Postcard home (part 3)

On the road again....

This time leaving beautiful Quadra Island and heading south to the city of Victoria.

Day 10 to 14: Right in the heart of the city this time staying in a modern condo. We spent a couple of days just exploring the city, it was so easy to walk everywhere as Victoria is quite a compact. We walked down to the water front, via City Hall into China Town, passed the amazing Johnson Street Bridge (the blue bridge), through the market and along to the harbour passing the very grand Empress Hotel to the Parliament Building. We then visited the Royal BC Museum spending the whole afternoon in this fascinating museum. There are excellent First Nation exhibitions with a reconstruction of a pithouse, there are masks and totem poles and also displays telling the story of European and Asian settlers.

China Town

Johnson Street Bridge with water plane and water taxi in the foreground

Parliament Building during the day...

... and lit up at night

Empress Hotel

Another time we walked around the bay area to Fisherman's Wharf, here there are beautiful float homes as well as a commercial fishing boats and other tourist attractions. I just loved these quirky homes, with the beautiful soft colours.

Then a little bit of adventure, we travelled to Sooke for an afternoon of zipline treking with a company called Adrenaline Adventure Tours. It was great fun ('awesome') zipping down the hillside through the rainforest. There are 7 runs of varying length and height from the floor and a couple of suspension bridges, the longest run being about 1000 feet and 150 feet above the ground. After getting kitted out with our harness and hard hat, and having a training run on a short zipline we were driven along an old logging track to the start of the trek in a 4 wheel drive truck - I think this was the scariest part of the afternoon! Our guides Ryan and Alicia were very professional and we all felt very comfortable with them. One hooked us up and set us off at the top, and the other used a braking system at the bottom of each zipline so we didn't go crashing into the tree.  The views were amazing, from the highest point we could see the Olympic Mountains in America across the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Awesome day!

Day 14 to 19: We left Victoria and headed to Tofino on the Pacific coast. On the way we stopped for a lunch break at Cathedral Grove, a beautiful area of old growth trees in MacMillan Provincial Park. A network of short trails leads through hugh towering Douglas Firs, some of which are over 800 years old.

This is the largest measuring over  9 meters in circumference! 

Just love this 'old mans beard'

The drive through the Mountains was quite spectacular, passing massive lakes and travelling through miles of forests. The road at times quite narrow as we twisted through the mountains down to the coast. We spotted so many eagles and other birds of prey in the air during the journey, it was truly amazing. 

We stayed in Tofino and had a fantastic relaxing few days here by the sea. Originally a timber and fishing town, it must have been very isolated once as a gravel road was only put through in 1959, now it is a vacation destination as there are miles of sandy beaches with good surfing on the Pacific side and beautiful forested islands in Clayocuot Sound, with opportunities for sea kayaking, whale and bear watching and hot springs.

Sunset at MacKenzie beach on our first evening

Having fun

collecting little olive shells (Baetic Olive)

Bear watching - so exciting to see a black bear in the wild.
This one was on the shore feeding, we saw another along a road side eating berries!

As well as relaxing on the beach, we visited the beautiful Botanical Gardens at Tofino. Only 12 acres in size, but such a lovely place with gardens, coastline and rain forest linked by a network of paths and boardwalks. Around each turn there was something fascinating - beautiful sculptures, instillations, quirky wooden carvings, and small pocket gardens in clearings. The gardens are a non-profit charity which operate educational programmes and provide information about temperate rainforest conservation. 

Quirky wooden crocodile sculpture in the pond!

The best compost bin ever!

Looking out into Clayocuot Sound and the Tofino Mudflats Wildlife Management area

Gathering by Michael Dennis.
'These figures are created by selecting cedar trunks which by their twist and curve carry some implication of humanity'

It was really laid back for a botanical garden, with chickens wandering around pecking and taking dust baths. There was also the wonderful 'Darwins Cafe' with delicious home baked cakes and gorgeous salads - and our entry fee allowed us to go back again over the next few days! We loved it!

On our last day in this area we visited the town of Ucluelet further along the coast. Here we made a short circular walk, part of which was on the Wild Pacific Trail, to Amphitrite Lighthouse with views over Barclay Sound and the open Pacific Ocean. However, as we were walking a sea fret came in and our views were somewhat limited and it was quite eerie walking through the swirling mist. 

But all good things have to come to an end and the next day we were on the road again heading back to Vancouver for the last few days of our holiday.