Last Days in Tofino

Our second attempt at the bear watching tour was more successful.  We hit up Breakers for some breakfast bagels to go and parked in the driveway of the tour operator trying to figure out where their door was.  After finally resolving to call the office, Captain Mike found us idling on the road side in front of his sign while on the phone with his wife.  We chose Browning Pass Charters as it was recommended by the Wick Inn (Relais & Châteaux wouldn't steer you wrong) -- but moreso because it's a mom and pop shop run by Captain Mike and his wife.  They take few people and their boat allows you to view from inside or outside -- important on this rainy day and to keep Owen warm on the ride in/out. Definitely the right choice given the other vessels we saw.

The bears come down to the shore to flip rocks and eat crab at low tide, so today's journey started at 8am. Enjoying our breakfast bagels we met the other guests, a middle aged Aussie who was in the US with her doctor husband at a conference then traveled to Vancouver to visit her mother's cousin and take the bus to Tofino from Victoria. The other guests were a family of 4; parents + daughters from Houston TX.  Captain Mike brewed up some warm bevies and off we went.

It didn't take long to spot some bald eagles.  We'd see many more on the tour including their massive nests.

Bald eagles keep watch from a barge.

The boat offered the various spaces we needed to keep Owen entertained or to provide the other guests a break.

Hanging out in the stern.

Hanging out on the second level.

Owen doing his own thing.

O Captain! My Captain.

It didn't take long before Captain Mike found us a bear along the shore.  The rocks were a unbelievably vibrant green.  We were surprised at how little interest the bear showed even with our boat engine idling quite loudly. And to think we were worried about Owen starting to cry (or make noises) when we spotted a bear.  This certainly was not an issue.

Momma bear enjoying the fruits of her labour.

We spent some time watching Momma bear before noticing that her cubs were staying put way up a tree -- absurdly high.  It's difficult to spot them in this picture but it's safe to say that the cubs were near the top of the middle tree.

Cubs somewhere up that tree.

We went to check out another location when we noticed that the cubs had come down from the tree and were now playing around near the shore. It was definitely entertaining watching the cubs fall over one another and also to see them try to play with Momma bear -- and she would literally swat them over.

Catching crabs didn't seem like a difficult task.  Without any effort the mother bear would flip over sizable rocks and within a few tries she would snatch a crab.

And at the end of it all  .. they returned to the forest.

After breakfast the family heads back into the forest.

Watching the bears was definitely a highlight of the trip.  The bow of the boat was 15-20' from the mother bear and she couldn't care less that we were around.

Working our way closer to the bears.

Too much excitement for Owen.

We moved on and saw a few other bears but without cubs.  Along the way we also spotted this island full of seals which didn't seem too impressed with our presence as they all abandoned ship for the water.

Another bald eagle was hanging our near her massive nest and apparently was drying her wings.

And when it finally cleared up, the scenery was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the metropolis of Tofino checking out the small shops.  Not much to note here.  Afterwards we hit up Shelter restaurant again to benefit from the clear sky on the patio.

Once back at the hotel I did some laundry at the hotel laundry room and Julie got Owen ready for bed.  Irene, our babysitter, was to arrive at 7 and we couldn't get dinner reservations until 830 at the Pointe Restaurant at the Wick Inn.  This was less than ideal but we went early and walked around Chesterman beach.  Once at the restaurant we were seated immediately.  The view from the restaurant was amazing as was the food. Definitely a recommendation for future visitors.

The next morning we set out for the ferry in Nanaimo.  Our plan was to catch the 12:50 ferry but we were making good time and decided to skip our planned stop in Port Alberni and make a mad dash to attempt to catch the 10:40 ferry.  After getting stuck behind some logging trucks and feeling quite certain we wouldn't make the ferry; we squeezed on as one of the last cars loaded on the ferry.  Already two hours ahead of the game on what would be a 13.5 hour travel day.

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.

Victoria Day in Victoria

Taking the ferry over to Victoria was both scenic and relaxing -- or as relaxing as it can be traveling with a 11 month old.  Owen had plenty of space within the seats to cruise around and enjoyed making all the ladies smile. Julie even set up a playground while I hid in the corner feeling sick as a dog.  As part of our breakfast credit at the Fairmont in Vancouver we bought some lunch sandwiches from Giovane and enjoyed those instead of the cafeteria looking food on the ferry.

Owen waves goodbye to Vancouver

Julie and Owen set up camp on the floor.

Arriving in Victoria there were highland games and marching bands everywhere celebrating Victoria day. We got checked in to the Fairmont Empress under a light drizzle. Without much of a plan we walked the main strip lined with tourist shops prominently selling Canadiana wares.

Owen's first up-close bear encounter

Owen and I also hungout with some buskers while Mommy frequented her favourite type of shop; souvenir.

Since the weather was sub-par along with our health we wandered over to Red Fish Blue Fish, essentially a permanent food truck on a dock, for some take-away.  The line up was manageable and the dock provided lots of walking room for Owen along with the dozen other kids running around that always catch Owen's attention.

Great view from the dock. Seafood poutine. Le menu.

Back at the hotel we took advantage of the break in the drizzling rain to snap a few pics of this historic grand hotel.

We packed it in for the night while I finished some work.  The next morning I snuck out for a wet run  (route) that wasn't overly enjoyable.  With almost no sleep and constantly hitting dead-ends I bailed without even hitting the 5k mark. Ah well.

After feeding Owen we loaded up to get an early run to Tofino to enjoy the scenic drive in daylight.  With a quick stop at Tim's for some breakfast and after dodging the parade we were on our way.

Final Days in Van

To round out our stay in Vancouver I snuck in a quick out and back through Gastown (route).  The route became a bit industrial and included razor wire across balconies.  Interesting. Also a few cruise lines were disembarking which made "tourist frogger" fun, especially since they all had rolling suitcases and were in small flocks.

Unsurprisingly we started our day with breakfast at Giovane -- which is included in our Amex FHR package.  Can't get enough free breakfast. We wanted to get in some shopping and check out some galleries but our declining health didn't let us get very far.  Prior to coming on the trip Owen got croup then it seems Julie developed some sort of cold around the first day in Vancouver and by the second or third day I was coughing up a storm and feeling generally crappy along with them.  On our brief outting we stopped at the Frey Willie shop.  Last year I bought Julie a ring while in Budapest from Frey Willie (an Austrian jeweler) and it was the wrong size.  Fortunately there is one Frey Willie shop in Canada so I shipped mine to Vancouver and they sent me a new size.  Anyway, the lady even remembered me/my situation.  I grabbed a pair of shoes and after some fun trying on goofy hats we headed over to Cardero's in Coal Harbour.

Owen chilling in the change room.

The food was great as were the views.  Afterwards we called it quits and headed back to the hotel for a slower paced afternoon in the room.

Good food.

Walking in Coal Harbour.

Before dinner I headed down for a massage and more importantly some serious steam room time.  It helped, but only temporarily. In the mean time our new babysitter, Christine, had shown up and Julie headed down to the lobby for some drinks.  The lobby lounge is very happening, even on Wednesday, and reminds me of a W where they really try to make it a scene.  Live music starts at 5 every day and ends at 1.  Pretty good.  Mike and Colleen met up with us and we had a few more drinks before heading over to Black and Blue for some steak.  We even got to finally use the hotel car service.

Black and Blue is a massive 3 story steakhouse.  The steak was great and pretty much put us to bed.  Literally I fell asleep on the couch before Julie rolled Owen's crib from the bedroom to the living room.  At which point Owen began to wake up and I was stuck on the couch waiting for him to fall back asleep.

The next morning I headed over to the cruise ship terminal across the street to pick up our rental car.  Fortunately more ships were unloading and it was easy to pretend I had just got off (a requirement to rent from this location).  Not sure what to expect for a 'full-sized SUV' I got a Jeep Liberty.  Not exactly as full sized as I hoped as we have heaps of gear.  On my way back I grabbed some breakfast from Giovane and brought it up to the room to enjoy on the balcony.  We weren't able to get Julie in for a full hour massage on short notice but she did manage to squeak in a 30 minute session while Owen and I packed -- aka I packed and Owen played -- Julie had already slaved over packing all of Owen's goodies.  With the car loaded like a trophy session of Tetris we were on our way to the ferry terminal to head off to Victoria.

Breakfast on the balcony

Overall, we had a good time in Vancouver.  Being sick took most of the life out of us but we still managed to see some parts of the city and enjoy some great food. 

The crazy shrubs that everyone seems to cover their house (big or small) with.