Trip to Tofino via Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Ucluelet

We did another marathon drive yesterday - about 640km - from here to Tofino and back. Tofino is surrounded by old-growth forests, white sand beaches and ocean. It is the heart of Clayoquot Sound and was designated BC's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Once we got onto the Trans-Canada Highway we had a lovely drive. BC is certainly very beautiful. You are never far from forests, creeks, rivers, lakes, mountains and, particularly in Vancouver Island, the coast with islands scattered all over. People who love the outdoor life, adventure sports, fishing etc. would be in paradise. I'm sure Fearghal, once he finds his feet (or flippers!) will love it here. Hey Fearghal, see you 23rd or 24th - you'll just be about a week in Vancouver then.

The early part of the drive brought us around Malahat in Cowichan - Chemainus Valleys of the Sun. There were several viewpoints so my attempts at taking photos through trees could be deleted and the photographer-driver gave me another lesson - I was too busy enjoying the scenery to pay much attention!

This viewing point had its own totem pole.

The weather was fantastic as it has been for a week so we can forgive the rain that we had the first week. It was really interesting to look across at the part of the island where we are based and to see Brentwood Bay (The Butchart Gardens are near there) and areas that we have already visited.

We bypassed Duncan (totems) and Chemainus (murals) as we had already visited them and went on to Ladysmith and Nanaimo. then we headed west with views of Mount Arrowsmith and beautiful reflections on Lake Cameron.

 Coming into Port Alberni we could see snow clad mountains - amazing on a hot day like this.

The views of Kennedy Lake were wonderful and we had also passed Sproat Lake but could only catch a glimpse of its beauty through the trees.

Couldn't resist this one!

Ucluelet is obviously a place for fishing, whale and wildlife watching, scuba-diving, kayaking etc. etc.

Ucluelet

A view from the Marine Drive around Ucluelet.

We crossed the 49th parallel somewhere between Ucluelet and Tofino - so the road sign said anyway. I didn't feel any different! This area is a Tsunami Hazard Zone with evacuation sites and evacuation routes.  Jim wanted to send you all a big wave but the signs were sited in places too dangerous to stop.

Seemingly Tofino is very busy in summer with its hotels full to bursting - the prices of accommodation suggested that they have no problem filling rooms and no need to reduce prices. It was very quiet when we were there - around lunch time - but there were lots of cars.

This is the view from where we had our picnic.

As I said there were lots of cars, so many that we had difficulty getting a parking place.

This parking place was available but Jim wasn't keen!

On our way home we decided to go for a walk on Long Beach which looked really nice. However, this area is in the Pacific Rim National Park and so we needed a pass. Each pass cost around 10 dollars each  and we were reluctant to pay 20 dollars for at the most 45 minutes but we had no real desire to discover our car (Ted's car!) towed away. While we were standing at the machine debating the possibility of only buying one pass, a handsome surfer came over and gave us his as he was just about to leave having been there since morning!

Long Beach with a view of incinerator rock on the left. It's a very popular beach with surfers and with people generally. The  beach was perfectly flat and lovely to walk on as the sand was nice and firm. Outside, on the road, the notices warned that there was a high risk of big waves flooding the place

                                                                            

We also stopped off at MacMillan Provincial Park to do a bit of tree hugging. I think I was a bit ambitious in my choice of tree. Jim likes his tall and slim!!

 Cathedral Grove in Macmillan Provincial Park is one of the most accessible stands of giant Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island. Some of them are more than 800 years old and are massive in height and breadth.

Jim tells me he took this photo to give a sense of scale!

This notice tells you about the big fallen tree on which Jim's model was walking.

 We got home late - luckily there are takeaways here so we sampled the Thai one and were satisfied! Today and tomorrow are going to be dedicated to preparations for the cruise which starts on Wednesday so there will be little news. We will of course be taking advantage of the sunny weather by getting out and about locally.