First Days in Tofino

After making a mad dash from our brief stay in Victoria we decided to press on as far as Owen would withstand. Initially aiming for Nanaimo we were able to make it to Port Alberni in the first leg.  Stopping for lunch and to load up on supplies we continued through to Ucluelet, where we spotted our first road side deer, before heading to Tofino.

Owen watching surfers from the balcony.

We got checked in to the Pacific Sands Resort, took a quick peak at the beach and surfers then decided to head in to town to scope out the scene and grab some dinner.  The tour around Tofino took about 3 minutes as expected.  The weather still wasn't ideal so we didn't get out to walk around.  I came across Shelter restaurant while reading an article, in addition to the recommendation from a past employee we ran into at Chill Winston in Vancouver, and figured that was as decent place to start.

Owen seeks shelter at Shelter

After a long night in Victoria and a solid 5+ hours on the road we hit the hay pretty early.  We opted to give Owen the bedroom while we slept out on the pull-out sofa while watching the waves all night.

Odd.

Really odd.

For day two we planned to go on a bear watching tour.  While we're generally anti-tour, for no good reason, watching bears from a boat didn't seem like something we could manage on our own.  Apparently neither was finding where the tour operator was located.  The lack of cell reception is a reminder of how reliant we are on having information at our fingertips.  As a Plan B we headed over to Breakers for some breakfast sandwiches.  This spot was recommended and was a sure hit for fancy breakfast bagels.  We'd return here every morning during our stay.

Since our initial plan was foiled we headed back to Ucluelet to hike the recommended Lighthouse Loop as part of the Wild Pacific Trail.  Weather was hit and miss with a drizzle always lingering.  The strong wind had us bundling up Owen and wishing we had brought some additional layers for ourselves.

Let's do it!

While the trail was near empty we did meet up with a Brit who was traveling alone and actually took a bus from Victoria to Tofino -- we'd later find this to be common when we chatted up a middle-aged Aussie.  On our drive back in to Ucluelet we saw the Brit walking down the road in a stronger rain and ended up giving him a lift back in to town.

Section of Lighthouse Loop trail

Without a plan we drove around to see some of the new development happening in Ucluelet.  There are some nice properties going up around the Black Rock Resort where we grabbed lunch on another recommendation.  The view was amazing and we would definitely consider staying at this property. On our way out of Ucluelet we spotted some more deer and decided to be city slickers and snap a tonne of pics.

What up Bambi?

Back in Tofino at our hotel the weather was finally breaking and we took the opportunity to get out on the beach.  This particular beach isn't really swimmable but watching the surfers is entertaining.

We tried to grab a babysitter from the hotel so that we could head out for dinner but they had a work function that evening. I quickly ran in to town and grabbed some pizza slices while Julie gave Owen a bath.

I love the bath!

I tried to go for a run on the beach and make my way over to the next beach.  After climbing some rocks and encountering a weird couple up in the middle of nowhere I inquired if the path continued.  She replied "there's a ravine or something".  So I took that as turn back and go away, which I did.  I bailed on the run as I had nowhere to go or at least nowhere I wanted to go.