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We slept in a little, but finally dragged our tired bodies out of the king sized bed. It was tough, but after a great breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, we mounted our white chariot and sped eastward.
Our adventure wasn’t quite over, however. An accident closed the Trans-Canada Highway and we had to detour through Vernon, B.C. We discovered a tourist trap near Vernon – there were freshly basked goods, treats, and fresh fruit. $29.00 later, we were enjoying giant cinnamon buns, almond roca and sweet B.C. cherries. Nice!
We arrived home safe and sound – with a carload of great memories. Before the trip we were sweethearts, but now we're more in love than ever - and we're excited about our the next 25 years together!
6:00AM arrived too early, but we got up anyway. We drove to Port Alberni in the drizzle, and on to Cathedral Grove to see an 800-year-old tree. Impressive!
The ferry trip from Duke Point to Tsawaassen was wet and cool, so we stayed indoors. Surrounded by the drone of conversing adults and the intense play of cavorting children, I succumbed to sleep and took a catnap for more than a few minutes. I awoke with a sore neck, but the shut-eye was welcome.
We arrived at the terminal just before 3PM and fought holiday-weekend rush hour traffic for nearly two hours. Outside our car the drizzle fell, and inside, my own personal storm brewed as the traffic came to a complete stop many times and I seemed to have the frustrating talent of always taking the slowest lane.
Finally, we escaped the jam and found the Coquihalla – the toll road that cuts hours off the trip to Kamloops. By 8PM, we arrived at the dry, inland city and checked into the Best Western Hotel. Very comfortable!
Today dawned grey and drizzley, but we were prepared anyway. Diana and I donned our rain gear and drove down to Big Beach for a last look. The tide was well out, but we mostly walked the high tide line, examining what was left by last night’s flood tide. As we rounded a small point of treed land, a black-tailed deer stood on the narrow trail, browsing for its breakfast. Its tail swished a little, but as we wandered slowly off the trail to go around it, the deer seemed to be without a care. We must have been within twenty feet of it, but it just kept on munching.
After an hour on the beach, our exteriors were dripping wet, but inside our raingear, we were cosy and dry. We went back to #24 Reef Point Cottages before driving to the Wickininnish Interpretive Centre for an awesome visit. Once done checking out the Centre’s varied coastal displays, we had two last things to do.
Back to Ucluelet we headed and while Diana went shopping one last time, I walked up the hill and bought two live Dungeness crab & a dozen big oysters. What a feed we had! We found two very tiny pearls in the oysters, but otherwise, the feast was fit for royalty.
With our stomachs well packed, we thought we’d better make the car match them. Once everything we could put in the car was in it, Diana and I soaked for one final time in our private hot tub while the gentle rain refreshed the moss-covered forest that grew all around our balcony. What a peace-giving conclusion to our final day in paradise.
The Cadillac VAN ISLE 360 was about ready to commence as Diana and I arrived at Amphitrite Point Lightstation this morning. Forty-one of the forty-two sailboats were milling about atop the relatively calm water, their captains anxiously awaiting the signal blasts that would come from just behind where we stood. The final starting signal was preceded by three separate air horn blasts: a ten-minute warning horn, followed by a five-minute warning and then a one-minute warning blast. The morning was perfect for the many spectators to witness the start, and at 10:00am sharp, off they went – well, slowly, because there was hardly any wind blowing.
Before driving toward Tofino, we stopped for a bit of gift & souvenir shopping. There were so many nice things! You’ll just have to visit this place and see for yourself!
After the shopping, enroute to the Rain Forest Walk, we stopped to see the passionate people surfing at Incinerator Rock. The day was nice and warm, but the water was not.
A few minutes past Incinerator Rock, the lush, emerald forest engulfed us and Diana and I entered a tranquil world all our own. Although close to the busy highway, no sound from it reached our ears. Along the deeply shaded pathway, we stood beside a tree that had been a seedling in the year 1271AD - when Marco Polo was trekking for China! Sporting my “old” 47 years of life, I felt rather insignificant indeed standing beside this 736 year-old! As I left the world of moss-covered, towering giants, I felt I had just walked out of the pages of history, having had the privilege of taking a brief glimpse into the distant past. To think what those ancient trees had lived through!
Once back in 2007, Diana and I returned to Florencia beach and down the 75 wooden stairs to the waiting sand. The tide was out a little more than it had been on our last visit, but the incoming swells had diminished in height and were much less noisy. Again we enjoyed the wonders and marvels of the inter-tidal region as gentle crested waves broke into a chorus of white froth over the cream-coloured sand. It was good to get our feet wet again and to stroll hand in hand.
About 8:30pm, we finally pulled ourselves away from the peace-giving sand and surf. For the final time, we reluctantly climbed the stout, wooden staircase to the wooden pathway that led to the parking area. A two-minute drive got us to the Wickininnish Beach Restaurant where we enjoyed an elegant desert at a window table. As the warm sun was trying to set, we gazed out at the handful of devoted surfers, still cavorting it the surf. What an awesome view at the end of a gorgeous day!
Today dawned bright and warm, but it was laundry day anyway. We gathered our quarters and headed to the Ucluelet Bubblemart, figuring on spending some boring minutes watching water and soap move around. Wrong!!
Upon our arrival at the laundry mat, we found a small magazine outlining a local yacht race. The Cadillac VAN ISLE 360, a 580 nautical mile circumnavigation of Vancouver Island was well under way and, for the 42 participating sailing vessels, Ucluelet was the stopping off point for “Leg 9” of the race. Curiously, I looked up from reading the magazine and around the small building. Within a few moments I had met Jack & Mike, shipmates from the Carene, one of the participating vessels. Before Jack & Mike finished their laundry, we visited a little and I promised to watch them start the race again tomorrow morning. (June 27th)
After our clothes were cleaned and dried, we headed to Florencia Bay & South Beach. Florencia Bay was named for a ship that was wrecked there, but to us, its beauty was the opposite of what is must have been for the distressed crew on that fateful day. It seems incredible to me the sea can be so beautiful one moment and so terrifying and destructive the next, and yet I shouldn’t be astounded. I spent a great many years as both its captivated audience as well as its hypothermic victim – depending on the day.
After a few wonderful hours of wandering the soft, sandy shores of Florencia Bay, my sweetheart and I climbed the 75 wooden steps back to the short trail leading to our car. We were tired, but decided to pay a short visit to South Beach before heading back to our cottage. A few minutes later, we were on the wooden walkway to South Beach – only 800m away. The signpost failed to prepare us for more stairs, but we navigated them anyway.South Beach was very small and made up exclusively of tiny pebbles. With the arrival of each successive wave, thousands of brine-drenched pebbles roared in puny protest under the incoming surf. It was secluded, rugged and beautiful.
The day dawned bright and sunny – for a change. I squeezed out a little time to write in here, but Diana got up and off we went again. Today, we went sailing. Yeah!! Diana was so worried about this planned event. For weeks she regularly talked about it – nervously, but today, all her nightmares came true.
We drove to Grice Bay, just south of Tofino, and put our kayaks together. Once assembled, down went the centreboard and up went the sail. Oh yeah! Now it did sail nicely, but the real candy was that Diana liked it so much that she wants to go again at home where we have stronger winds!!! I had hoped she would enjoy herself, but this was totally unexpected.
This strange looking photo is of an under water kelp bed that we sailed a few inches over top of.
At one point, a giant rainbow ring – a sure sign of a storm coming in a few days, corralled the bright sun. Under its warmth, and pushed by a light breeze, my fishing was unsuccessful, but the sailing was so fun! The GPS indicated we travelled for a total of 7KM with a maximum speed of 6.3KM per hour.
Our only trouble was that we forgot to take food, but under our grins, just our stomachs were complaining.
Last night was a terrible night. The rain fell without stopping, although it did lighten up a few times.
When morning finally came, we hurriedly packed up. Breakfast was a bit rough. Due to the soggy weather, we could only get to our grapefruits, but they were good.
Once packed up, the weather miraculously cleared, so we spent several hours walking the sandy beach. Combers Beach was wonderful! The sun came out to dance on the waves and the four-foot surf crashed in rhythmically as I strolled with my sweetheart in its warmth. It was wonderfully romantic.
When we finally left the warm cream-coloured sand, we drove back to Ucluelet and checked into #24, Reef Point Cottages. The cabin was beautiful, but after a shivering night in the pouring rain, it was as close to being a palace as I have ever enjoyed! A lower-floor bedroom, balcony and hot tub below a main floor living room, kitchen, bathroom, and upper balcony. Wow!! And I thought the beach was going to be the nicest thing I saw all day!
Moved out of Cabin #12 into the cold west coastal rain. It poured all day while we drove the 40+ kilometres to Tofino, stopping at many beaches and tourist sights along the way. Mostly, we stayed in the car and planned our future visits for less “liquid sunshine” days.
We took in Tofino’s exotic stores and the outdoor market. The people were friendly and we met a local photographer, Wayne Barnes, at the rain-soaked outdoor market. His photography is great, but he has no Internet presence for you to visit. I guess you’ll just have to come here to see his work for yourself. Wayne seemed to especially enjoy photographing massive waves crashing onto jagged rocks and shooting their foam high into the air. Impressive!!
After exploring the sights in Tofino – wandering about in our much appreciated rain gear, we drove a few minutes south to Green Point Campground and set up our tent in the pouring rain! The weather remained cold and we got soaked! Are we having fun yet?
We had planned to eat in camp, but it was too rainy to cook under the thick sky, so we drove back to Ucluelet for a wonderful supper at the Canadian Princess Resort, a restaurant in the dining room of a luxury ship of yesteryear.
Following the fine supper, we swallowed hard and headed back to our tiny, portable apartment in the rain.
See the tiny river bed that ran through our camp all night?
5:15AM arrived so unexpectedly that I didn’t even hear my alarm. Good thing Diana did! 5:50AM found us pulling into the crammed parking lot above the Government Wharf in Ucluelet. Being raised on a lighthouse, boarding the waiting 30-foot fibreglass boat felt normal to me, but to Diana, it was sort of like skydiving on her very first plane ride. Jeremy, the owner/operator of the M.V. Tight Lines, was both accommodating and confidence strengthening, and in moments, we were gently powering out of Ucluelet’s narrow and secluded harbour towards open water.
A four-foot ground swell, carrying a two-foot chop greeted us as we sped from the confines of the protected harbour into the vast Pacific Ocean. A nasty sea for a smaller boat, ours handled exceptionally well, and in less than twenty minutes, we were slopping along with our salmon lures trailing behind us.
The humid chill of the offshore breeze was soon interrupted by a tug on the tip of my 9-foot rod, and a split-second later, I was fighting the first catch of many. The large Red Spring Salmon turned out to be the biggest of the day, and my arm will remember him for a while! Next, Diana took her turn with a Sea Bass. It was awesome to see the look on her face as she fought and landed it.
Jeremy was 8 for 8 in landing our catches with his net, but between us, Diana and I lost 4 before they reached the boat. Two of my salmon were a bit too small, but still, we went home with six nice fish.
As we trolled and travelled to four different locations we saw bald eagles perched on sea-bound rocks and soaring overhead, sometimes twittering to each other in their own unique language. Farther inland, a small black bear foraged on a dark outcrop of rocky beach as we trolled by, reeling in another salmon that he probably would have appreciated.Soon our charter time was up, and Jeremy sped us back towards Ucluelet. He headed for a narrow passageway, between some exposed rocks and the shoreline, when suddenly he pointed to a frothy patch up ahead. Two Humpback whales cavorted close to shore, and blocked our route! Jeremy slowed to a snail’s pace as we drew near. The whales put on a little show for us as we passed, but as I held my camera at the ready, I secretly wished for a little more drama.
After eating some big salmon steaks, we cut, wrapped and froze the rest of our fish. The afternoon was well upon us as we drove to Tofino, stopping at several scenic places along the serpentine, 40KM route. Rain had begun before we were finished eating, but our spirits wer high. Once done looking around Tofino and area, we headed back to #12, Reef Point Cottages for a late supper of more fresh salmon. Mmmmm!
This morning found us packing up our tent & stuff before ambling along the beach, picking the occasional shell and taking in the unspoiled scene. The tide was way out and there was much to see. Finally, we climbed back into our car an headed out.
South on Highway 19 and then west on the #4, took us toward our ultimate destination. Along Hwy 4, we stopped in Port Alberni, where we looked up an old friend, Rickie Joe. He and his wife were out, but we said a quick “Hello” to their live-aboard boat before heading back to the open road. Oh, did I say, “open”?
The narrow pavement snaked its way up and down several mountain passes. At higher elevations, rain misted down on our windshield and obscured our views. The murky mist painted the emerald rain forest with a mystical aura that seemed to hold us in the spell of anticipation as our car negotiated the innumerable curves. Cold and rugged, but hauntingly beautiful, the thick evergreen forest finally parted to reveal the quaint village of Ucluelet. We had arrived!
Once moved into our awesome, little cabin, #12, Reef Point Cottages, Diana and I drove out to see Amphitrite Point Lightstation. Mighty surf pounded the dark, jagged coastline, sending unnerving spray into the cool, intermittent drizzle of the evening. Wow!
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