 06:57:04 And so we awake to our final morning in Tofino. Is it just me, or has the time here just passed by far too quickly? I am sad to be leaving so soon.  07:10:14 Perhaps it is still too early for a map orientation....? Today we drive back across Vancouver Island and then further South down to the city of Victoria.  07:10:14 Sigh. Let's not think about leaving yet. Let me just enjoy wandering Chesterman Beach in the quiet early morning.  07:13:31 This far down Chesterman Beach the waves become a little more wild as they negotiate the maze of off-shore rock formations. In this picture I tried to capture a kind of feeling of the wild sea. Some day we'll come out here in the winter when the seas are really stormy and the atmosphere is completely different. And then I will get some cool pictures of the wild, wild sea.  07:14:06 As you might have realised... I am still trying to get that perfect wave picture. I am a bit obsessed somehow.  07:20:14 Trying again to capture the wildness of the sea. This one isn't as good as that first photo, however.  07:20:31 Leave me alone! If I want to take wave pictures then just let me take them!  07:24:49 A wave explodes across the rocks. I love the way the water running off the rocks looks.  07:25:05 Actually, none of these additional Wild Sea pictures are as good as the first one.  07:28:04 Ok. What about some Reflections In The Wet Sand pictures?  07:30:54  07:30:58  07:35:08 How sad.... walking back to the Beach Break Lodge to pack up and get ready to leave.  07:36:56 One last look out toward Frank Island before we go back inside.  08:46:31 An hour later we're packed up and ready to get on the road. The clouds look amazing coming in from the ocean. It looks like there's going to be rain today, which is ironic since I was so concerned about whether we'd have good weather in Tofino and we've had perfect weather. And now, just when we're leaving, the rain clouds are rolling in from the ocean.  09:07:20 After dropping off the wetsuits at Live To Surf we stop in for a coffee to go at Tofititian, which is a funky coffee bar place in the little circle of businesses here just off the Pacific Rim highway. They have a cool logo, as you can see, and although I neglected to take a picture, they are also an Internet Café that (in true Tofino fashion, somehow) uses exclusively Mac computers. (In the background is the Surf Sister shop, which is where I got surfing lessons from yesterday, if you were paying attention.)  09:20:13 Driving out of town we stop briefly at Radar Hill to check out the view. As I mentioned last year, the view used to be much less obscured by trees when the platform went further out. For some reason a couple years ago they chopped half the platform off and now you can't really see anything anymore.  09:20:22 You can still see Myst Island from here, however, but just barely. Last year I took the trouble to put in a photo of the "real" Myst Island from the computer game so that you would understand why I nicknamed this island "Myst Island". This year I won't bother and thus avoid repeating myself, but for those of you who have not played the Myst and Riven games (at the very least those two) then you really should. It would increase your appreciation of life and nature.  10:10:43 Driving out of town the rain starts to fall a little bit. How lucky are we on the weather so far? I can't believe it!  10:49:58 I have mixed feelings about our departure from Tofino. I am sad to be leaving, but there are so many other things awaiting us that I am also excited to see those as well.  14:12:36 I'll spare you having to live vicariously through the lengthy drive from Tofino to Victoria and skip ahead to lunch at A&W where I not only get my first Mozza Burger of the trip, but also my first Root Beer float. (Mmmmmm. Root Beer....)  14:58:43 Now, here's a picture that we've tried to take for a couple of years now. Last year we got a picture of some trees and half a Taco Time sign, but this year we are more successful and addition to some trees we also get a picture of the thing we actually want a picture of.... the world's largest hockey stick. (See it on the building in the background?)  Thank you to Landon for giving me an Expo 86 book from which I can steal this photo of the world's largest hockey stick (AND PUCK!) in its original glory at the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver. After the fair ended the city of Duncan, British Columbia somehow acquired the stick and puck and stuck them up on their local community centre.  16:05:36 Maybe the hockey stick and puck was too much excitement for you? Well how about some more trees? Here we see TWO young trees growing out of the same older stump of a tree.  16:06:31 Ok, so now we've stopped to take a break at a park just outside of Victoria called Goldstream. In addition to kind of being a nice sort of little park, Goldstream is also one of the places where Salmon come to breed late in the year, swimming upstream, mating and then dying. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this last year, but in a few weeks these streams will be full of dead Salmon. At the moment, however, there's not much to see.  16:13:58 I don't really need to make any comments on this picture, I guess. Too bad there aren't signs in front of everything I take pictures of. Then I wouldn't have to ever say anything, except to make fun of things. Unless, of course, the signs themselves were making fun of things and then I wouldn't have to say anything at all. Pretty long comment for something that required no comment, huh?  17:42:56 Once again I'll spare you the pain of the long drive and we'll skip ahead to our next stop of the day.... China Beach. Now, I know what you're thinking.... why is it that if you're in Tofino and want to drive to somewhere like China Beach (for example) that you have to drive ALL THE WAY AROUND via Port Alberni, Nanaimo and the outskirts of Victoria? Why not drive straight down the West coast of Vancouver Island. A good question. The first reason why not, however, is that there's a big chunk of water in between called Barclay Sound (where we went Whale Watching and saw the Broken Islands). You might remember me mentioning that in the past couple of weeks that they spotted Humpback Whales all the way up in Port Alberni. On this map you can really see just how far inland that actually is. It's almost on the other side of the island, in fact. That said, we now come to the second reason which is that the roads aren't very good. It is, in fact, possible to drive from a town called Bamfield (not marked on the map, but located just across Barclay Sound from Ucluelet) all the way into Victoria, but the roads are really crap. So crap, in fact, that they don't even mark them on this map until Port Renfrew, from which point they are at least paved. Long story short.... even if there was a way to get across the water, the roads are still so bad that it's faster to go around on the faster roads. However.... if you had a fast boat, like one of those Whale Watching Zodiacs, you can actually go from Ucluelet to Sooke or Victoria in a few or more hours. Maybe next year we should rent a boat and go up the coast that way? What do you think?  17:42:56 Visiting China Beach requires a long walk down through the ancient rainforest. I love this point in the walk where you see and hear the ocean for the first time. It is a truly magical thing. It's amazing how the sound of the surf is absorbed by the forest until just the right moment when the trees thin out just enough so that the water and sand become visible far down below.  17:49:07 One way to keep amused on the beach is to build things. Here we see a rather ambitious construction project. It's like a little church or something, complete with pews.  17:50:16 Another view of the little driftwood church, with a driftwood bridge built across the little stream next to it.  17:52:28 Another popular beach construction project is dam-building. Here we see the remnants of a damming project set against a wonderful backdrop of land, sea and sky.  17:56:15 Although I should mention that that land over there is the evil United States.  18:05:01 I really like this picture somehow. I should have taken one of those low perspective photos of mine right down off the surface of the water in this little stream.  18:05:46 Hmmmmm. The sunset is a long way off. I might have to have a nap on the beach.  18:48:30 Forty minutes later... I tried, but I can't fall asleep. It must be the close proximity of the evil United States.  18:48:38 And the sun is still nowhere near being in sunset mode. I can remember coming to this beach and spending many many hours here. I guess I am just not that person anymore.  18:48:59 I can't decide if those mountains in the distance look breathtakingly beautiful or ominous and scary. It is the evil United States, after all. Probably the latter.  19:02:07 I think I said this last year, but I love how this huge wall of trees just rises right out of the ocean.  19:06:09 This beach is so distinctive in my memory because of this rock wall that rises out of it's North-Western end.  19:06:16 When I was a kid I would explore all the way down that wall when the tide was out.  19:12:21 Sunset being too far off the fatigue of the long driving day begins to set in and so we start to make our way back up to the parking lot once again.  19:19:20 Another good point would be that it might not be so fun walking up through these trees in the dark. It's quite dark in here already, and the sun is still nowhere near setting. The trees block out a lot of the light.  19:20:33 And it didn't look like it would be a really spectacular sunset anyway. Or am I just making excuses because I don't want to admit that I am a big loser who can't sit around on the beach for two hours to wait for the sunset?  19:46:45 Ha! Ok. So driving back to Victoria now we are able to stop and watch the sunset.  19:52:15  19:52:55  19:53:53  19:57:15  20:01:32 See? It wasn't THAT spectacular. Excuses or not, I am glad that I am not now groping my way through the trees up from China Beach and that I am, instead, already on my way to Victoria and a bed because I am pretty tired.  And so, at the end of what mostly a driving day we find ourselves in the city of Victoria. That's it. I can't think of anything else to say about today. I am really tired. See you tomorrow. Today's Travel Information Helm's Inn www.helmsinn.com 600 Douglas Street Victoria, BC, Canada V8V 2P8 1-800-665-4356 / (250) 385-5767 Double Rate = 127.50 The Helm's Inn is really cute hotel located in what is probably the best location in downtown Victoria. I've been staying here for as long as I can remember because it's such a reasonably priced little hotel and its location is absolutely perfect. They also have a special rate for "Friends of Dave" (the owner) which is basically that if you've stayed there in the past 5 years then you get 15% off. 
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