More Holidays 2014

My next blog writing takes place on the train from Vancouver to Jasper, lol.

Wednesday

This morning I went and picked up our rental car. We didn’t get out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge like we had planned for yesterday, so that is where we went first. We’ve noticed a pattern in Vancouver weather – it tends to be cloudy and foggy in the morning, and clear up a bit as the day goes on. Which was fine for today J After we took some amazing shots at the bridge, we headed up the mountain a bit and visited Cleveland Dam, and the Salmon Hatchery. Then we headed up the coast.

The Sea to Sky gondola is a new attraction, this year I think. It’s up near Squamish, and Laney found out about it somewhere. It was cool – once we got up the mountain, we were above the clouds and did a bunch of walks in the sunlight with great scenery. Afterwards we did a quick walk around Squamish. Their waterfront was a bit dingy, but had cool mountain views. Then we headed back to Vancouver over the Lion’s Gate bridge and through Stanley Park J

Thursday

Today was a driving day. We left the hostel at like, 6:50am, in order to be sure we got to the ferry on time. We did. The ferry was huge, and we were parked at the front of the boat J It took an hour an a half to get to Nanaimo, and so we had breakfast on the ferry, and checked out the gift shop. The wifi was crap. Once in Nanaimo, we checked out the city a bit, hit up a grocery store and Dollarama, and headed north. We stopped at Goats on the Roof, Little Qualicum Falls and (yay) Cathedral Grove! This time I finally got to have a decent look around.

I was waiting for a cheaper grocery store, so of course it took forever to find one – until we came to Port Alberni and found the Walmart there. Then it was a very windy highway to Tofino, with a bunch of cars who seemed to think tailgating me was an effective way of getting me to go faster. Unfortunately for them, I tend to slow down and go just under the speed limit when that happens J But I was kind, and kept right in the overtaking sections. Finally we go to Tofino, and settled into the hostel.

Friday

Sleep in! Yay! Today we had our boat trip to the hot springs. We walked over to the dock, and signed in. Because it was slightly rainy we were upgraded to the enclosed boat for free. We saw a variety of wildlife –seals, sea lions, and a bunch of grey whales spouting and feeding and occasionally lifting their tails up. They didn’t get too close though. Then we came across a sea otter, and then headed more directly up to the hot springs. We had lunch in the shelter there – big solid wooden beams made for a very solid shelter. Nice and dry – but way to brag about your timber industry! And then was the solid half hour walk through the temperate rainforest as it drizzled constantly! WET.

There were a few people just leaving as we arrived, so we basically had the place to ourselves. Plus some new arrivals – a dog pack from the native village across the water swims over to the springs to beg for food from tourists. They were big cuties, but definitely had some wolf blood in them. Looked a bit like a sled team.

The tide was high, but going out, and the water was HOT! Until another wave washed in from the sea, and cooled it off every half minute or so. Parboiled seaweed was piled everywhere looking like giant spaghetti. The rain stopped for a while there, including most of our walk back. The boat ride back was less choppy than the way out, as we went through the sheltered waters closer to the coast. We saw some more sea otters, a bald eagle and a sea lion or two before getting back to Tofino.  Then a nice warm shower at the hostel J We tried to find a place selling grilled/baked salmon for dinner, but no luck, so we had some great pizza from Tony’s Pizza, and ice cream from the supermarket across the street.