May 23, 2016

May 23 Tofino

   

    This morning was cloudy, some wind and a temperature of 12 C.  After breakfast with Bob and Margot, we started our drive to Tofino in Bob’s new car. We had forgotten about the Victoria Day parade and discovered that we needed to detour from our planned route since part of Douglas Street was blocked.  After a few miscues we found the route to the TransCanada Highway and were in Port Alberni in about three hours.  We had switched drivers along the way.  The sky stayed cloudy for the drive.

    We parked the car and walked a few streets down to the harbour area.  The town was pretty quite on a holiday Monday.  We took some pictures of the harbour and read the different plaques.  We chose Swale Café for lunch.  It has been in business for 30 years.  The service was friendly and the food tasty and plentiful.

    We drove another two hours to Tofino along the twisting, turning, hilly Highway 4.  The posted speed limit of 80 km per hour was reached sometimes, but more likely 70 km per hour when the road was straighter.  The turns varied in steepness and degree of turn, with speeds ranging from 30 to 60 km per hour with a lot of “S” curves.

   We found our lodging a few kilometres south of Tofino on the same property as the Tofino Botanical Gardens. It is the Ecolodge Bed & Breakfast.  On the way to our room we were shown the common kitchen where we could label any food and use their fridge or cupboards. Across the hallway is the dining room and Common Room.  Our room door was opened with a key not a card like in most places now. It was bright, neat and clean, with a queen size bed, a large jug of fresh drinking water and glasses. There was a second door leading to a porch from which we could access the Botanical Garden near its Herbal Garden.  Down the hall was the men’s bathroom with two toilets, three sinks, a shower and a bathtub. Up the stairs near our room was the women’s bathroom with three toilets, three sinks and two showers.  Soap, shampoo and conditioner are supplied in the bathrooms as well as bath mats, the set of towels for each person is provided in the room. It reminded us of the bed & breakfast where we stayed in London in 1985.

   We left our overnight bag in the room and explored the Tofino Botanical Gardens. It covers 12 acres within a coastal temperate rainforest, one of the rarest types of ecosystems remaining on earth. It is run by a non-profit foundation. There are plants from different parts of the world in particular a garden with Japanese plants and one with Chilean plants.  There was a section with a Tsunami Memorial and sculptures in wood and metal created by artists including local artists.  We enjoyed the peaceful walk along stone and shredded wood paths as well as boardwalks with views of the water and the tidal mudflats for almost an hour. Then we walked the 30 minutes into Tofino along a sidewalk beside the highway.  We explored the town center with lots of marine stores, surfing lesson businesses and whale watching services as well as restaurants.  By 6 pm we started to look for a restaurant and stopped at Shelter.  There we started with a glass of Joie Riesling wine for me and Larry chose a flight of beer consisting of four 5 ounce glasses of Tofino Brewing Company beers.  For dinner we shared lightly battered and fried calamari with jalapeño peppers and red peppers.  The best calamari we have ever eaten!  We both ordered the surf bowl with either Salmon pieces or chicken pieces.  They placed on a bed of basmati rice and yogurt and then mixed with cooked snow peas, broccoli, baby bok choy, celery, carrot slices, then topped with bean sprouts, chopped green onion and shredded beets. Most of the ingredients of the restaurant are locally sourced and the vegetables have an enhanced taste.  It was an excellent meal.  We walked back to the Ecolodge and detoured by the Tofino Brewing Company’s bar to buy four bottles of Stout and Ale beer.

    We returned before sunset and updated the blog and read.

    Total distance walked 11.45 km.