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Published: March 15th 2013
When:3rd-6th Aug 2012
Where: Long Beach unit of
Pacific Rim National Park, BC, Canada What: camping near Mackenzie beach, our first proper beaches in Canada, enjoying the Pacific again, watched some decent surfs, built sand castles and in the process became Vitamin D-rich, thanks to the scorching sun.
Friday, 3rd August We took the
7.45am ferry leaving Twassessen bay to Nanaimo . Ferries leaving from Horshoe bay(closer to Vancouver) were all filled up for the long weekend.
We left as early as 6am allowing enough time for the traffic. We not only made it on time but had just enough time to grab some quick breakfast. Most of the cafe's were closed. Only Starbucks and second cup were open that early.
No matter how many ever times we have done it in the past, driving a car into the ferry is always a thrilling experience.
S could not sleep past 6am when we left home. So by now she was ready to play in the Ferry. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and the Sun was just rising up the horizon.
G picked up some breakfast while we enjoyed the views outside.
Leaving G to enjoy his breakfast, we headed up to the
topmost deck. Deck 6. With the wind on our faces, we raced all around the ferry.
After a little while at the gift shop, S happily settled at the play area for the rest of the journey.
Before long, we had arrived at Nanaimo, Vancouver Island at 11.45am.
We picked up groceries at Save-on foods. I have found that they carry mostly BC grown foods? Their prices are decent even for organic foods. It was hot and we started the 4hr drive to Tofino/ Pacific Rim National Park. After what seemed like a long nap(for me &S) we were finally nearing Pacific Rim National Park.
We gathered information at the visitor center and headed towards Tofino and our campground just outside the park,
Bella Pacifica campground.
Among the 170 sites, we settled on 94. What I didn't realize was how close we were to the beach!!! Just a stone throw away
We could not resist and headed immediately. The first thing that hit me HARD, er soft… was the sand. It was like powder. I'd never been to any such beaches, not even in Hawaii. The water was clear and it was low tide. Not to mention S had a whale of
a time in the sand. In the water. Simply running around!!! What else do you expect us to do when we had not seen a beach in more than 2 years?
The weather was unbelievable. Sunny and hot. The water was cool at around 10C. Absolutely bearable for wading. But S just sat on the water, to G's dismay. 😊 It was bliss watching her for the next 3 hours. We took out our frisbees et other games after 2 years. Wow!!!Beaches are hugely under-rated.
Before she realized, S was shivering and had to be rushed to the ICU, aka warm shower.😊
She settle only after she hit G's sleeping bag. All was well though the night.
Sat, 4th Aug I woke up earlier to crows and waves. Couldn't wait to see the remnants of the high tide. So walked down to the beach. It was a very pleasant feeling to see the sunrise, the water, the rocks and the few people hunting for treasure brought ashore by the tide earlier that morning.
S refused to wake up until she absolutely had to, which is ok with us as until the last few months, she would be ready to
jump out all the time.
After buying a day pass, we headed to the rainforest trails. It was stunning to see so much old growth(some of the trees were 800 years old). It was humbling to see the ecosystem thrive and just realize how much they coexist for optimum survival.
If I could surpass S jumping and running all over, I could find so much stillness and this was jus the paved part of the forest.
Since the main interpretive visitor center at Wickenish bay closed by 4.30pm, we headed there. It was very informative and kept us busy for more than an hour.
S sat on a giant banana slug(plastic!!!) and rolled on. We went a little crazy later and ended up culminating the craziness by kayaking on the floor!!!
We head the the Shoreline Bog trail. This was a new forest to me and it was enlightening to say the least.
S wanted to head to the beach and G was adamant he wanted to go to Long Beach, the longest beach in Canada(16km long). So, Long beach, it was! S was at home and got busy with what she did the previous day and also head to
the water with me. She made a friend and they played together for a while. After 2.5hrs, S unwillingly came out of the beach. Thankfully, it was warmer today and she dried down completely.
It was later shower dinner and sleep this evening.
Sun, Aug 5th Continuing the tradition, I walked down to the beach after brushing. INspired by finding a sea star(aka star fish) close to the shore, I walked back to wake up S. We all headed to the beach again, this time, closer to the beach. It was low tide and G found more sea stars. Red, purple and orange. They all huddled together on the rocks in the same spot. WE had no clue why. WE found some rocks and I climbed up. Seeing me, S wanted to climb up too(I was a proud mother then, I should agree). THis made G climb up too.😊
Once up, the view was so different. And more beautiful. The crowded beach seemed far away. A new world seemed to exist out there in the waters. The kelp I have detested so many times, felt like a blessing. What a difference time and place change can do!!!
When
it seemed to G that we had gone far enough, he looked back I guess. 😊 and noticed the tide was closing in again.
It is a shame, I accept. Until this trip, I did not know that there were 2 high/low tides in a day. I knew of only one. 😱
All the climbing built up the appetite and we finished up brunch in record time.
It was later than usual, but the climbing experience made my day already.
But we head to Schooner's cove. It was highly recommended by the staff at the Kwisitti visitor center.
The weather gave us a break and we witnessed the most familiar pacific fog. The visibility was down to a few feet. THe rainforest hike to Schooner's cove was out-of-this-world, thanks to the fog. The icing on the cake was the beach actually. It is the best beach I have seen so far. It is the best scenery I have seen so far. But for the fog, there is nothing saying it wasn't a tropical location.
S got herself busy with building on the sand. Quite a bit of work had gone on it until the tide came in and washed
it away. She was shattered and cried so much. It took a long, made-up story by G to make it all the way back to the car.
We made S take her nap to make her ready for the longer hike ahead. Until then, we stocked up on some groceries at Ucluelet.
Once S was up, we headed to the end of town to the Parking lot for the Wild Pacific Trail.
The trail is in two. WE took the shorter lighthouse loop, still a 2.5km hike along the most ruggesd coast of the island.
Like most trails in the area, the forest opened up to the coast and lined all along the trail. It was cold, but the views kept us busy and focussed.
AS we expected, S did it. And then asked for her reward. A stop at the playground she saw earlier. We felt obliged to do so. Ended up playing ourselves. 😱
It was a foggy drive back to the campground. We skipped our showers and dug in to delicious pasta for dinner.
Monday, 6th Aug It was colder than usual and I skipped the routine to the beach. WE all got ready
quicker than we usually do, much to G's pleasant surprise.
WE headed to Tofino to grab our souvenir. And a grub stop too. We headed back to Nanaimo as we were all exhausted a little. S took her nap and when she woke up we surprised her by a visit to the park. We had enough time until we got to the ferry.
8:15pm ferry took us back to the mainland. A short drive brought us back to our one-more-month home.
Next camping trip in less than a month. Back to Calgary by then.
We are very pleased with what the Beautiful British Columbia has offered us until now. The Island is a huge hit too.
chao,
travelbuffs
Observations: 1. The obvious: The island is expensive.
2. Reservations for the ferries to vancouver island(Victoria and Nanaimo) fill up well in advance. It is smart to book it upto 1 month ahead.
3. Nanaimo, labelled the harbor city is beautifully constructed. Heights of my observation was the presence of recycling cabinets clipped to normal trash cans.
4. The island is beautiful.
5. A long and beautiful drive from Port Alberni to
the NP. Interesting that Port Alberni is the middle of the land, but has waterways too which makes is a port.
6. A cheaper(varied) option for anything(groceries, souvenirs) is available in Ucluelet. Tofino is just a base for the park and all water activities but has a co-op of its own. A small packet of potato chip costs $5!!! It helps to shop in Nanaimo. I love their Save-On stores. Mostly local or worst case BC grown with a lot of organic options too.
7. The bike way between Tofino and Ucluelet withing the park is worth a try. (some 25-30 km)
8. There is a lot to see in such a small park. So it is good to allow extra time.
9. There are not too many long/arduous trails within this part of the park. One of the world's top hiking trails resides in this park -
The West Coast trail but is not in the long beach area.
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geetha
non-member comment
Wonderful!
Dear M , G & little S, Lovely pictures! S seems to be having lots of fun ! Thats very good ! Keep travelling and keep updating ! Take care geetha