The view from a North Vancouver restaurant where we had a nice dinner.
A beautiful early spring evening.
Happy Friday; happy weekend. 🙂
Tag Archives: travel
If You Go to Tofino
As I recently posted, we went to Tofino, British Columbia a couple of weeks ago. We had wanted to visit for a long time. However, this particular visit was very short as we decided to go on the spur of the moment; our plan is to go back at some point because we loved it.
Here’s what we found out:
1. Bring rain gear – a raincoat, umbrella and rubber boots. We had rain and sun, but don’t stay inside because it’s raining – that would be a real shame.
2. Tofino is quite expensive, so going in the low season can make it more accessible. It was low season when we went, but the prices still felt somewhat high. We stayed at the Tofino Motel. It was very clean and comfortable and there was a nice view from our little deck. Accommodations range from the extremely expensive (the Wickanninish Inn) all the way to the eclectic (Wild Pods – geodesic domes right over the water on a dock).
3. It’s about a four hour drive from Nanaimo on eastern Vancouver Island northwest across the island to Tofino. You can leave from Horseshoe Bay near West Vancouver and take an hour-and-a-half ferry ride across Howe Sound to Nanaimo. The drive across the island is beautiful. There are many other alternatives such as flying over by floatplane, but exploring those would take another post.
4. Bring along a couple of pairs of comfortable walking shoes. Even if it’s sunny out, you may find yourself with wet feet, and you’re going to want to do lots of walking and exploring in this stunningly beautiful place. A second pair is a good thing.
5. We can recommend two restaurants: Shelter, and The Wolf in the Fog. They both have great seafood, excellent service and good wine and drinks lists. We went to Shelter twice.
6. Tofino has everything you might need: a good grocery store, pharmacy, and post office. There are lots of tourist shops and local tour operators.
7. If you can, go down the road to Ucluelet. It’s about 45 minutes south of Tofino. It’s also stunningly beautiful.
That’s it.
I you’re considering going, I hope you are able to make that happen. It is absolutely beautiful, and so calming and restful.
Tofino, British Columbia
We recently took a short trip to Tofino, British Columbia. It’s famous for its stunning beaches, surf, fabulous old-growth forests, and as a gateway to eco-travelling.
Many people also come to Tofino in the fall to see the storm waves crashing on the shore.
Tofino is on the Pacific Ocean, and the next stop is Japan. Those waves have plenty of time to work up a good head of steam before throwing themselves at the land.
The power of the waves pushed this giant log ashore; a surfer could be a very easy matter.
This beautiful location on the western edge of Vancouver Island is a total jewell.
Greetings from Victoria
Who says Canada is a cold country? A photo from my walk today around Victoria’s inner harbour.
And another from later this evening.
Greetings from beautifully sunny, spring-is-sprung Victoria. 🙂
A Picture (or Two)
I missed Wordless Wednesday but here’s a picture for Thursday …
of a sunny Okanagan day in July.
And another …
of the snowboarding venue for the Arctic Winter Games for 2018. We are starting to collect a lot of snow.
Greetings and happy November from the Northwest Territories. 🙂
Crossing the Mighty Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada and the second largest in North America.
It is so big that in places it looks like an ocean or huge lake. It even has a vanishing point.
Driving across the bridge that spans the Mackenzie going south from Yellowknife doesn’t capture that effect. However, this photo from July almost does. Not quite.
Aren’t these blues amazing?
Greetings from the fabulous lakes and waterways of the Northwest Territories.
Yellowknife
Yellowknife is pretty famous among tourists as a great place from which to see the Aurora Borealis.
But a sunset is also quite wonderful.
Yellowknife at night. A land of light within the dark.
Inuvik
For the past few days, I’ve been working in Inuvik, NWT, which is at 68° N latitude. It’s very much the home of the all-night sun.
I found these pretty cotton plants.
And purple fire flowers.
And the Mackenzie River, which is so wide that it looks like a lake.
Greetings from the summery far north.
A Drive through the Rockies
We recently left British Columbia to return to the Northwest Territories. We took a more northern route through the Rockies and past Jasper National Park.
Before entering Jasper, we came up to Mount Robson. It’s the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.
Although there was still some snow on the ground the temperature was two or three degrees C above zero.
We were in high mountain country, but Mount Robson was still quite a frozen surprise sitting in the early spring sun.
The driving conditions were great and although our drive was long, it was incredibly scenic. To the east of Mount Robson, we entered Jasper National Park.
After this range of mountains, we started the drive’s next leg through the northern prairies.
Have you had any interesting road trips lately?
Yup – It’s Spring
I’ve been taking a break from the northern -20° climes …
… and experiencing much warmer weather in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. 17°C to be exact.
This is the NK’Mip First Nation winery and resort just outside of Osoyoos. M and I didn’t stay there (or swim in the pool), but we did stop for a really fantastic lunch. Osoyoos is about 45 minutes’ drive – through stunning wine country – from our home.
The grape vines are still dozing, but they will soon be fully awake.
After buying some favourite wines, we moseyed back. This photo is of a reflection over Osoyoos Lake.
Here it is again, right side up.
Having a break from the continuing cold weather in the north has been wonderful. *Sigh* 🙂
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 