Vancouver Island

For spring break we took a slightly different kind of vacation. Rather than sunning in Mexico we chose to stay close to home and visit Tofino and Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Tofino is on the west side of Vancouver Island, and it is a few hours drive from Nanaimo. The drive took us through Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park. This is a stand of old growth trees right along the highway to Port Alberni. You can see Matthew here with one of the smaller trees.

We stayed at the Long Beach Lodge in Tofino. It reminds me of the Wickaninnish Inn but (slightly) cheaper.

The most obvious thing to do in Tofino in March is to go whale watching (some outside the hotel thought it was to go surfing, but we don't count the insane). Thousands of grey whales, migrating north, pass Tofino each spring. Unfortunately, the weather was rough and our boat did not go out into exposed water long enough to see any whales. We did see other wildlife on our trip though, including this Sea Otter.

Right in Tofino's harbour is a small Island that is home to a pair of bald eagles. The eagles are cool and all, but it was a very expensive way to not see whales.

Between Ucluelet and Tofino is the Pacific Rim National Park. We took a walk down the beach, and boy was it long. Technically, I think this photo was taken at Combers Beach, but it is connected to Long Beach so I guess that makes it "Longer Beach".

There are a lot of walks and trails in the park but one of our favourites is the bog. A boardwalk has been built over the sphagnum that would otherwise be difficult to navigate given that the moss can be over a metre deep. They call it the broccoli forest since the trees growth is stunted due to the poor soil conditions. Some of the trees are over 300 years old but only a few metres high.

Our second day in Tofino was our last and meant to be spent travelling to Victoria. On our way out of town we called the whale watching tour company from the previous day to see if, A. they were seeing whales, and B. they would give us some sort of discount on a second trip. They were and they did so we stayed. This time we were able to go out into open water which was a mixed blessing. The water was still quite rough and the 10 other people on the boat didn't handle it well. Jocelyn and Matthew handled it very well, and it is tough with 10 other people barfing around you. Due to the poor boater conditions, as soon as we caught our first glimpse of a whale, our boat headed back to port.

On the way back in we passed these sea lions trying to figure out what everyone on our boat had for lunch.

In Victoria we stayed at Abigail's Hotel, a short walk from the inner harbour. There was some confusion on check-in but it was quickly sorted out. It is quite nice and includes an excellent breakfast. In Victoria we did Victoria type things. Matthew was excited about the Victoria Bug Zoo so when we passed by we couldn't pass it by. It was actually pretty neat. The guided tour made it worth the admission as well as being educational, otherwise it would have just been a room full of insects. As the tours work their way around the room they teach facts about each insect and bring some out for display. Above is Matthew with a Praying Mantis.

This is Matthew with a millipede at the Bug Zoo. Notice how Jocelyn isn't in any of these photos? She did go into the Bug Zoo but wouldn't go anywhere near the actual arthropods.

We also visited the Pacific Undersea Gardens and the Royal BC Museum. The Undersea Gardens is on what looks like a barge in the inner harbour. It is an underwater aquarium of local marine life. It is one of those aquariums where you really wonder who is on display. Unlike the Vancouver Aquarium, the Undersea Gardens has an octopus everyone can see. The Royal BC Museum is less boring than I thought it would be. It is quite well done and kept Matthew's and my attention long enough for us to stay until closing. I think we were there longer than anywhere else that day.

Here is the BC Legislature building across the inner harbour behind Matthew and Jocelyn. We didn't have much interest in the legislature or the building, but it is well lit. We had only the one day in Victoria and left for the ferry back home the next morning.