Tofino – Vancouver Island, British Columbia 2008

This trip started the moment I drove the car onto one of the BC ferry at Horseshoe Bay headed for Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Because the temperature was low, infect, too low to get onto the ferry’s sun deck. So I stayed in the ferry’s forward section (the restaurant that has ceiling to floor windows) to enjoy the view and at the same time having my breakfast. It was a beautiful scenic sail between Horseshoe bay (Vancouver mainland) and Departure Bay (Nanaimo, Vancouver Island). The total crossing time was 1 hour and 45 minutes. Upon arrival at Nanaimo, I headed north followed the instructions from my new GPS which guided me all the way to Tofino in the Pacific Coast.

It took me almost 4 hours to drive from Nanaimo to Tofino because I pulled over almost every 10 minutes to enjoy the view of nature and took pictures along the way. Once passed Alberni, the scenery was amazing. I seldom drive over 60 klm per hour. It is a “long and winding road” and narrow, but – beautiful!

Perhaps it is still early in the tour season, I managed to get the first room (room 201) that facing Tofino harbour at Tofino Motel. Man, the view was exactly how they advertised on their web page including the Bald Eagle perching on an old pine tree hundred yards away from the motel. I stayed six days at Tofino and joined a Black Bear Tour, Whale Watching Tour, and a 2 kilometers hike Hot Spring Tour with the company – Ocean Outfitter. The Hot Spring Tour started with a 1 hour of boat ride to Hot Spring Cove and followed by a 2 klm hike on the board walk. Our first boat hit a submerged log in one of the inlet and was disabled. Lying dead on water, the “Miss Chief” had to be rescued by another boat – “Miss Behavior”. Go figure! Hey, as long as it was still floating, it added to the adventure - an unscheduled program. The hot spring was still flowing when we finally arrived but I never took a dip. It was a windy day and it was too bloody cold to take off my wind jacket. I am not a Sea Lion I don’t have much “blubber”. Well, a little bit. So, no suntan lotion needed. I was supposed to fly back to Tofino Harbor on a float plane so I can take an aerial view of the area. But because of the boat incident, I missed the flight and had to sail back to the harbor with the rest of the group on Miss Behavior.

Absolute beauty, click here to see the few frames I have selected to show you. Hope you like it.