originally they used these a lot in South Africa so the brand name is Tembo Tusk. It's not an endorsement we're not being sponsored we just love the product and it's a pretty handy thing to have when you're off-roading. You can cook almost anything on it. I think the best part is the no dishes you just basically just oil and salt it down and when you're done wipe it off and you're good to go so we can cook a whole breakfast or a whole dinner using this one thing and not have any dishes which is always a good plus. It is after this we'll move the chicken put the chicken aside and then grab the rotis and just heat them up on on the same utensil so like Carol said it's just everything on one and you're not washing pots and pans all night. All right so I apologize to everyone in advance at home if this makes you hungry but it is the perfect meal to end an absolutely beautiful day on the trails with the family. Looking forward to a hike tomorrow which is going to take us up to a old plane wreck that we've heard so much about. We're excited about doing that. All right so that's a great way to end today. Wrap it up with a delicious meal on the trail. We'll see you guys tomorrow morning. Today we're going to take you with us on a hike into the rainforest of Pacific Rim National Park to an old plane crash site we had heard so much about. The report said it was a muddy hike and the first part wasn't but we're getting into the mud now. Looks like this part of the wing hit that tree fell off here. That's a big crack. I don't think it's this big. I hate how people spray paint stuff. Look at the size of the wings. It's a big break. It looks like turrets and things up in the front. Oh yeah and this is where the steering like comes up right here. Did the wing on that side get ripped off as well? On February 8th 1945 a Royal Canadian Air Force Canso bomber carrying 800 pounds of explosives crashed in the rainforest near Tofino BC. All 11 of the crew and passengers survived. The plane is still sitting in the exact spot it crashed 75 years ago. Hello guys! I just wanted to do a little segment in this episode to share with you some of my favorite books that I've read while on the road recently and over the past few years and these books have all inspired and impacted my family and I in our adventures. So the first book I have is Strangers Like Angels with a Double or Two to Boot by Alec and Jan Foreman. So back in 2016 my family and I attended our first ever Overland Expo East in Asheville, just a few weeks before shipping our Jeep to New Zealand for six months. And one of the first places I headed to was the author's tent because I was just so eager to learn more about overlanding and I hoped to find some books on the subject. I actually had the pleasure of meeting the authors Alec and Jan Foreman and their son Charles that day and keenly picked up their book Strangers Like Angels. The book tells the incredible inspiring and beautiful true story of Alec and Jan's trek across Europe, Asia, and Africa in their Land Rover traveling across 40,000 miles and 29 countries during 1977. Reading this book and talking with the wonderful Alec and Jan Foreman really gave me a whole new perspective on the meaning of travel and adventure. Jan Foreman actually journaled daily on their journey which inspired me to do the same on ours and it has been amazing to not only look back on those memories but also write down the details of a day on the road and the adventures, the misadventures, the people we meet, and the lessons we learned along the way. I highly recommend you read this book for yourself and check out strangerslikeangels.com to get yourself a copy. This book is also available as an ebook which is great if you were looking for an awesome Christmas present for someone or for yourself if you were worried that it wouldn't get out on time for Christmas in the mail. You should also check out exploremore.com to learn more about the mantra of Explore More which was inspired by Alec and Jan's journey and founded by their son Charles. The next book I have is The Dig Tree by Sarah Murgatroyd. This is the story of bravery, insanity, and the race to discover Australia's wild frontier. I read this book last year and I could not put it down. It tells the harrowing true story of Robert Burke and William Will's expedition to cross the vast unmapped interior of Australia in 1860. This book has some very intense and nerve-wracking parts in it and it is great for anyone interested in history and exploration. Here I have High Adventure The True Story of the First Descent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary. I read this book while we were driving and camping through the mountains and backcountry of British Columbia last spring. I've always been fascinated by Mount Everest and the story of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay especially after we visited a Iraqi Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand which is where Sir Edmund Hillary first got into mountaineering. This book is really amazing and brings you along on the incredible and challenging journey to the first summiting of Mount Everest. This next one is An Arabian Journey One Man's Quest Through the Heart of the Middle East by Levison Wood. I read this one last spring as well and also could not put it down. In fact I reread most of the chapters aloud to my brothers because it was just so fascinating and I definitely want to get more of Levison Wood's books because his writing and adventures are so amazing. Another one is Contiki by Thor Heyerdahl. I really love any books to do with sailing and ocean exploration and this one is really good. The last book I'm going to mention today is called Endurance Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. My brothers and I actually listen to this audiobook all the time while we're on the road and it's so inspiring. The book tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Transantarctic Expedition from 1914 to 1917 which was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. It's really an amazing story of leadership, teamwork, and real endurance through adversity. We actually named one of our jeeps Worsley after the captain of Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, Frank Worsley. So I hope you guys enjoyed this book recommendation segment of the episode. I'll probably do this again to share any new books that I read both pertaining to exploration and adventure and other things like business and life that I enjoy. And also, don't forget to leave any book or audiobook recommendations that you have in the comments below because I would love to hear them. And in the meantime, we'll see you down the road!