Thursday - The Drive to Tofino

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It was beautiful weather this morning and the dogs gave us all a royal greeting before we took them down to the “office building” to wake the kids. After breakfast we went in search of blackberries which took us past the beaver pond and to a higher piece of ground. The blackberries were great (even the dogs ate some). Benjamin got his first taste of an electric fence on the way back when he moved out the way as the cows came down the path. We had one more session with the Alpacas before saying goodbye and heading off for Tofino. A couple of stops for food supplies in Naniamo and we were off for the 4 hour trip to the other side of the island.

We stopped for lunch at MacMillan Provincial Park and explored the giant Ceder and Pine trees. Joshua and Benjamin climbed under, over, and in these incredible old growth trees, some of which are over 500 years old.

We arrived at the Long Beach area about 4 pm and found our campground about half-way between the visitor centre and Tofino. We set up our tents quickly. I couldn't wait to see Benjamin and Joshua's reaction to the site of the ocean. The campground is heavily wooded and a trail leads down to the ocean such that it is obscured from you until you leave a sort of tunnel of darkness and are suddenly faced with the bright light and kilometer wide expanse of the beach. The entrance to the beach is littered with huge driftwood logs. The tide was way out and the kids rushed in kicking off their shoes. We has a great time exploring tidal pools with star fish and sea urchins. Later we headed to Tofino to pick up some supplies. I hadn't been to Tofino for 25 years ( I hitchhiked out as a 19 year old) so it was interesting to see all the resort development. After returning to the campground we got a roaring ceder fire going before making dinner.

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