Vancouver Island has a lot to offer. Start in Victoria for some shopping, visit the Royal British Columbia Museum, have tea at the Empress Hotel and generally enjoy the 'Old Country' feeling of the town.
Driving north, stop in Chemainus, a small town that is famous for its murals. If you're adventurous, take a logging road to the Carmanah Valley. This might require some off-road experience, but is well worth the visit if you want to see old growth trees in the rainforest. You can keep going north that way back to paved roads at Port Alberni and visit Vancouver Island's west coast at Ucluelet and Tofino. (Also of course accessible by NOT going through the bush, by taking the highway).
Tofino has several beaches, lots of surfing, and is located just north of Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park. Both Ucluelet and Tofino offer whale watching (gray whales and sometimes humpbacks and orcas), sea kayaking, first nations canoe tours, diving, and other outdoor activities. Visit Hot Springs cove, 27 km north by boat or plane from Tofino.
If you stay on the east side of the Island, visit Telegraph Cove, which has a pod or resident orcas, making it easy to see killer whales, which are transient on the other side of the Island.
Strathcona Park, in the centre of Vancouver Island and accessible from Campbell River (on the east coast of the Island) is a decent consolidation prize for mountain hikers, if you don't make it into the Rocky Mountains.
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