Tofino June 25-27

Tofino June 25-27

Pacific Sands Resort

After a very beautiful ferry ride from Vancouver to Nanaimo, we drove to Tofino (about 3 hours from the port in Nanaimo) passing towns such as Port Alberni and driving the winding Aberni Highway/Highway 1 north to Tofino.  Very picturesque scenery on our drive; beautiful tall trees, lakes, no development (and, we are told, surprisingly, no bear appearances).  The kids were great in the car.  Liam, like clockwork, fell asleep for bout 75% of the ride, while Christian may have slept for 40% of the ride since he was busy listening to the Mike and the Steamshovel story and Tiki Tiki Tembo story Mark downloaded for him.




















I think we arrived sometime around 4:30, checked in and surveyed the grounds.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but not the temperature you expect at the beach- - it was about 17C.  Quickly the clouds rolled in and the temperature must have dropped by a few degrees C.  The resort was fully booked, but it seemed like no one was there because it was so quiet and peaceful.  We walked around a bit outside and spotted a bald eagle.  Tofino is so beautiful, but I think one knock on it is that the weather could be very wild and cold.  The hotel staff told us that people visit the resort in December to storm watch as we hear the waves can crash on the beach very loudly and at great heights.  We actually saw Tsunami evacuation signs posted on the main roadway, which was a bit unsettling.  The signs looked pretty new, so I'm wondering if the city put those signs up in response to what happened a few years ago in Thailand.  Anyway, we had a nice dinner at a aptly named restaurant- - Shelter.  I felt a bit out of place wearing my hotel-borrowed honking bright yellow rain jacket dining with our two kiddies in a pretty nice restaurant.  Definitely the young hip Tofino crowd frequented the restaurant.  The food was good for such a small town.  Mark had wild salmon and I had a warm goat cheese salad.  A nice cozy spot on a cold, cloudy day.  After dinner, I stopped at the local Co-op (market), which looked like it has stood still in time, to get some food for breakfast and BBQ.

Rainy Day Fun & BBQing at Pacific Sands

As fate would have it, Thursday was a rainy, cloudy, cold day in Tofino.  I guess it was a bit of a mixed blessing as I wanted a day to relax after being on the go for 4 straight days.  Mark was deciding whether to go bear watching or whale watching with Christian while I stayed back with Liam so he could have his morning nap.  Mark ultimately decided on whale watching because the boat for the trip was larger and more stable than what have been used for the bear watching, and given the fact that you would be out on the Pacific Ocean for over 2 hours, he opted for the safer, more stable boat bet for Christian.  [Mark's insert]

When Christian and Mark returned from whale watching, we grilled sausages on the resort's grill in their fire pit area which was close to our unit.  Their fire pit was huge, but it also had the added benefit of heaters which were a life saver because it was CHILLLL-Y.  Christian and Liam enjoyed the fire pit area.  Liam was engrossed in walking up and down the little step between the entrance of the fire pit and the grassy area; both boys were also engrossed in stomping in the puddles that had collected in the fire pit area from the day's rain.  I guess the nice thing about being chilly and cloudy is that the bugs stayed away and it felt like camping even though we had our nice indoor accommodations.  Mark brought along the IPOD music system so we could enjoy some tunes.  We met a family from a town on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island called Duncan who shared marshmallows with Christian so that he could roast and taste his first roasted marshmallow.  He liked it, but I don't think he loved it- - maybe the black char taste turned him off.  I remember as kid NEVER liking roasted marshmallows but would continue to give them a shot because every kid seemed to be enjoying them so much.  Maybe the roasted marshmallow aversion is hereditary!  The kids napped with Mark as I went into town to look around.  I found a Tofino Christmas ornament to add to my collection of vacation ornaments so that we can remember each year our visit while putting up our tree.  For dinner we grilled steaks and had salad.  We met another family from North Vancouver (North Van as they say) who had two happa kids (i.e. half Asian/half Caucasian) Allie, age 5 and Lauren, age 7.  The kids loved playing with the girls.  Christian made sand castles with them and explored the greens a bit.

Sunny Day at Cox Bay Beach

Our last day in Tofino was a beautiful sunny day.  The temperature was about 18 C.  Amazing how the clouds and inclement weather we had the last two days blew out to sea overnight.  We spent the morning playing on the beach; I was trying to get Liam to take pictures, but he was not that interested in being a photo subject.  Maybe the sun was bugging him, or maybe he was a bit tired.  After Mark took some calls and did some work, we left Tofino in the afternoon and embarked on our drive to Victoria (a 5 hour drive from Tofino).