Ucluelet and Tofino Weekend Away

Last weekend we had an absolutely fabulous weekend in Ucluelet and Tofino.  After a 3 hour drive on an extremely curvy highway (curviest I've seen in Canada with 18% grades and 30km per hour switchbacks) we arrived to our tiny little one room cabin on the waterfront in Ucluelet.  It was everything we had hoped for with a small bathroom, mini-kitchen, balcony and a place to launch our kayaks down below directly into the water.  It was raining so we just unpacked and settled in and relaxed with cocktails on the balcony.  Even in bad weather it was beautiful.  We instantly saw California sea lions swimming right out front and many fishing boats going by.   On Friday (hubby's birthday) we had a leisurely breakfast and waited for the weather to break - soon the rain stopped and the clouds lightened.  Our first adventure was to walk a 3 km portion of the the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet. There is a huge stretch of coastline with hiking right next to the ocean with many viewpoints and benches for resting and taking pictures.  We chose to do a 3km loop that included the lighthouse as Buddy can't go for much more than that due to his short little poodle legs.  It was gloriously beautiful, as these pictures show.

By Friday evening the clouds were gone and the sun was shining and we were blessed with lovely weather for the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday morning we drove to Tofino and visited one of the top 10 beaches in the world, Chesterman Beach.  This area is known for its wide sand beaches and amazing waves for surfing.  We enjoyed walking in the sand and watching those that were challenging the waves.  The bit below that looks like fog is water spray.

We managed to go kayaking twice, once on Friday and once on Saturday.   The original plan was to leave Buddy in the cabin in his kennel while we went kayaking.  He proceeded to bark and whine so loud I was afraid he was going to disturb others at the B&B(we definitely still need to work on a few things with him).  We got in the truck, drove to the one little pet store in Ucluelet and bought a dog life jacket and harness  to affix it to hubby's life jacket.  Anyone on Vancouver Island has seen people kayaking and paddle boarding with their pooches, why shouldn't we?  My biggest fear was that he would try and jump out.  Our first attempt we only went for 1/2 hr and stayed within 10 feet of the shore.  We still got to see a lot and Buddy got used to the whole idea.  On Saturday we took him on a 1.5 hour kayak and got to see a lot of wildlife including up close and personal with a lounging sea lion on the fishing cannery dock.  We also had one sea lion surface right behind hubby's kayak which made me nervous but they were just curious and Buddy didn't make a peep.  He also eventually laid down in hubby's lap and seems to really like the whole kayak thing as got excited when we pulled out the dog life jacket the second time.

Buddy's first kayaking adventure

California Sea Lion

Sea lion right in front of cabin

view from cabin

large starfish

The very short 2 second movie above was an accident, I was trying to take an underwater shot of this spider crab on a piece of seaweed.  I sure love my Canon Powershot D30 that hubby got me for my birthday last year - best underwater camera that I have tried and this one can actually be used for diving if I take that up.  I am still getting used to it though so hopefully these kind of shots will improve.

We had a lovely weekend but have been running ever since we got home getting ready to deliver a large contract and dealing with family issues.   My Mom had a medical episode on Monday and couldn't walk suffering from extreme vertigo.  I took her to the Dr who ordered a CT scan which I will take her to tomorrow.  Hopefully it is just an inner ear thing and not something more serious but the Dr does not want her to drive until it is sorted.  She is able to walk now that she got some medication and is more able bodied after a couple of days being immobilized.

We also have some friends from Alberta arriving for supper/an overnight visit later today so yesterday I cleaned the house from top to bottom.  It needed it badly and hadn't been cleaned that well since before we went to Spain - just no time to do so.  These friends coming forced my hand and I managed to clock 11,500 steps on my fitbit yesterday just from housework.  No, I don't want that to become a regular thing, much prefer fun walks by the ocean to increase my calorie burning.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!