Tofino & Ucluelet, British Columbia: May 22 - 28, 2011

Where we gorged on the stunning beauty of BC's coast, encountered marine life in its natural playground, tasted the best fresh seafood Canada has to offer, dipped our toes into ancient hot springs while icy waves lapped our ankles, found sanctuary (and affordable luxury) at Pacific Sands Resort and hiked through thousand-year old forests. 

The gentle tug of surfer life found us on our second trip to Fishfull Thinking, the local seafood shop. Crab. Halibut. Spot prawns.

From the crab shop we walked along the main street, stopping at the consignment store, beneath circling eagles (they are everywhere here!) and found our way to a nearby hike called The Wild Pacific Trail. 

Fit men and women wandered the meager streets when we returned to 'town.'

They were wearing sweat pants, snug at the hip and loose down the legs. Surfers. Relaxed stride, sun-struck hair of lemons and salt. They smile. Old men, drunk, wander the meager streets too. They weave around us in sunglasses and smile.

"Keeping out of trouble?" they ask.

"Trying," we say, "Trying our best."

It's true.

And why? Because I'm thirty. I've come here to grow old, this week.

I'm vainly hoping the salt air will preserve some of my youthfulness before I say goodbye to that decadent decade I called my twenties. Roaring twenties, they were. And I want to be alone, here, with my husband. 

The trail was not long. It was nice. There was a lighthouse, a small beach, the familiar density of west coast rainforest. The familiar lull of ocean. I love the ocean.

Arriving from the spectacular Rocky Mountains, though, and having stayed many times on the nearby island of Saturna, it was not mind-blowing.

I sound snobbish and ungrateful, I know.

I do appreciate the beauty here. But I am not blown away.

Canada is a magically beautiful place.
It's hard to be blown away here.

Our first morning, we hot-tubbed at 9:00 am. It is a two person tub on our small back deck, overlooking water, trees and other resort guests.

Let me be more specific.

The hot tub overlooks a skinny arm of sea, of harbour-mouth, with barking and splashing seals and the fog-shrouded mountains a little further off - dense green towers of spruce, cedar and pine trees with Jurassic-like ferns beneath; a jungle. This is our backyard, at a small distance.

More closely, to the right, is our neighbour's hot tub and two small children standing in it, demanding a bath. Then suddenly, crossing our immediate line of vision, a mere two or three feet away, a pair drunken teenagers. This is not exactly a place for lovers. But ten years from now, fifteen years from now, maybe we will return with our dirty or drunken children. We'll ride the complimentary bikes and go to bed early. My husband will bring his work and I will take walks alone, spend hours reading and writing.

The one bedroom luxury suite at Water's Edge Resort is lovely. It boasts a full kitchen, where we've cooked our freshly caught crab (melted like butter in our mouths), spot prawns (we'd never heard of these before because the people of Vancouver Island, quite rightly, do not want to share something so exquisite and rare) and Oh-My-God that Halibut.

There is also a gas fireplace, which clinks and clanks in the night like a tin man. It is charming. I love that fireplace like a pet.

The windows are perfect; large so natural light fills the room and cleaned under the excellent service of this resort's staff. The entire condo is clean, white and comfortable. Impersonal, even. If you like that sort of thing.

A cushy, fireside sofa kept us awake until 3:00 am last night watching movies from the resort's vast collection. We've played poker every day at the dining table, looking out at eagles and seals.

The place grew on me, tugged me under to a place where silhouette mountains and salty tides are the norm.

Today we leave for Tofino, a 30 minute drive north. Beaches, whale watching, and more fresh seafood await. It is rainy.

Waters Edge Resort, one bedroom luxury suite, was $125 per night. It has full kitchen, light-filled dinning are over looking the water, fireplace, hot tub. Same suite minus hot tub would be $118 per night. Kayaks, DVDs and bikes are available to borrow free of charge.

We booked on Expedia.ca.

TOFINO!

We are happily ensconced at Pacific Sands Resort.

More than happily. Giddy. Relaxed. Deep, deep contentment.

I underestimated the effect of a good view. And a patio hot tub. The Ucluelet place had a hot tub too, but not like this.

The waves. No less than 20 surfers out catching them in Cox Bay. Mesmerizing. Salt water is lapping at the heart and soothing away the worry, the fight we had in the car, the outside world.

We are here. We are HERE.

Chef Derek, of Calgary, née Windsor Ontario, cooked maple salmon, corn on the cob, salad ... A barbecue in the hotel's "sand pits" where a wood fire glowed and a feast was consumed at picnic tables.

Forests of the densest, liveliest greens and red - the dried blood red of ancient cedars - adorn the rolling hills around us. It is a rainforest.

Small but mighty cliffs of black rock for the waves to shatter.

It feels like it is.

There are no seals barking. No drunken kids carousing.

Just waves.

Just hot tub bubbles. The flipped pages of a book.

Waves again. Waves.

This is spectacular. This is blown away.

Let me break it down for you.

The muskoka chairs on the balcony. They are shiny and of a soft wood that is perfect for reading, even at night when the waves hit their most haunting rhythm.

The Water's Edge Resort in Uclulet was very much like our apartment at home: clean, functional and safe. And it was fun. Like a speed boat.

Pacific Sands, in comparison, is like a yacht. It invites you to relax. Luxuriate.

It says, "Yes. Please enjoy another cocktail. I'm sorry the kitchen isn't too big, but you will find an enormous array of tea. And when it rains, which it will, I am sorry to tell you, please stay in that hot hot tub on the patio and watch the waves. They are mesmerizing. Please, you will be comfortable in that king sized bed by the fire, later, and when you wake up the ocean will still be there outside your window. I can even bring you breakfast if you like."

Yes, this yacht-resort speaks to me and I am all ears.

The balcony. In Ucluelet the balcony was really just a launch pad for the hot tub, no more than a step, big enough for two people for stand. Here, the balcony has these chairs, these sink-into chairs, and a small table big enough for an ashtray, bottle of wine and books. Maybe a chess board later. And a big, beautiful hot tub overlooking the beach. It is cool outside, but still perfect for sitting, reading, drinking, thinking. Preparing for a night by the fire. It feels more private than the other place did. Our own little sanctuary.

The rain has started again. It is spitting at these keys as I type.

Tomorrow we take a trip by Zodiak to Clayoquot Sound and the natural hot springs there.

One more soak in the jacuzzi before moving inside.

I want to live here!

Pacific Sands Resort was $200 per night, with king bed, full kitchen, fireplace, balcony overlooking beach and hot tub. That was a walk-in rate. The usual rate, I think, is more expensive. If you are not easing into your thirties during your stay, skip the hot tub. You'll find same suite, with fireplace and kitchen (bbq and fire pit available for all guests too) for $169 per night. Maybe cheaper on Expedia or off season. We were tempted by that. All the rooms we saw seem lovely. We can see the ocean from bed.

The Wickaninnish Inn also offered a beautiful room, with majestic views of swelling waves and rocky coastline for $220 a night. The room was lovely, and the front desk guy very sweet and helpful. But there was no kitchen or hot tub. And it is, after all, pretty damn expensive.

Things I want to remember about this trip:

1. Orcas. We saw four of them yesterday. A huge male, it's massive, razor-straight fin swimming directly toward our boat from behind. Ominous. Beautiful. Two or three smaller whales swimming so close to the shore (I will never go swimming off a small rocky shoreline here! Never!) Their white bellies showed in the rhythm of swimming - up, over, down into the water in one smooth motion, with water shooting out of their heads occasionally. So, so pretty. The bigger one even turned over, showing his white underside and smaller flippers. Killer whales. Enormous. I've always loved them.

2 . Islands. Traveling by Zodiak around the islands north of Tofino, into Clayquot Sound! Mountains! Dripping green forests, mossy and tall. Clouds reaching down with one finger to stroke the tree tops. Snow-capped mountains behind them. All appearing like cardboard backdrops, sliding one in front of the other as we sail through, impossibly beautiful. A lost world. Ancient cedars of old growth forest - trees over five hundred years old, some a thousand - too tall, too wide in circumference, too beautiful for words. The rocky base of each island is circled with a line of black rock. Because of this, or the naturally straight edge of the tree bottoms, the island appears to have a floating green top. Salt air. Island mountains. The Jurassic Park theme song plays in my head. Smaller clumps of rocks, with a few scraggly trees , are found between the islands.

They are covered in seals. Fat, tubular seals that are shocking to me in their size. Huge! Fat! Then sea otters; furry, friendly sea otters, swimming on their backs with their little feet kicked up, pointing at the sky like they haven't a care in the world.

3. Waves.

4. Trees. And other trees growing out of them. The soil is acidic and thin here, a strange condition for a place so lush. Two thirds of the trees in this ancient forest grow out of other trees.

5. Resistance. Nature flourishes in these adverse conditions, as do the people. Clear-cutting threatened Clayquot Sound a few years ago and prompted the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, until the G20 in Toronto. Now the area is mostly protected, much of it called a UN "biosphere."

Our tour guide, Alex of Remote Passages, says he doesn't really know what the term "BioSphere" means.

"They still log, still want to mine up here, still farm fish ... heli-logging is the new big thing. We can see some of where that's happening on the tour."

We also see an Atlantic Salmon fish farm, owned by Norwegians. And a few other tourist boats too, seeing what we see.

Alex moved to Tofino nine years ago but recently transplanted himself to Ucluelet, thirty minutes south, because the cost of living has became too high. It's mostly the water, he says, that is expensive and in short supply. Aija, the young woman who checked us in to Pacifc Sands, said water allotments are difficult for the resorts as well. They both note the irony, because this is the rainiest place in North America. Fresh water falls from the sky, for free, almost every day.

I forgot to mention how good the service has been at Pacific Sands. She mentioned it is a family-run business, and made us feel like part of the family immediately. We took a look at other resorts, before we decided, and nobody was as nice as the front desk girl Aija at this resort. (although the young man at The Wick Inn was also very sweet) I am going to nominate her for those tourism awards.

The Remote Passages hot spring tour was $110 per person and lasted almost 8 hours. We booked it as part of the seafood festival, which was a mistake. The tuna sandwich, bottled orange juice and cookie were not worth it. I was told it was the same price to get the 'feast' lunch as it was to take the tour. But that wasn't true. In the shoulder season, May and maybe June, guests receive a 10% discount on the trip. But it you take the lunch, you don't get the discount. So we paid $25 for that stupid lunch.

The tour itself was great. I suggest it. The hot springs are cool. Well, hot. But you know what I mean. Neat-o. Rad. They are super hot, at least fifty degrees celsius, but that steamy water mixes with ocean waves at their base. The scenery is great - especially having stayed in Ucluelet and now in cox bay, it was really cool to see more of the coast line in that way. It's a long tour, and although I had originally wanted to take a whale watching tour as well, I feel satisfied after yesterday's trip. It was freezing on the ride back and we were splashed with ocean water and it was really bumpy. That was perhaps my favourite part of it all - that bumpy, super-fast ride. Alex is a great driver, and knowledgable. Her gave us plenty of time to stop and look at sea life, and answered questions patiently and kindly. But it was still freezing, and I was happy the folks on shore had hot peppermint tea waiting for us.

Here is a gross generalization that has proven true in our meager experience:

** The food in Ucluelet is better, and cheaper, than in Tofino. **

We haven't been to Shelter Restaurant or Spotted Bear Bistro, or the Wick Inn restaurant. But here in Tofino we have participated in two of the 'BC Feast' festival events: Pacific Sands BBQ and the Hot Springs lunch. Both were disappointing in the food department.

However, both were really great experiences, and I would suggest doing your own BBQ at Pacific Sands, as we did last night, and packing your own seafood lunch for a trip to the hot springs.

In Ucluelet we bought fresh seafood at Fishfull Thinking and cooked it at home and it was incredible. And it was cheaper than the grocery store or fish-mart here in Tofino.

My ideal suggestion for you: Live in Tofino, Shop in Ucluelet ... Cook at home.

Here is what my husband is saying, as he stands by the window, looking at the ocean (which I can also see from my perch in our king sized bed):

"It's raining. Heavily. And the sea looks angry. They have a danger sign up for the waves. Are you hungry? I'll make us some brunch. You can just stay in bed with that new iPad of yours. "

This is already an excellent day. 

After brunch-lunch we are going for a hike.

Maybe at Long Beach, maybe somewhere inside Pacific Rim Park. We had planned to surf today. Well, he planned to surf and I planned to try it. But yesterday was so cold, and today it's really raining. So it doesn't seem as enticing as it did.

What we are reading on this vacation:

The Book Thief.
It made me cry.

From Russia with Love.
It reminded my husband of our travels
through Eastern Europe last fall. BOND, James.

In the Garden of Beasts. By Erik Larson.
It made me itch for Isherwood's short stories.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. My husband is loathe to put it down.

The Girl's Guide to Surfing.
(in the most uncommitted way one can possibly read)

Little Bee.
I don't love it. 

The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux.
It fills me with an overwhelming sense of doom and anxiety but I can't put it down. We've been reading it together, on the drive. My throat is parched from reading it out loud, but neither of us wants to stop! Creepy!

The tour guide we just got and really love : Tofino Guide by John Platenius.

4:00 pm, our last day

Just returned from hike in Pacific Rim National Park, a 15 - 20 minute drive from our hotel. We were aiming for South Beach and Nuu-chah-nulth Trails (4 km in total) , and Lismer Beach ( a favorite of the late Group of 7 painter Arthur Lismer) . However, all three areas were closed due to bears.

The weather has turned, to beautiful and sunny. Warm. Beach weather.

There are quite a few alternatives, should this happen to you. The bears, I mean. We chose to tour the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre, which is sort of a museum/art gallery/information centre and is really worth a trip on it's own. Then we stepped outside, onto the sprawling, sandy Wickaninnish Beach and strolled away from the bears, toward sand dunes to the West. It was a beautiful walk, and pretty quiet but for the waves. It was meditative.

I wish we had time to eat in that restaurant, on that beach. Wow the menu looked good. And affordable. I may have had to revoke my previous culinary comparison of Tofino-Ucluelet.

I know, I know. There are many great restaurants and fish fry stands in Tofino. See previous mention of 'gross exaggeration.'

According to our fabulous new guide book, if we HAD managed to get onto the trails we wanted, we would have seen "some of the biggest waves on the West Coast," which, "even on some fairly mild days ...create boomers that are at least a meter high."

South Beach trail is also the spot for a musical pebble beach. Tofino Guide describes waves receding with a "marvelous sound ... a jingly whooshing noise - you really have to hear it to understand."

So we missed out on that.

My husband has gone up to Tin Wis Beach to meet with someone related to his thesis work on sustainable First Nations housing. I would have loved to go, but it's so interesting that I would probably violate his confidentiality.

So I stayed here at the hotel; to have a cocktail, write these words, and read by the waves.

When he gets back we're going to try another hike recommended by the book: Schooner Cove. It is even on the top ten list of things to do in Tofino.

Schooner Cove, according to the book, is a fairly easy 2 km hike (each way) through old growth forest (where one feels the temperature drop as the light is blocked by ever bigger trees), past Salmonberry bushes and onto Long Beach. The trail leads north, past a First Nations reserve and up to headlands where impressive waves, sun-seeking sea lions and whales may be spotted at a distance. That's where we'll go in about an hour or so.

Or maybe we'll just stay where we are, in this little paradise called Pacific Sands. Salmon and shrimp are on tonight's menu. I am thinking BBQ.

SATURDAY

Our last night in Tofino included drinks and appy's at Shelter Restaurant with new friends Eli and Rebecca. Conversation flowed nicely. We had local beer - Hops Cretin IPA - and good BC wine (Mission Hill Pinot Noir) and perfectly fresh seafood.

There was a guest chef, participating in the BC Feast festival, who offered a $49 three course menu designed around side-stripe prawns. Although it is 'spot prawn' week in this festival, it seems pretty hard to find spot prawns. Glad we had them in Ucluelet. Yum.

We wanted to cook a main course at home, so at the restaurant, between the four of us, we shared: calamari (perfect, perfect), oysters (west coast oysters are not my favourite but these were alright), mussels (in a delicious, lightly creamed broth with sweet peppers and chorizo, very nice), yam frites and regular fries.

I've never eaten nor enjoyed so much seafood in my life.

Eli and Rebecca are really interesting, bright young people with compelling perspectives on the island. Eli as a local, with expertise in watershed management and economic development, who is currently serving as tribal administrator for ----. He helps manage the relationships and partnerships between his nation, municipal government, federal government and local industry. He knows the community, the politics and the eco-systems.

Rebecca is a post-doc fellow at UBC, specializing in Marine Biology. She currently spends most of her time under water, counting kelp, for a SSHRC - funded research project on the impact of sea otter re-introduction on coastal communities.

Many good stories and insights. Much wine and beer. Another reason to be sad as we leave.

We made a ferry reservation by phone, which was quick and easy and cost about $17. The trip for two of us, with a small car, is $76 one way. Our ferry is leaving Departure Bay in Nanaimo (oh! I wish we had time to go into Nanaimo to the Modern Cafe! Seriously the best chowder I've ever had! Ever! Except maybe on Nantucket Island) and heading to Horseshoe Bay, in West Vancouver. We packed a home-made lunch, which was smart, and snacks. The ferry left at 12:50and is scheduled to arrive at 2:30.

I'm looking forward to seeing my parents and brother.

Here's a slideshow of some of our pics from this vacation:

Sunday: Post Script

We left Vancouver around 7:00 pm and stopped at midnight.

Kamloops. Dream Lodge Motel. It is not that nice. We have an eight hour drive ahead of us, and the iPod has been stacked accordingly. I shall make a list of my favourite podcasts, so far.

It is Sunday morning at 9:48 am. I have to work tomorrow, so I am also going to buy the paper and read through it, and the magazine stacked in my bag, sometime during the drive.

Hopefully I'll have some ideas for the story meeting tomorrow morning. I usually do.