You said it. I ventured out there to see the Pacific Rim park one time thinking it was just a quick drive from Victoria. Like idiot tourists, we headed out with 2 small children and no provisions thinking we'd stop at restaurants there and back. Ha! When we finally got there after traveling logging roads for a long time, we found a small town - more like a village - and only one sort-of restaurant, which was closed. We asked a local resident if we could buy some bread, lunchmeat and water. They sent us to an out-of-season hunting lodge to track down a woman who made breakfast and dinner for the hunters in-season. We had potato soup and ham sandwiches while sitting on her couch. We almost had to spend the night with her because it was going to be dark soon and she was afraid we'd get lost on the logging roads. It was a trip to remember.
Sounds like a very typical story for the area. Once, in the winter, I got a ‘72 Camaro stuck in the snow along a logging road near Port Alberni. Some nice Canadian stopped and pulled me out. Now that I have a 4WD and such I’m still waiting to return the favor to someone.