Apr 25, 2015 Vancouver Island

 April 25  Ucluelet and Tofino and an Orca

Woke to 41 outside but toasty inside since we ran the heater last night. Light rain. We decided to head to the west coast of the island today, to the towns of Ucluelet and Tofino which are about 25 miles apart.

 It was about a four hour drive through some gorgeous countryside which included towering virgin forests, snow capped mountains and many beautiful lakes.  Several of the mountains looked like they'd been sprinkled with sugar.

Frosted mountain tops

The sun began to peek through about half way there and by the time we reached the beach at Ucluelet (means safe harbor) it was near 70 and sunny!  Port Alberni which has a long channel to the ocean was the largest town en route, and there were few others.

Narrow, windy roads with 16 and 17% grades at some spots, Few pullouts, few photos.

First stop was the lighthouse at Amphitrite Point built in 1906, and part of the Wild Pacific Trail.  We walked part of the trail – just awesome scenery.  The blues really were this blue!

Drove through the little town of Ucluelet and noticed these residents. 

Many beautiful yards with cherry trees, etc. – I’m sure they know all the deer-resistant varieties!  Saw a couple of surf shops, as this is the place to surf in this part of the world.

Schooner Cove was our next stop, closer to Tofino.   Long wooden boardwalk with lots of stairs led to a wide sandy beach.  It was low tide so we could walk to a small island and explore some more tidal pools.

Similar creatures to what we have already seen, except for some pink and white anemones.  Quite a few star fish (sea stars) – a good sign according to a ranger we talked with later, since a disease nearly wiped them out last year all up and down the west coast.

Back to the Trek for lunch and then on to Chesterman Beach, a favorite of surfers and storm watchers.  There were 15-20 folks surfing, including several groups who were taking lessons.  Surf wasn’t very high, but I guess they take what they can get!

Sea kayaker as well

Several “Surf Canada” shirts and everyone was dressed in wet suits head to toe. Don’t know the water temp but I’d say VERY cold.

They call the speed bumps here “traffic calming”.

Next stop was the Kwisitis Visitor and Interpretive Center which is part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Several displays about the original native inhabitants. In 1774 the native population was 31,000 and 100 years later that number was 3500, due to interaction and disease from fur traders and others. Other displays of whale hunting, baleen, canoe making and the results of a fashion from ocean trash contest.

Ocean trash fashion

This part of the island wasn’t connected to the eastern shore till 1959.  It is becoming more and more popular but is still pretty and quaint, especially Ucluelet.

We drove back to Ucluelet to the Floathouse Patio and Grill, which floats in the harbor there. Recommended by someone we talked with.  They didn’t open for another half hour but were happy to serve us a beer and some yummy fish chowder.  A fisherman docked nearby with a 9-lb king salmon (they call them Spring Salmon or Chinook), a ling cod (similar to cod) and some rock fish. We then had some fish ‘n’ chips and chatted with a photographer from Alberta at the table next to us. 

We have decided with great hesitation and trepidation to do a Whale Watching trip tomorrow from the other coast, so we head part way back the road to Port Alberni and stop at the Walmart there.

April 26 Whale Watching

42 degrees and where did the sun go?  Foggy/misty with occasional big plopping raindrops.

Our Whale Watching trip is at 1:00 so we slowly make our way in that direction.  We stop at the port of Nanaimo and notice quite a few cars in the lot we’ve parked in.  Turns out we are just in time for dragon boat races!  Apparently rowing is a popular sport in the area and there are  7-8  local teams here to compete. 

It is cold and windy as they warm-up and get ready to race.  Teams seem quite a mix of men, women,  all ages.  We watch the first heat and then head back to the Trek for our own heat – some hot oatmeal, coffee and hot chocolate!

Another popular sport here at Nanaimo is Bathtub Races and there is a statue of the guy who started this – Frank James Ney – the “admiral of the fleet”.

We head down the road to Cowichan Bay and Ocean Ecoventures, where we meet our captain for the day, Simon.  He  reminds me of Seinfeld a bit with a sort of monotone and dry wit. 

There are 9 of us heading out today in an orange zodiac (big rubber boat).   First we all don lovely flotation suits which make me feel like an orange Pillsbury DoughBoy.

But they are warm and we are soon very grateful to be wearing them.  Note that I also am wearing 2 pair of pants, a t-shirt, sweater, jacket and raincoat  under the suit.  They give us gloves, hats and goggles as well.

Our excursion leaves from Cowichan Bay where these tugs were berthed.

More houseboats at Cowichan Bay Harbor

All the whale-watching businesses communicate and Simon says the only Orca he is hearing about today is a single male about an hour away, so we head that direction.  As we were being seated he asked if anyone had back or neck problems and four people claimed they did, so, long story short, Greg and I ended up in the very front of the boat.  I tentatively asked if that was going to be a bumpy ride, to which Simon said “Oh it shouldn’t be bad today.”  HA HA.  Obviously HE doesn’t sit up there!

Since we had a long way to go, we went at high speed and directly and it was very bumpy.  I fully understood the question about back and neck problems!  We  paused to watch some sea lions at one point and shortly afterwards found T103, a big transient Orca.

There are several pods of Orcas that stay in the general area all the time and these eat mainly fish.  Then there are transient Orcas which travel singly or in groups and eat mammals – seals and sea lions.  T103 is a transient who lost his mother a few years ago – all the Orcas are matriarchal.  We, along with two other boats, follow him for a while as he hunts.  Orcas are constantly on the move, even when sleeping.

We re-visit the sea lions at the lighthouse and learn  a bit about them and see a bald eagle nearby.  Simon is very informative when we are stopped, but then we begin to hightail it back.  Fortunately the wind has died down and the ride isn’t as rough this direction.  I asked Greg to say “no way” if I ask to do another boat tour!  The one we did in Kenai Fjords in Alaska was even colder because it was raining and we were outside.  I thought we would see some of the San Juan Islands on this trip and on a warm sunny day we would have.  Though it didn’t actually rain, it was very foggy and while we knew we were passing islands we didn’t see much detail.

We drive back up the road to Nanaimo and stop at a Boston Pizza for dinner.  We stay at our recent favorite – Walmart where they have good wi-fi , even in the remote parking lot!