Monday 10th April – the road to Tofino

The Baileys went for a 7am walk, I headed out slightly later.  There had been more heavy rain overnight but it was starting to clear up, giving me this amazing picture of clouds disappearing over the distant mountains:

View from Rathtrevor Beach

We moved off at 10am for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Tofino, stopping off for the odd stunning view:

We headed to Crystal Cove RV park which had been a recommendation from Lehn, our new Canadian friend.   

Our site at Crystal Cove next to an awesome tree.

We checked in before heading straight to Jamie’s Whale Watching just down the road, where the staff were refreshingly honest with us – they said we would be unlikely to see Orcas on their tour and we would be more likely to see them from Victoria…. where we were yesterday! Or from Vancouver.  The reason for this was that the Orcas are permanent populations and live in the more sheltered waters between the island and Vancouver.  Here, on the West coast, we would be more likely to see Gray whales.  As Simon and I had seen Gray whales and the Baileys were more interested in seeing Orcas, we signed up for the 730am boat trip tomorrow to find bears instead!  We had no idea that seeing bears from a boat was a possibility. 

Booking complete, we went to explore Tofino, however the heavy rain showers weren’t very motivational….. so, we went to Tofino brewery instead which had been suggested by Jamies’ whale place.  We each had a flight of 4 beers so we could pick a favourite.  We chose 4 takeaway bottles to take back to the campsite.   

There was more heavy rain as we set up but then it suddenly cleared and we headed to the beach to make the most of a break in the weather.  It was extremely beautiful.  We climbed on the rocks and saw anemones, star-fish, millions of mussels, along with bald eagles flying overhead. It was stunning, plus the campsite was a great recommendation with free firewood, DVDs and games.  Maybe the three nights we had booked on the island just wasn’t enough?!

Si and Stu braved it out amongst the waves a little further than us girls....

.... but I had to go and take a look at these big green Sea Anemones and mussels

.... and a bright orange starfish

Stu practising for the 'outdoor wear' male catalogue

Simon and I set up a fire and we had the first BBQ of the Bailey’s trip – we had salmon, steak and herb chicken with salad, coleslaw and potatoes.  It was a feast!  We listened to music until it got too cold so we went inside just before the next bought of rain to get an early night for bear time in the morning!

Jo and I snuck down to the beach again to see how it looked at sunset... we were a little late!