Thursday, August 20, 2020

The misty west coast of Vancouver Island


We've spent the last few days in a cabin on South Chesterman Beach near Tofino. This has been in the planning stages for about a month since we were offered a home exchange for six days. 
















It was a great opportunity to take a little trip without leaving our Island home and to spend some time with our friends Paul and Wendy from Comox.

Like all trips, it's had its ups and downs.  We arrived after a long, hot and winding six-hour drive to gorgeous sunny weather and lovely accommodation right across the road from the beach access.



The next morning I took a low-tide sunrise beach walk. South Chesterman is really beautiful. This is a place where lots of people come to learn to surf. 






Our friends Paul and Wendy arrived the following day. We had time on Sunday to explore Tofino and get dinner ready for them.  Here they are with Harry on the beach that evening.




This was the Sunset Sunday night. Gorgeous!

The next day we explored Tofino and planned our week. Paul took a bike ride on the cycle path north to Tofino and we had coffee on a patio overlooking the Tofino Harbour. Things are somewhat different with Covid as the communities are being very strict with numbers, masks and protocols. Lots of restaurants and businesses are closed but there are still lots of visitors. This means lineups to get into coffee shops and stores.  Here's the Tofino harbour with its mountain backdrop.


And here's the view from the coffee shop (panorama).  You can see that the weather was changing.



Back to Chesterman we took advantage of the falling tide to walk around the headland to a hidden beach that's accessible only at low tide. It has sea caves and clefts in the rock that you can walk through.












On our way back Paul went swimming. He's able to do this only because he has a wetsuit. The water if freezing cold.  


Tomorrow I'll fill you in on our rainforest explorations and walks.