Tofino for Spring Break

We're tentatively planning to attend the Star Wars 5k, 10k and Half Marathon in January of next year so we decided we would stay closer to home this spring break. Everyone really enjoyed our trip to Tofino several years ago so we booked a cabin at the same place we stayed last time. Our trip always goes through Coombs which has the Goats on the Roof store. As far as I can remember I've never actually seen the goats on the roof but maybe they don't put them there in the winter because it's too muddy. We still had some good baked goods and Carter bought himself a 4x4 Rubik's cube.

We caught the first ferry in the morning because there was a spring time deal where all passengers were 50% off. Despite our dawdling at Goats on the Roof we were still much too early for our cabin to be ready so we took quick trip to Long Beach. This is a fairly famous surfing beach and when you are there you can see why. Constant wind and lot's of waves. We have a great picture of Wilson on this beach in the wind. It was a bit calmer today and Oliver has no hair right now so not the same effect.

Even after Long Beach we still had time to have lunch at a place across from our campsite called the Wildside Grill. It's nothing more than a dirt covered parking lot with a few small businesses but the food is great and it's surprisingly busy for the middle of the winter. It must be a pretty popular spot because the crows there appear to be experts at scavenging. They stay in the trees and the moment someone gets up from their seat to leave they fly to the table to see what's left over. We were pretty clean but I left them one fry as a tip for the entertainment.

On Friday we took a trip to a rainforest walk. It's two 1k hikes on either side of the highway though unfortunately the upper one was closed again. We had tried last time we were here and it was closed at that time as well. When we got into the lower hike you start to get a sense of why it closes often. The boardwalk seems to be getting pretty old and there are some very steep, very rickety stairs to climb. We recalled that the last time we were here both Carter and Wilson fell off. We managed to get out without any disasters though Oliver had to be carried through some of the steeper sections.

Our cabins were called Crystal Cove Cabins and they are on the end of Mackenzie beach. It's an enormous cove with a sandy beach that is several hundred feet deep at high tide. The weather was overcast for much of the time however on our last day it was sunny and there were some lovely sunsets. Carter and I did make an attempt at swimming however it's quite possibly the coldest water I've ever been in. We managed to wade up to our waists, dunk our heads and then run to the hot tubs. It isn't exactly roughing it camping.

On Saturday we took a drive to the beach beside Wickaninnish in called Chesterman's Beach. This is a great beach for tide pools as there is a bunch of rock outcroppings that are accessible during low tide. Callie had her usual fun of finding star fish and creatures that close up quickly when you touch them with your baby finger. Oliver had a great time as well because he could follow us almost anywhere.

We finished Saturday with a trip to the local fish hatchery. The weekend we were in Tofino was the Whale Festival and one of the events was a fish race. The hatchery was at the end of a long, narrow, winding road and parking wasn't easy so I was glad we got there early. We bought our four fish, had some hotdogs and pudding and got a lesson on the hatchery process. Callie even found an albino fish which apparently won't last too long in the wild. The winners were the top 10 fish and unfortunately none of our guys made it.

Our last day included a trip to the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet. There was supposed to be a marine biologist there to guide us in whale watching. As it turned out he may have just been a naturalist and I'm not sure he was much of an expert. His guidance included telling us where to look for the whales and pointing us to a sign that had explanations of the types of whales that visit during this time of year. I think I probably could have covered for him.

We managed to see a few whales blowing water but nothing that breached the surface. The more interesting part was seeing the eagle in it's nest. A local hiker told us he had come back the last five years to that spot. There must be eggs right now because he stayed there for the whole time we watched him without much movement.

Tofino was a fun trip. The weather was pretty good for this time of year and it was a relaxing stay. We might have to come during the summer some time.