What a Weekend!

Okay, I know I have said it before, but it can’t possibly get better than this! Friday morning we left Goldstream Provincial Park bound for Tofino. For those of you who have never had the chance to drive over the Malahat and to visit this amazing little town, add it to your bucket list today. The drive through old growth forest passed the little town of Chemainus known throughout the west for the amazing murals that have been painted on almost every flat surface was really beautiful. Shawn and I were filled with nostalgia as we again found a spot from our memories along the way and stopped at a lovely little rock outcropping alongside a mountain stream. Watching the kids dip their feet in the freezing cold water just like we had done as teenagers 19 years ago was a wonderful moment.

Arriving in Tofino, we were thrilled to find that the campground we had booked was not only as beautiful as we had expected, but that it was located directly on an ocean beach with extraordinary views. Friday night, we decided to hang out there while the children enjoyed the playground and were fortunate to meet a great family from Oak Ridges who joined us for our campfire. While sharing a lot of wine, we passed the evening chatting and even got to enjoy the hot tub that they rented with their cottage.

Saturday morning we headed into town and met our instructor from Pacific Surf School. Robbie was energetic, enthusiastic and infinitely patient as he explained the basics of surfing and took us through the steps of getting up on our boards. About 30 minutes later, decked out in 5mm wetsuits and booties and strapped to a 9 foot surfboard, we entered the 50 degree water. As expected, Riley was the superstar quickly mastering the technique and getting up on his feet as he caught big waves. Braedon, Shawn and I all had brief periods of great success making it to our feet and then crashing into the ocean. My biggest challenge was remembering to put out my front foot as I moved from paddling on my stomach to attempting to stand up on the board and I kept finding myself perched on my knees instead. Shawn’s biggest challenge was managing to get out far enough into the big waves without getting tossed around before he could get on the board. For all of us, the three hour lesson was incredibly fun and enormously exhausting. Simply walking through the incoming tide and jumping through the big waves in order to get out far enough to attempt to surf was draining, but trying something so new and challenging was wonderful. To top off an incredible day, the “Crab Lady” visited our campground late Saturday afternoon and Shawn and I purchased a Dungeness feast that we enjoyed while sitting at our picnic table. The children, who strangely don’t like crab (whose kids are they anyway?), dined later.

Sunday morning we awoke to drizzle, but didn’t care as we headed out to Ocean Outfitters to board our 36 foot whale watching boat. Since the swells on the ocean were high, we took the inside passage on the trip out to the hot springs and rather than whales were excited to see 2 bald eagles and 6-7 sea otters. After arriving at the island and completing the 2 km walk along the boardwalk, we arrived to the natural hot springs and enjoyed a long soak and a fabulous Father’s Day picnic that we brought with us. The springs themselves were gorgeous with tumbling waterfalls amongst the rock and temperatures around 101 degrees. After a three hour stopover, we re-boarded the boat and headed for open ocean where we were captivated by 3 California Gray Whales who surfaced two or three times quite near the boat and 1 juvenile Humpback who was curious enough to check us out before raising his tail and diving spectacularly right in front of us. To top off an incredible tour, we also saw two gigantic sea lion bulls sleeping on the rocks. It was a truly great day!

Tammy