Whale Watching and Beach Trips

The morning started with us being unable to see 100 feet in front of ourselves due to a thick fog! However as we got dressed and breakfasted we began to be able to see the boats in the harbour again. By the time we made it round to the rendezvous point for the trip we had clear blue skies.

The trip was very successful with us seeing Bald Eagles, Harbour Seals, Californian Sea Lions and a mother and calf Humpbacked Whale. We also visited the Broken Islands which have a fascinating history relating to the 1st Nations and their contact with European explorers. In addition we were the only people on the trip so had the undivided attention of the guide.

We have visited the two main beaches which are between Ucluelet and Tofino and are renowned for their surfing. Both were great and had the added benefit of having a vast number of logs washed up on the beach which were put to good use making shelters and "public art" installations. Eilidh enthusiastically added to this collection between playing Frisbee and covering us both in sand.

Tomorrow is an early start and longish drive to Victoria.

Hi! I loved the whale watching! It was amazing how big they were! It was extra special because we saw a mother and a calf together. The whales did mini dives but we never saw the Calf's tail, the boat driver said he had never seen the Calf's tail! From now on so I do not have to say the whales all the time I am going to name the calf Dave and the mother Leanne! Leanne weighed about forty thousand kilograms!!! she was about fourteen metres in length!!! Wow! Dave weighed about a quarter of that! The driver was called Nat. He said those two whales have been in the area for about ten days! The boat was also really good because we were the only ones on the tour.

When we were at the beach I made a shelter out of wood. It looked pretty pathetic compared to some of the big ones but good compared to some of the small ones! Just to confirm, if mum says that I woke her up by pouring sand on her back I didn't, she was awake when I poured sand on her back!!!

Today when I went to the beach I played Frisbee, It was really good fun! I went in the water today for a paddle but on my way back out i got soaked by a wave! I dried quickly though! Well I better go for now! Au Revoir xxxxx

The boat trip was exhilarating, thrilling, inspirational and just sheer fun. Making our way through the fog bank (it had cleared at the harbour but was still out on open sea) was kind of spooky but peaceful. We heard the sea lions before we saw them - sounding remarkably similar to old men hawking and coughing in the morning. The fog seemed to lift as we reached a small rocky island covered in sea lions. These were Stellar Sea Lions which stay there all year round. They were fascinating to watch and seemed much larger than I remember seeing them on wildlife programmes. We then went back out into the fog chasing a sighting of whales reported by another of the whale fleet. Nat stopped the Zodiac's engines and we all looked for signs of blow outs, bubbles, noise or glassy water. After about 5 minutes we saw them breaking through the water. Photographs and words are not really adequate when describing this experience. We followed them for around an hour and were soon joined by the other boats out whale watching. Eventually we left them for the Broken Islands. Eilidh particularly enjoyed the high speed bumpy parts as the boat planed and we surged over the waves.

In the afternoon we went to Wickaninnish Beach and I am sorry to say we all ended the day with lobster red faces as we had forgotten that boats and sun equal extra rays. Added to this it was a pleasant 20 degrees with a sea breeze so we did not put any cream on - having slavishly lathered it on when the temperature hit 30 degrees plus. Coming from Scotland and being experienced beach explorers you would think we would have remembered. I made up a potion of almond oil and lavender and we slapped that on last night. We were particularly scary by firelight as we toasted marshmallows as our faces were redder than the embers and glistened with the oil - we were the ones who were cooked. We have been following Mary's lead and using lavender oil as a cure all for mossie bites, sunburn and cuts. It does work, or is as effective as anything else...

Further to the comments above about Eilidh building stuff out of driftwood I should explain that these were great big lumps and logs of wood that had to be dragged or carried by two. There were no sand castles but there were driftwood sculptures and shelters that were unique and added a truly otherworld experience to the beach.

This morning it was back to factor 30 and hats. We spent a very pleasant few hours strolling and shopping in Tofino which is full of galleries, unusual craft shops and funky offerings. Once the cash was exhausted we headed for Long Beach and it really is long and endless. It also had its fair share of bleached driftwood structures that delineated individual space: no need for Germanic towels here when a strutting turret can make much more of statement.

Horseshoe Bay to Ucluelet

The drive from Nanaimo to Ucluelet was absolutely stunning. This place is magical and driving along the coast and then over the mountains and past the lakes speaks to my soul. I know that sounds a bit daft but it really is an emotional and visceral response but in a way that makes me feel deeply at peace. Every since we drove down the sea to sky highway from Whistler and down to Horseshoe Bay and over to Vancouver I have been having conversations with Dad in my head. I now know why after his trip to this area in the 70s he came back and announced he wanted to emigrate to the Vancouver/Vancouver Island area. The combination of water/boats/scenery/amenities/people and lifestyle are just so appealing. We have been trying to give ourselves a reality check by reiterating that this is a holiday and we could not do all this if we lived here etc. Anyway enough of my fanciful mutterings.

On the way to Ucluelet we stopped at a place called Coombs which is one of the strangest places ever. It was developed to attract tourists by creating western style/fanciful architecture with frankly weird and tasteless statuery, a mini golf course complete with a paddle steamer on land, a market with goats on the roof and a mix of crafters. We spent a couple of hours here wandering around and sampling the lychee sorbet, orange and liquorice ice cream and other flavours. We wandered into a First Nation gallery staffed by a Glaswegian who has lived in Canada since 66. The art was inspiring and her chat was good.

Our wild life count went up today as a Bald Eagle soared around us at breakfast, 3 Elk were wandering through Coombs and we saw a BEAR CUB at the side of the road. Awesome. Ucluelet Campsite is another sorted campsite and we look out onto the Harbour. We went into town for dinner and after some aimless wandering and misdirection found a restaurant called Driftwood that served excellent food complete with a drunken chef chatting to guests. We walked backed to the camp in time to see the sunset over the harbour. Early to bed tonight as we are going whale watching tomorrow morning.

As Sally has said above there is something about this place. Vancouver Island is as spectacular as all the rest of BC. I had a bizarre coincidence on the way here. There was a bit of a delay at Horse Shoe Bay for the ferry over to the Island so this allowed for a little browsing in the village.

As we were looking at some First Nation art work I heard a Glasgow accent which seemed vaguely familiar. Turned out it was one of my customers from the craft fair who had bought some pictures of Glasgow as a gift for his cousin who he was visiting on Vancouver Island!!!

Pleased to report that the gifts were very well received.

Coombs was very bizarre but was redeemed by the amazing food court, the Canadian take on the House of Bruar, and the First Nation Art gallery previously mentioned. In the established format of these posts I have some pictures below.

The drive to Ucluelet was fantastic. Occasional opportunities for RV rallying, many twists and turns with steep inclines but at least it was paved, as they say over here. All the way we were afforded views of snow capped mountains whilst the road followed rivers, lakes and gorges.

Ucluelet is in essence a fishing town. Commercial fishing, from what we can gather is as highly regulated and controlled as it is at home with boats having strict quotas and only so many days in which they are allowed to fish. There is however a large fleet of sport fishing vessels with charters starting at 1000 Canadian dollars a day.

We have booked on a whale and wildlife spotting safari for tomorrow. So far we are the only customers they have so fingers crossed it stays that way.

Farwell To Whistler, Hello Vancouver Island

Hi! Right now I'm sitting in a gazebo drinking some juice! Ahhh........ what a nice life! Pity its not sunny! ah well, what can you do?

For me yesterday was a very full on day. To start the day off dad and I went to do the HYDRO BRONC! Basically the Hydro Bronc is a big inflatable ball with a mesh in the middle going all the way round in a loop. Dad and I got harnessed into one each and were pushed onto the Fitzimmons creek! While we were in it we could do flips and do just about any mad thing we wanted!!! The ball also banged into lots of things!! At one point we came to a bridge with about thirty people watching, I did five flips in a row to show off!!! At one point there is a rapid where you just keep running and eventually you come free! It was so exhilarating and at the end we both got a mad adrenaline rush!! It was great fun and is the only place in the world right now where you can do that!!

Later after lunch mum and I went on a mini luge thing! It was good fun and felt really fast!!! then I went on one of the things where you are standing and get strapped in and turned upside down and all around!! After that I went on a bungee trampoline. I did two back flips but when I tried another I ended up stuck upside down!!! The guy got me the right way round though!!

Even later on we went and watched the finals and super finals of the slope style! The competitors were off their heads! The course was so hard and mad! The final jump was about 50foot!!! So many people fell off and hurt themselves, they were often the most daring!!! Today we arrived at Nanaimo!

I have just walked down to join Eilidh and Gordon in the wifi gazebo after finishing my book looking out over the ocean. Well it's almost an ocean as it is the Georgia Straits - the bit of water that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. It is much more chilled and laid back here. Whistler was full on fun and constant stimulation so an evening here looking over the water and roasting marshmallows is what we need. Eilidh could hardly move this morning as every muscle in her body ached after the Hydro Bronc. Another description of this contraption would be to get you to imagine a baby's brightly coloured teething ring - the ones with spaces for them to hold on to. Blow that up to about 8 foot and you have Hydro Bronc. The person strapped in does a pretty good impression of a hamster on a wheel although part of the fun is to immerse your head in glacier water as you run the rapids on the river. But it was AWESOME according to Eildih and Gordon.

We have been learning more of the lingo here. If you do something well, for instance hang upside down on the zip line it is a "good job". A particularly dangerous trick performed by these mountain bike riders is a"sick move". Follow that move up with a hands free trick and it is "sweet". To be honest some of it was terrifying and I felt, a kind of morbid fascination as these young riders, some only 16, approached the last jump and they were trying to top the guy with 33.2 points who had turned his bike backwards in the air when he launched himself off the slope. Luckily only 1 rider was stretchered off but at least 3 wiped out and smashed down on their run. Oh and apart from a helmet these guys didn't wear shin or elbow guards or body armour just their jeans hanging off their ass, a t shirt and scuffed sneakers. Eilidh was well impressed (you may have figured this out by reading her punctuation) and is considering taking this up as another of her extreme sport activities. I will not be watching if she does.

I have not much to add to the above about Whistler except some pics of the young nut jobs launching themselves down the Slope Style track and off the 50ft jump at the end. Apparently this was broadcast world wide on all the extreme sport channels and firmly establishes Whistler as the Nos. 1 mountain bike destination.

One of my other highlights was catching A Whole Lotta Led. These local musicians have the sound, if not the look, down to a tee. The most lookalike character was the bass player who with a lot of squinting and imagination resembled Jimmy Page! See pics below.

Our trip to Vancouver Island was fairly picturesque but spoiled by the large amount of roadworks as they upgrade the main route for the 2010 winter Olympics. Once we reached the Straits of Georgia the views were equal to anything we have seen so far. The ferry crossing over to the Island was very pleasant and gave us all the chance to chill and watch the large number of sailing and pleasure boats out for a Sunday sail.

The Campsite here is great but has reintroduced our Scottish blood to the local mosquitos...good job we have stocked up on lavender oil.