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Published: February 20th 2010
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Day 10 - Sat 13th Feb
Another day of rain today, but determined to explore we set off for Cathedral Grove which is an area of rainforest where huge trees are growing. The highway has been built through the middle, so you have to walk through one side of the forest and then run across the road to see the other side. The trees here have quite shallow roots, so if there are strong winds then they fall over. There were some really strong winds back in the 90's, 1997 I think, and you can see lots of trees that have been uprooted. However, none of these are removed as they provide a habitat for other creatures. Some have had sections removed so the footpath can get through, but it is interesting to see the huge trees on the ground and the huge roots that are left sticking up.
Along the highway we saw a sign for Little Qualicum Falls, so decided to stop there and have a walk around. We headed for the upper falls and had just taken a few photos and were heading up the track when we heard some growling noises. We both had hats
on and hoods up to protect from the rain and with the noise of the water fall next to us, we were unsure if we had definitely heard correctly, but when we both heard it again, we decided that we didn't fancy being lunch for a Cougar or a bear, or whatever it was that was hungry nearby and made a slow retreat back down the track to the car. It would have been interesting to see what the animal was (Jake is convinced it was a Cougar, which will eat small children and dogs if hungry) but not at risk of getting eaten ourselves.
So a little shaken, we drove around looking for some other falls we had seen signs for on the way to Cathedral Grove, but for some reason, on the way back the signs eluded us. Bored of the rain, we picked up some ice cream in the supermarket and chilled out at the apartment for the evening.
Day 11 - Sun 14th Feb
Valentines day and being budget conscious travellers, there were no romantic gestures here. No chocolates, no flowers and no cards, but we had something better, we had sunshine!!
And boy did it make a difference, everything looked beautiful.
We checked out of our hotel and were back on the road, this time across the middle of the island to the west coast and the town of Ucluelet. The drive was going to take 2-3hrs so we made a few stops along the way.
First stop was Englishman River Falls which we had tried to find yesterday. With the sun shining the view over the falls was great, so we got some good pics and luckily no growling this time! Next stop was a sandwich stop, and then shortly after we saw a couple of cars parked by the side of the road and people were scrambling across nearby rocks, so we pulled up to stretch our legs by doing the same. The water gushes down the mountain and over the rocks, so was a nice way to a have a break from driving. Unfortunately Amy slipped on a rock and ended up with a soggy foot in a rockpool and a bruised bum! Lucky she wasn't near the river otherwise she might have been washed away.
After many many more winding roads we finally made it
to our destination, Ucluelet. We were a little early for check in to our next accomodation, so picked up some groceries (Amy was hoping for some nice cake for Valentines, but it didn't materialise, so she settled for a big pack of oreos instead) and then we had a short walk on a very small stoney beach. We also discovered our first Canadian lighthouse which was set on a some rocks, so we sat and watched the waves crashing in. In winter season, lots of people come here to 'storm watch' and get crazy pictures of the ferocious waves. We could see the appeal as the waves were mesmerizing.
Our cottage for the next 3 nights was a studio cottage which seemed fairly new and was very nice, but laid out a bit badly, but the best thing was a dishwasher - what a luxury, we don't even have one of those at home! So we made full use of that. Also a jacuzzi bath which was great after doing some long walks and from driving on the bumpy roads.
As the sun had been shining, we hoped there would be a good sunset, so we headed back
down to the lighthouse and got some good sunset photos. We watched some more waves crashing around and then headed back to the cottage for dinner.
Day 12 - Mon Feb 15th
Today we decided to do the 2.6km loop walk on the Wild Pacific Trail, which went around the lighthouse we had visited yesterday. It wasn't sunny, but it wasn't raining, so that was good enough. There were plenty of good view points along the way, all with a bench to sit down and enjoy the scenery from, so we now have lots of pictures of rocks, waves and the sea!
We then did a further 2.5km walk along the coast and back the same way. There were plenty of rocks for Jake to scramble over and explore rocks pools, but after her slip the previous day, and from seeing the size and strength of the waves, Amy was a bit more wary.
Along all of the coast there are logs floating in the sea and huge piles of wood on the beaches and strewn on the rocks. We assume these have washed in from the logging rivers, as logging is a big business here. We cannot
understand however, why locals don't come down to the beaches and take the wood away to use as firewood.....
Having exhausted the walks in Ucluelet we drove over to neighbouring town Tofino, which is a bit bigger than Ucluelet with a large surfing population due to the beaches around the area. Food prices were a little cheaper here, so we stocked up again and then returned to the cottage. With time to kill before dinner, we ventured back down to watch more waves at the lighthouse, but when it started to drizzle and the wind started whipping up a storm, we headed inside to watch some of the Olympics and played a game of cards, our first of many on the road I'm sure. (Jake won this one, as usual, but Amy hopes she might win one game over the next few months!)
Day 13 - Tues Feb 16th
Shrove Tuesday today, so we had pancakes for breakfast! Today we explored the Pacific Rim Highway Park which stretches along the coast between Ucluelet and Tofino. It was another sunny day, still a bit chilly, but blue skies, so we walked along the many beaches, Long Beach, Incineration
Rock, Chesterman Beach and Wickaninnish Beach and were quite beached out by the end of the day! We also visited Radar Hill, the sight of an old radar installation during the Cold War, but there is nothing there now apart from a good view over the coast. We also did a couple of walks in the rain forest, which contrasted to the beach views, as the rain forest was shady, damp and cool. But they had built a small boardwalk through the trees, so as not to disturb the nature underneath, which felt a bit Indian Jones like. It was also only really wide enough for one person to walk along, so squeezing past people coming the other way was a bit tricky!
On our tv in the cottage there are two channels which show live webcam feeds. One of which was the lighthouse, but the other showed a river where we had seen seals playing in the water, so we hunted around the marina/harbour to find the site of the camera and saw the seals in the flesh chasing the fishing boats, looking for leftover fish bits.
The evening was spent watching more Olympics, this time Canada
v Norway at Ice Hockey and then Canada v Germany curling. Both good games!
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Mummy Websterj
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Love those names - Englishman River Falls (has one ever fallen in do you think) and Incineration Rock!!