Thursday, November 18, 2004
Wind, Water, Wave (The Road to Tofino)
And then we went to the sea-side...
We hadn't had a holiday since the last time we were on Tilos in July '03, so we thought we were due a few days off. And while we've been up and down (and in my case, in) lots of rivers in Alberta, there's just no sea to speak of. No fresh breezes, no salt in the air, no seagulls, no storms coming ashore (and no sailors to run away with, for those of you who wish to know!) So we decided a little bit of sea-time was in order. We flew over the Rockies with WestJet, the Canuck version of Easyjet, 90 mins to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia (or 'Bee Cee' as they say here) down at the south end of Vancouver Island.
Where we were going
Vancouver Island
We stayed in Sidney-by-the-Sea, which is 5 minutes from the airport and then hired a car on Thursday morning and headed north.
In Sidney-by-the-Sea
It was Remembrance Day here (and Veterans' Day in the US), which is a much bigger deal here than at home - you get a full day off, and there are parades of old soldiers in all the towns. We skirted Victoria and headed north for 3 hours on the highway to Nanaimo, only stopping to marvel at the view over the sound between us and the mainland; we were up above the clouds which were on top of the water - wow!
On the Road North
Our Route
We stopped for fish and chips at Nanaimo (B.C. is quite British in some ways, funnily enough) and then turned west on Highway 4. An hour more took us to P.A. or Port Alberni, which is the last outpost of civilisation before the Pacific Coast. Then it was 2 more hours on the mountain road, weaving up and down and around amid the sun and fog - pretty scary driving, and you start to appreciate just how far Tofino is from anywhere else. Some nice lakes by the road, though, made better by the fact that the tourists haven't discovered them yet:
Sun on Kennedy Lake
We also noticed that especially near Cathedral Grove, where there are giant cedar trees, the locals had assembled literally hundreds of hollowed-out pumpkins in groups of three or four, for miles and miles by the roadside, on tree branches, on the divider, on little walls. They went on forever! We're not sure if this is what you do on The Island when you're done with your pumpkins, or if they were put there specially on Hallowe'en night, with their candles lit and their eyes ablaze... If so, if must have been pretty spooky!
Pumpkins
We finally reached a T-junction where the road splits in two, going south the Ucluelet (pronounced You-CLUE-let) and north to Tofino, and spent the next half-hour behind an ambulance with it's lights on, doing 30 mph and weaving all over the road so we couldn't pass it. Either the driver was drunk or there was someone very fragile in the back, we never found out which...
And then we arrived in Tofino! It really is the end of the road - you just run into the sea eventually. It's long been a bit of a hippy place where people have gone to escape civilisation and apparently there are a lot of hermits living up and down the coast who come to town by boat occasionally to collect supplies. We checked into our Fred Tibbs apartment. It was just lovely, a small apartment with kitchen, bathroom, living room and fireplace downstairs and a bed-space upstairs overlooking the lower level with a 17-foot ceiling. Big picture windows too with a great view out over Tofino Inlet across to the First Nation fishing village of Opitsat, which is only accessible by boat. Lots of Indian folks in town too, and lots of First Nation art galleries, etc. Not surprising as the place started out as an Indian fishing village and only got connected to the interior of the island 30 or 40 years ago.
Map of Tofino area
View of Tofino Harbour
Clayoquot (CLAK-WOT)Inlet
To cut a long story short, we spent the next few days watching the boats come and go in the harbour, eating well, sleeping late, reading a lot, going for walks around the town and on the beaches and generally having a very nice time. The weather was cool but clear for the first 3 days and then on Saturday night it started raining heavily and kept it up for more than 24 hours, flooding the town and even sinking some of the small boats in the harbour.
We spent quite a bit of time on the beach, although it was a bit cold and the waves were really very big indeed. There were plenty of signs warning us that we could be swept away by freak waves or crushed by the massive logs which the Pacific has washed up on the beach over the years and which occasionally go for a roll if the water is high. This counts as our fourth visit to the Pacific, the others being San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
The Pacific Ocean, Long Beach, B.C.
Big Logs
Girl on a Log
Dr Who Monster on the beach
On Tonquin Beach
P and the Pacific
Also highly recommended is the very unusual Botanical Gardens, which comes complete with hippy bus, Indian canoe, fishing trawler and free-range chickens.
Big Banana Tree
In the Botanical Gardens
We hadn't appreciated this before, but B.C. is really wet, which makes for a lot of mist and fog and also makes the forests nearby into tropical jungle zones, with lots of creepers and vines, etc. There are also a lot of vineyards on The Island, and B.C. wine is quite good.
Tropical B.C.
Radar Hill Lookout
I also stopped in to have a look at Tofino General Hospital (doctor not always available, but the nurse will call him if needed - sounds like a cushy number)
Tofino General
Local paper:
Tofino Time
Recommended eating spots:
Breakers Deli
Sushi Bar at Inn at Tough City
Not recommended:
Rain Coast Cafe (pretentious 'West Coast' place, avoid)
So we had a great time and we might go back sometime, maybe in the summer. The only downside is that it's a LONG way to come and that it's apparently much more expensive in the summer. Oh, and the scary mountain road. Whew!
J
We hadn't had a holiday since the last time we were on Tilos in July '03, so we thought we were due a few days off. And while we've been up and down (and in my case, in) lots of rivers in Alberta, there's just no sea to speak of. No fresh breezes, no salt in the air, no seagulls, no storms coming ashore (and no sailors to run away with, for those of you who wish to know!) So we decided a little bit of sea-time was in order. We flew over the Rockies with WestJet, the Canuck version of Easyjet, 90 mins to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia (or 'Bee Cee' as they say here) down at the south end of Vancouver Island.
Where we were going
Vancouver Island
We stayed in Sidney-by-the-Sea, which is 5 minutes from the airport and then hired a car on Thursday morning and headed north.
In Sidney-by-the-Sea
It was Remembrance Day here (and Veterans' Day in the US), which is a much bigger deal here than at home - you get a full day off, and there are parades of old soldiers in all the towns. We skirted Victoria and headed north for 3 hours on the highway to Nanaimo, only stopping to marvel at the view over the sound between us and the mainland; we were up above the clouds which were on top of the water - wow!
On the Road North
Our Route
We stopped for fish and chips at Nanaimo (B.C. is quite British in some ways, funnily enough) and then turned west on Highway 4. An hour more took us to P.A. or Port Alberni, which is the last outpost of civilisation before the Pacific Coast. Then it was 2 more hours on the mountain road, weaving up and down and around amid the sun and fog - pretty scary driving, and you start to appreciate just how far Tofino is from anywhere else. Some nice lakes by the road, though, made better by the fact that the tourists haven't discovered them yet:
Sun on Kennedy Lake
We also noticed that especially near Cathedral Grove, where there are giant cedar trees, the locals had assembled literally hundreds of hollowed-out pumpkins in groups of three or four, for miles and miles by the roadside, on tree branches, on the divider, on little walls. They went on forever! We're not sure if this is what you do on The Island when you're done with your pumpkins, or if they were put there specially on Hallowe'en night, with their candles lit and their eyes ablaze... If so, if must have been pretty spooky!
Pumpkins
We finally reached a T-junction where the road splits in two, going south the Ucluelet (pronounced You-CLUE-let) and north to Tofino, and spent the next half-hour behind an ambulance with it's lights on, doing 30 mph and weaving all over the road so we couldn't pass it. Either the driver was drunk or there was someone very fragile in the back, we never found out which...
And then we arrived in Tofino! It really is the end of the road - you just run into the sea eventually. It's long been a bit of a hippy place where people have gone to escape civilisation and apparently there are a lot of hermits living up and down the coast who come to town by boat occasionally to collect supplies. We checked into our Fred Tibbs apartment. It was just lovely, a small apartment with kitchen, bathroom, living room and fireplace downstairs and a bed-space upstairs overlooking the lower level with a 17-foot ceiling. Big picture windows too with a great view out over Tofino Inlet across to the First Nation fishing village of Opitsat, which is only accessible by boat. Lots of Indian folks in town too, and lots of First Nation art galleries, etc. Not surprising as the place started out as an Indian fishing village and only got connected to the interior of the island 30 or 40 years ago.
Map of Tofino area
View of Tofino Harbour
Clayoquot (CLAK-WOT)Inlet
To cut a long story short, we spent the next few days watching the boats come and go in the harbour, eating well, sleeping late, reading a lot, going for walks around the town and on the beaches and generally having a very nice time. The weather was cool but clear for the first 3 days and then on Saturday night it started raining heavily and kept it up for more than 24 hours, flooding the town and even sinking some of the small boats in the harbour.
We spent quite a bit of time on the beach, although it was a bit cold and the waves were really very big indeed. There were plenty of signs warning us that we could be swept away by freak waves or crushed by the massive logs which the Pacific has washed up on the beach over the years and which occasionally go for a roll if the water is high. This counts as our fourth visit to the Pacific, the others being San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
The Pacific Ocean, Long Beach, B.C.
Big Logs
Girl on a Log
Dr Who Monster on the beach
On Tonquin Beach
P and the Pacific
Also highly recommended is the very unusual Botanical Gardens, which comes complete with hippy bus, Indian canoe, fishing trawler and free-range chickens.
Big Banana Tree
In the Botanical Gardens
We hadn't appreciated this before, but B.C. is really wet, which makes for a lot of mist and fog and also makes the forests nearby into tropical jungle zones, with lots of creepers and vines, etc. There are also a lot of vineyards on The Island, and B.C. wine is quite good.
Tropical B.C.
Radar Hill Lookout
I also stopped in to have a look at Tofino General Hospital (doctor not always available, but the nurse will call him if needed - sounds like a cushy number)
Tofino General
Local paper:
Tofino Time
Recommended eating spots:
Breakers Deli
Sushi Bar at Inn at Tough City
Not recommended:
Rain Coast Cafe (pretentious 'West Coast' place, avoid)
So we had a great time and we might go back sometime, maybe in the summer. The only downside is that it's a LONG way to come and that it's apparently much more expensive in the summer. Oh, and the scary mountain road. Whew!
J
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