Back to the West CoastSep 17, 2010
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| Today we drove the rest of the way across Vancouver Island from Sproat Lake Provincial Park to the Pacific Ocean, along Highway 4 past Sproat Lake, past Kennedy Lake, and through Pacific Rim National Park to Tofino. The drive is spectacular, and especially on a nice sunny day, which it was. The road is paved, two-lane highway, a bit winding in spots, but pretty good, and as I said, spectacular. Tofino was crowded with tourists--most of them apparently German--even this late in the season, and the streets are lined with surf shops, outdoor clothing stores, adventure tourism companies (hot springs, bear watching and whale watching tours), bicycle rentals, and restaurants. Just one block off the main street and you’re looking at busy Tofino Harbour with lots of coves and inlets and islands. A sign points across the bay: “Meares Island”. The place is picturesque as hell and laden with enviro-political undertones. It’s not a place I would want to be in the height of the season, today was crowded enough, but it was lively and neat to be there. After a cup of coffee in town, we found Bella Pacific RV Park, just a couple of kilometers south of town, right on MacKenzie Beach; we quickly got set up and then hit the beach. Wide and flat, protected by a few islets, it’s not as spectaculr as Long Beach, but very west coast, stretching maybe a half a mile around a pretty bay. We walked all the way to one end, with Salsa dabbling in the surf and sniffing at the tidal pools. She was exhausted when we got back to our campsite and spent the rest of the day snoring. |
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