Tofino - Having a 'whale' of a time and birthday fun!

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Vor Donikas Aufsatz werde ich schnell eine kurze Zusammenfassung schieben: Viel Fischgestank, aber tolle Tiere und Gegend. Die Minusgrade haben uns verlassen und Camping macht wieder Spass. Unser Zeltplatz ist nur einen Steinwurf vom Strand entfernt und wir befinden uns in einer nicht ganz ungefaehrlichen Zone, wie Ihr an den Bildern sehen koennt. Es ist aber kein Tsunami in Sicht, habe den ganzen ersten Abend am Strand nach ihm gesucht, ihn aber nicht gefunden.
Wir sind zum Walanschauen aufs Meer gefahren. Die Fahrt im Zodiakboot war super lustig, fetzig ... - einfach super. Dann haben wir auch 3 Wale gesehen, einen Buckelwal und 2 Grauwale. Wirklich beeindruckend. Doch auch die anderen Tiere, Seeloewen, Seeotter ... waren interessant. Als Lausitzer sieht man die ja nicht so oft und auch in London schwimmen sie nicht all zu oft herum.
Ansonsten war es wenig spektakulaer, Donika laesst sich zwar noch ueber etwas aus, das ich nicht erwaehnen moechte. Es ist nicht einfach, taeglich neue graue Haare zu entdecken.

After our day in Vancouver we headed out to Vancouver Island on a ferry. Stayed at a campsite right on a beach on the west coast of the island nr a small town called Tofino- overlooking the Pacific Ocean! Couldn't walk without pain for 2 days after pulling all sorts of muscles playing Rounders with the rest of the group on the sand! It was lots of fun though and highly recommended 😊

We went Whale Watching and are so pleased that we actually got to see some Grey whales! Christian caught sight of the tail of a Humpback as well but I missed it. We wearing these huge bright red survival suits which looked like boiler suits- felt like astronauts! Very attractive 😉 We rode out on a huge blow up rubber boat called a Zodiak-boat. It was cool when the boat sped up and the spray was in the air- really exhilarating. We saw Harbour seals, Sealions, whales and even a little Sea Otter came bobbing past 😊 wooooooooow!

On Friday, Christian's birthday, everyone in the group pretended they didn't know anything about it. He thought he was in the clear. Then we popped into the town to get him out of the way while the others set up a mini surprise birthday party back at the campsite! When we got back, the kitchen shelter was covered in balloons and streamers, we each had a party hat and in the middle of the table were three proud cheesecakes which had been secretly created the night before (on a picnic bench hiding behind some tents in the bushes/ he didn't notice a thing!). Lots of conspiracies! My task was to keep him out of the way so THANKS heaps to everyone who did all that for him - he was well chuffed. Christian himself was given pride of place with a throne made out of balloons, a tiara and a flower garland to wear..amongst other things. Ha ha. Later on, there was even more to come. The group had really gone to town! They had filled our tents with balloons too! I have a fabulous film of Christian throwing his body on them to try and pop them.

A birthday to remember. 😊

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