TOFINO BC: It truly is a “RAIN FOREST”

October 29-Nov 1/14

When we arrived in Tofino on Wednesday afternoon, it was about 16 degrees and sunny so we were thrilled. Our campground supplied free firewood so almost as soon as we arrived at our site we had a campfire going. It was a beautiful evening and we really enjoyed the fire before and after dinner.

Thank goodness we did that because shortly after going to bed that night the rain began and it rained and rained…. and rained some more right through until Friday morning when it stopped briefly.

We had been forewarned of the weather forecast so had made up our minds that rain or shine we would be checking out the beaches and the town. So, off we went for a walk to Chesterman Beach on Thursday in the pouring rain. Chesterman Beach is 2.5 km long. We walked all the way down it and then back again. It was low tide fortunately so we were actually able to walk out to a private island that there would be no access to if the tide was high. Fortunately, we were well dressed in our rain gear so we kept dry the whole time. We need to get Jazz a raincoat (seriously) so that she can go on these walks with us. She would have loved it out there!

We found lots of large Bull Kelp on the shore as well as the usual shells. Even though the weather was miserable there were still quite a number of surfers and paddle boarders out in the water. They must have been chilled to the bone but it didn’t seem to be bothering them.

We walked for at least 2 ½ -3 hours and then returned home for a much needed hot shower. As it continued to pour rain it was an inside night watching a movie on DVD that we borrowed from the campground. They actually had quite a good selection of DVD’s to choose from – no doubt because rainy nights are the norm so what else is there to do!

Friday morning we awoke to still more rain but by about 10:30 am it began to clear up so the 3 of us quickly went out to “our” beach which was MacKenzie Beach and walked down and back. There were a lot of people and dogs out walking that morning. Everyone was so happy to see the sun shining!! But it didn’t last long unfortunately. When we got back to the RV and dropped Jazz off, we hopped on our bikes and headed into Tofino which was only 3 kms away and almost as soon as we arrived, down came the rain again. We wandered through town checking out the local shops and sights. Tofino is an outdoorsy town for surfers, whale and bear watching, kayaking etc

We had met a young couple back on Granville Island during the Brewery tour last Sunday and they had told us we MUST check out a restaurant called Shelter when we were in Tofino. So, that’s where we had our lunch. It was a really neat restaurant. It had a huge outdoor patio and the one side of the patio was heated by 2 large outdoor propane fireplaces and several outdoor heaters. So, we were able to have our lunch outdoors and were kept very warm and cozy the whole time. We were surprised when another customer actually brought his dog onto the patio and to his table to dine with him. The patio was not busy fortunately so it wasn’t a problem but I cannot imagine that many people would feel this was appropriate in a restaurant especially when the dog was actually sitting up on the seat of the booth they were dining in. Anyway, aside from that unusual incident, our lunch of fresh Seafood chowder was delicious and we would definitely recommend this restaurant.

By the time we returned to the RV, the rain had stopped again so we were able to have another camp fire. It was Halloween but sure didn’t feel like it where we were as there were no Trick of Treaters. We did however discover a BC tradition of setting off Fireworks after the Trick or Treating is finished. See the attached link for more details. Kind of interesting as BC is the only Province in Canada that does this.

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/10/firecrackers-became-vancouver-halloween-tradition/

Oh, and we had 3 beautiful big Blue Jays come join us while we were having our campfire. They came so close to us, they were obviously used to being fed by people. They were much larger than the Jays we have at home and such a beautiful blue colour (my favorite colour as many of you know)

We awoke this morning to a dry day and the sun came out as we headed away from Tofino on our way to Victoria – the capital of BC. We discovered another BC Halloween tradition as we drove. People had placed their Jack o Lanterns all along the highway, on bridges, curbs etc. We must have seen at least a couple of hundred pumpkins over a stretch of one hour.

It was a nice sunny drive all the way to Victoria. We stopped and had our lunch in Ladysmith which is just south of Nanaimo. It is a cute little town on Preedy Bay – lovely waterfront.

We are all settled into our campground right in Victoria for the next few days. We have hit the 3500 mile (5600 kms) mark on our odometer. Once we leave Victoria, we will be in the U.S. until late April so we will leave the Metric system behind.

I have to mention that as we came out to the RV after registering at our campground this afternoon, we met an elderly couple from Zurich, Ontario which is the village I grew up very close to and as it turns out, they knew my parents very well and my Sister Dianne actually taught their Son in elementary school. We had a very lengthy , interesting conversation with them and as they live here in the park for the winter months every year (for 15 years) I have no doubt we will see them at least a couple more times while we are here. They even knew Rob’s Family so we have lots to talk about.

Stay dry everyone and let’s keep our fingers crossed for sunny dry weather……