Pt 15. Port Alberni / Tofino, British Columbia

Anything north of Victoria is known as ‘up island’ and as the island is more than 280 miles long we soon discover there’s a whole lot of up. Our first dropping off point is Port Alberni where we call in on our friends David and Margo.

This is fabulous for a few reasons:

1.   Insider knowledge. David was born and raised in British Columbia and there’s nothing he doesn’t know about the province. He gives us some great tips on what to do and see. We spend the afternoon pottering about on the harbour front where learn a bit about the local logging industry then go for a lovely walk to the Stamp River Falls.

2.   Food. He used to work as a high-end chef in Ontario and treats us to a beast of a feast.

3.   Accommodation. We enjoy a night in big comfy bed.

But most importantly...

4. We get to spend quality time with a wonderful couple that we first met four months ago on the Galapagos Islands. Back then it was swimsuits and snorkels today it's winter woolies and whisky but the outcome is pretty much the same; lots of bonhomie and laughter.

No, I don’t know what Wend’s wearing either.

The next day we head to the west coast to set up camp in Tofino, a town once the sole domain of draft dodgers and hippies but now a magnet for surfers, hikers, bird watchers or anyone looking to be close to nature.

It’s absolutely gorgeous and Wend plays a blinder by reserving a pitch right on the beach. This region has a reputation for having lots of foggy damp weather – we’re on the edge of a rainforest after all – but with sunshine forecast for the next 3 days we take the tough decision not to go anywhere else until the end of the week.

It even has its own microbrewery.

And one of these.

Yes, this will do nicely.

On our last day here we drive to Ucluelet for a walk around the peninsula. It’s got a bit of the Cornwalls about it along here and a history of shipwrecks to prove it. After a couple of hundred years of unsuspecting vessels coming a cropper on the rocks they decided to build a lighthouse.

By some distance the ugliest lighthouse either of us has ever seen. 

Nice walk though. 

Apparently this plant is called 'skunk cabbage' and is used by bears as a laxative when they come out of hibernation.  So the next time someone asks you if the big fellas sh*t in the woods you can impress them by saying "yes, but only once they've been on the skunk". 

On our last night we're treated to a glorious sunset. Tofino is some place. We like it a lot.