Authentic tasting, inexpensive taco try this bus, found at the back of the parking lot. The name eludes me but it's just before the Tofino Botanical gardens on the outskirts of town. If you're young, or young at heart, this is for you!
Further down the road, I stopped at Radar Hill. Apprently there used to be a "Cold War" radar installation there. It has a boardwalk, not strenous at all and the view is lovely.
I was that you can't visit Vancouver Island and not stop at Long Beach which starts at Schooner Cove and runs all the way down to Wickaninnish Beach. They don't call it long for nothing! So I headed south and since there were a number of entrances along the way, I decided to wait until a place called out to me to stop. Further along, I saw a number of cars in a parking lot and decided this must be that place. It was perfect. There were people but only a few and some of them were surfers. Hooray. Good photo ops to be sure. Well, words are wasted in trying to describe this place. Okay I'll try. Beautiful, spectacular, soul enhancing. Ah never mind. Take a look, come up with your own words.
Why do people insist on leaving Canada to see the world when our world is so specular?
It's not only what you see but it's what you hear, the sound of surf rushing the sand. Ah, this must be Zen!
Children being children. How nice to see.
Surfers are a persistent bunch. I didn't see one manage to get up and ride a wave.
But that didn't stop them from trying. I guess the trying is the journey, the wave is the destination.
And you know, they say it's about the journey!
This is the high point above Long Beach. A young couple insisted I should have my pic. taken. Ah, it's for prosterity, why not? I'm so much more comfortable behind the lens.
I walked the beach for a bit but after an hour, I hopped in the car and headed south. I thought I'd give Ucluelet a second look. I did get some great harbour shots when I was there for those few minutes, before Tofino. I checked into a motel on the way into town and met Brenda. When I told her what I was up to she said she had someone working for her that was a writer of "bodice rippers", that's the term for romance novels, the Harlequin type. I knew I had to meet her. I settled in and headed out to pick up some milk for tea but decided I was more in the mood for a decaf with Irish Cream. The gent in the liquor store thought it a little pecular that I came in for a just a shot but since you can buy that stuff by the shot, I thought why not. Heading back I decided to take a look around and found myself at the end of main street which ends at the harbour. I parked in the lot to my right, got out and made my way to the wharf where a fishing vessel was moored. I heard a noise, turned, looked up in the tree directly behind me to see a bald eagle land right next to its fledgling. I didn't have my camera, me who takes my camera everywhere, except the bathroom, didn't have a camera afterall I was just going out for a moment. I sighed deep and said to myself, "never mind, just stand here and enjoy it" which I did. Then I heard another eagle screech. I stepped to my left and looked up the street to see two other eagles soaring overhead. What luck! I eyed them until they were over the harbour and joined by yet another eagle. Honest, I'm not making this up. I know, without a picture it's just another story but it gets better. Two of the eagles flew towards one another, from either side of the harbour, locked claws, did three spirals downward toward the water, released then flew off in opposite directions. I swear, I'm not making this up. Though I could . They were gone as fast as they appeared. The mother and her fledging however were not. I decided to take a chance and head back to the hotel for my camera. I returned but the momma had gone.
Waiting for mom to return. The little fella or gal looked so forlorn up there. Where could she be?
I stuck around and hoped I'd see her return instead I was treated to another opportunity when some time around 7:30, two men walked passed me, one unlocked the door to the small building to my left and they walked in. Brenda, back at the motel, had told me about people collecting species from the harbour for an acquarium down in this area. By George, wasn't this the place she was talking about! The fellow invited me in and I accepted. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather (I love that expression if for no other reason then the shear nonsense of it). I was delighted to accept the invitation and after the 2nd gent left, Phillip talked to me about the collection and said I should come back 2moro and speak with Bob, "he's the real enthusiast". I couldn't imagine anyone more enthusiastic as he talked. The reason for the collection was twofold: ecology and education. The thought being if people knew about the creatures around them, they would be more conscious of their impact on the earth and step up to the cause of saving the environment which, in the end, is our environment. So in essence were saving ourselves.
Phillip holding the many specimens on site for public viewing.
All creatures, great and small and colourfull
Fish, like people, can appear to have a bad attitude.
Imagine a world without these beautiful creatures!
There's a website to visit and once I find it, I'll put it on my blog for you to check out.
I returned to the motel after that, knowing it couldn't get much better. I poured the shot of irish cream into the decaf instant coffee I carry with me. Ah, lovely! I switched off the lights around 10:30 and just like that, it was 5:30 a.m. My internal clock is right on time.
After a shower, I dressed and drove back to the same spot I visited the night before. Of course, the fledging wasn't there and, though it was overcast, it was still beautiful and quiet. I love early morning, so peaceful and ripe with possibilities. Well, if the gods of fortune weren't smiling down on me again today! I look towards the dock and there, on top of a ship's rigging was an eagle. It was like it was saying, "I felt bad I didn't stick around last night so I thought I come back today to see if you'd show up". OMG. She just sat there. She knew I was there but it's an eagle afterall. She didn't fear me, why would she. I managed two shots before she took off. "Thanks", I called after her. She turned around and tilted her body first to the left, then the right, just like they do with airplanes when they want to wave at the folks below. Okay, I made that last part up but I swear that's the only part. Proof, you say! Here it is.
Am I not a lucky so and so? Apprently not, bald eagles are not an uncommon sight in Ucluelet, especially this time of year. Still I feel lucky to have been there at that moment.
Not sure what the black bird is but when I looked at it I thought cormorant. The portion with the gulls look like a painting to me. One day I'll have a place where many of the pictures I've taken over the years will be displayed. I'm learning to put things out there. They seem to manifest when you do that. We'll see!
I went back to my room to blog the endo of my stay in Tofino and quickly ran out of time. As I was leaving, it was pouring again. It rained a lot but I don't mention it because it doesn't affect my experience. I love the rain. The way, this time of year at least, it wakes everything up. Plus rain keeps lots of people indoors and I'm ok with that. As I was packing up I saw a woman outside and asked if she was the writer. Yes, she said and introduced herself. Naomi Horton writes bodice rippers, that's romance novels for the uninformed. I learned that only after joining a writer's group. So far, she's had 20 books published and for now, is taking a break from it. I hope one day to have written so much I need a break. What a great place that must be. She said there's money to be made with writing, though it's diminished over the years what with the Canadian dollar doing as well as it has. Apprently she was paid in U.S. dollars. We talked for several minutes but her need to get back to work and mine to get on the move necessitated the end of the conversation. I felt much inspired after our encounter.
I found a local restaurant and had breakfast then went for a walk in the rain. I came across the Wild Heather cafe and, seeing it was open (Ucluelet, unlike Tofino, is not open 24/7 and most places are closed on Sunday), I walked in. I was the only one there, except for the gal behind the counter. I ordered a chai tea latte (yeah, it's my favourite cafe beverage) and looked around a little. I spotted a board behind the cappuccino machine and spent the next 2.5 hours moving magnectic words around. I was litterally playing with words and what fun I had. Over the next few hours, other people strolled in but not for long so I had a long session of almost uninterupted play. It was great. I learned that the gal behind the counter, Ashley, had recently finished her novel so I was intrigued. She too was intrigued by my story. She had a publisher but couldn't find an agent. Now she had to deal with the contract negotiations herself - a challenge but she was learning a lot. She's an intelligent young woman and I'm confident she'll get it published, sooner than later. Good luck Ashley. Again, I'm running into people who are on a similar journey. I never cease to be amazed. I was told if I see nothing else before I leave, I should check out the Black Rock resort. I was given some good directions but as I've learned on this trip, I'm lousy at following directions. I barped the horn (that's what we do in Nfld. although it's been a while since I heard someone say that). Anyway I barped the horn and this guy driving by in a truck stopped and I told him I was looking for the Black Rock resort. He told me to follow him and when he stopped, he said just keep going right, you can't miss it. That's what he thinks. Well, my mouth dropped when I saw it for the first time. What a work of art. I walked in at 3:30 and was told the restaurant was closed and setting up for dinner but I was welcome to go to the lounge and order an appetizer. I looked around at the black stone wall, the architecture and the artwork and fell in love. The cost is $200/night and that's the low end of things but I thought when I win the lottery, I'm gonig to throw a party here, fly everyone in and book the place for a week. Again, the landscape is so much like Nfld. The woman behind the desk said she knew Newfoundlanders who lived here for that exact reason. The architect is Ron Lea or Via Architect in Vancouver. He's been out only once since it was built. He wanted to see the sun rise (or sunset) from the fourth floor. I imagined he wanted to see if it met his imagination when it was merely a thought in his mind. So google the Black Rock resort in Ucluelet and see for yourself.
I was headed to Victoria when, on the spur of the moment, I found myself in Nanaimo at Departure Bay. I think I was starting to feel the financial pang of overspending and thought it was time to leave the island before I put out another few hundred dollars. It was 7:30 when I arrived and the next ferry was slated to leave at 9. It was a cold and stormy night, to use a cliche, wet, wet and wet. The wind had picked up as well. I found myself sitting there thinking about wicked weather trips across Conception Bay when I ferried from Bell Island to Portgul Cove before I left Newfoundland all those years ago. I remember one particular trip so scary that I insisted on someone, I think my brother, telling me every gorry detail of the Chain Saw Masachre so I could take my mind off the extreme sway of the ship. It didn't help, not when fast food containers were flying off the tables and everything that wasn't bolted down flew from one side of the lounge to the other. So with these images in my head I thought, perhaps I'll just pull out of the line up and come back 2moro. They'll have to honour my ticket. I fought with myself to stay in line and eventually, 40 minutes late, we boarded the vessel. That it was 40 minutes past due did nothing but enhance my apprehension. When I walked up one floor to the seating area, I said to a crew member, looking all relaxed, "I suppose it's going to be a rock and roll show out there tonight". I hoped he didn't hear the nervousness in my voice or see the mild panic welling in my eyes.
"Nah, should be a good crossing," he said matter of factly. "Liar," I thought to myself and found a seat. Perhaps if I got lost in the latest book I'm reading "The Bishop's Man" by Linden MacIntyre, I would not notice the motion. I started to read and it must be 20 minutes later I noticed we were on the move. I waited but nothing. How could it look and sound so stormy on shore, yet I barely deteched movement on the ocean? I looked out the window, down the side of the ship and saw water against the ship but that was the only indication we were sailing. I returned to my book and before you knew it, we were there. When I drove off the ship, the wind was whipped up and the rain was coming down, heavy. At first I was comforted by the knowledge I wasn't alone, but soon I wished I was as many cars hockeyed for 1st place. I got through Vancouver without incident then lost my way and found myself heading to the U.S. border. I didn't get scared, I got angry and then in front of me was the new toll bridge I had taken coming and going from Fort Langley. I could find my way. I got to Maple Ridge but without a place to stay as I hadn't phoned Amy to let her know I'd be there. So I did something I've wanted to do and probably should have done on the island, I slept in the car. It was 1a.m., the rain, heavy and pounding down was like a lullaby and I was soon asleep. I had intended on going back into Vancouver but when I woke at 5:30 (again that internal clock), the next thing I knew I was heading east for Revelstoke. I had run out of time and knew another days' delay on the coast meant I would miss appointments I had back east in Alberta, so off I went. I showed up in Revelstoke and was greeted by Jean with a hug that suggested she hadn't seen me in years. So here I am updating my blog after finishing up two servings of home made soup. Yummy.
Allison Lake Summit, shot through the windshield. Too snowiy to step outside for a pic.. I drove over two summits, both of which were in the throes of winter and made it here safe and sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment