Mini Road Trip

Oh look the tide is going out again!

There has not been much happening on the climbing front since I arrived in Canada, except a few trips to the local gym. It is still too wet. So with a couple of sunny days forecast I thought I would make the most of them and see some of the local sights. A mini road trip to Vancouver Island was planned. It was also a good opportunity to test out my car, as it has not been on a decent run yet and I wanted to see how good it was for sleeping in.

I got the ferry from Horseshoe Bay, which is about a 1.5 hrs sail to Nanaimo and then drove to Tofino and settled on a campsite on Mackenzie Beach as it had a perfect ocean view.

Over the couple of days I was there I visited Tofino and Ucluelet and stopped at various beaches and points of interest, but mostly I just watched the waves. As much as I do not like being in water I do love to watch the tides go in and out and in and out......

On my visit to Tofino I stopped in at a gallery of an artist named Henry Roy Vickers. I absolutely loved his work and stayed for quite a while just gazing at the prints. If I could have bought one I would have. The long boat style building in which the gallery was housed was pretty spectacular too.

A pleasant few days were had and I enjoyed fairly comfortable and cozy sleeps in my car. I impressed myself with my amazing curtain system that keeps out straying eyes.

Sunset

Words of the day

I like writing or making patterns on the beach, there is something about the fact that it will be washed away with the next tide that makes it interesting. Who will see it before it vanishes and what will they make of it? The above were my thoughts of the moment. I think this is how I see the world through my rose tinted spectacles! The picture below is of someone else's take on the day.

An anniversary maybe?

Lighthouse

Clouds on the water

More low cloud

Lots of Maple Syrup.

On the drive back I stopped in at a small town called Coombs for some lunch. One store in particular had lots of foods from all over the world including a British section where I found many things including Marks and Spencer soups, Tunnocks Teacakes and Snowballs, Thorntons chocolates, Branston pickle and Heinz beans. I did not buy any of these things but I did try their beef and salmon jerky, both were delicious.

The Bru

Here is a small selection from the vast range of hot sauces they had to offer.

All photos by Caroline Harvey