Canada Trip Part 2 (Vancouver Island)

Hey friends, this is part two of my trip to the west coast of Canada. You can find the first part here.

This is one of the songs that became the soundtrack of our trip. Just click play and keep scrolling 😉

… So, let’s talk Tofino. There is no way not to fall in love with this little town at the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island. The town itself is very cute – a hippie, surfer kinda town with little stores, cafes and restaurants. And on top of that, the nature here is breathtaking! You have big sandy beaches and beautiful rainforests all around you. On arrival we were super happy about our B&B, which was probably the most amazing one out of all. It was super cozy, with a fireplace and the water in front of the doorstep. Just sitting outside in the evening was enough to be one happy girl!

 

 

I loved spending time at the beaches. We visited Long Beach, Chesterman’s Beach and the Schooner Cove. The last one you can only reach after hiking a trail through the rainforest. A long wooden board walk leads you there.

 

 

 

 

We also did some fun activities while staying in Tofino. We went for a really fun kayaking tour around the islands in the area. It was the first time I did this and it was awesome! It felt like a real adventure with so much wilderness around. Our tour guide was very knowledgable and so we were able to see and learn about some plant- and animal species of the area too.

Tofino also has a great Yoga studio. The loft is bright and the wooden beams and little lights make the atmosphere very warm and cozy – as you can see in the picture. One morning we got up early to do a Yoga class right at the beach. Awesomeness! To me it was probably the nicest place ever to do yoga at, as we were surrounded by playing dogs, rising sunlight and the sound of water and seagulls. Another day we joined a morning meditation in the studio, which was great too. A nice way to let all the experiences of the last days sink in.

 

One other things that was loads of fun was a hot spring tour. To get to the hot springs, we took a Zodiac boat for a one hour trip and then we had to walk along yet another beautiful board walk through the forest. This time we were accompanies by two local dogs, who like to join the tourists, just for fun. They looked like wolves and were super cute! I didn’t take any picture of the hot spring itself, but it was super nice to warm up in those little rocky “bath tubs”. The most amazing thing happened on the way back though! We actually encountered a transient pod of orcas!! With a baby orca! And THAT was probably the most emotional moment of the whole trip for me. Seeing those amazing animals in the wild was such a beautiful experience. One that I had dreamt of and wished for to happen strongly. I still can’t believe how lucky we were! This is a shot that my friend took of the orcas. Awwww ♥

 

 

After so many amazing and adventurous days at Tofino, we all felt like needed some time to process everything (what a “problem” to have, I know! haha). So much excitement and new impressions can actually feel overwhelming! Fortunately the timing was perfect for that, as the weather started to get more rainy anyways and so for two days, we mainly stayed inside (now on a little farm in Comox) and spent time at the fireplace, reading, eating and watching movies.

There was one more adventure to come though and that one was also really exciting. We went on a day trip to see grizzly bears! By boat we went for about 2 hours up an inlet of the mainland where we then continued a little while with a van, that took us to a viewing platform. I liked that we were a very small group and that the guide always made sure that we were not in any way disturbing the bears.

 

 

Right at our arrival we were super lucky and saw two grizzlies, one young blackbear and just a short while after that a female grizzly with two young ones.

 

 

They were all feeding on the plentiful salmon that is spawning in the area at this season.

 

 

This first excitement was followed by 3 hours of waiting and seeing no bears, but I also found it extremely interesting to watch the salmon, most of who were sadly coming to an end of their journey. At the river bed we could take a look at some huge, dead salmons.

 

But as the circle of life goes, they would soon be eaten by other animals.

After another amazing day of wildlife adventure, we crossed over to the mainland and spent the last few days at a B&B in Sechelt and finally the last day in Vancouver. And before I end this blog post I have to mention that Vancouver has the most amazing food! There are countless vegan places and a lot of them even serve healthy, raw food. It was all so delicious that we were kind of sad to not be able to try it all. My new favorite restaurant is called “Meet on Maine”, wehere we had our last dinner. I ordered an organic kale romaine ceasar salad with creamy hemp-based dressing, croutons, coconut bacon, topped with fake bbq “chiggen”. Oh my! And we also shared sweet chilli cauliflowers made with house beer-battered with tamarind chili-ginger glaze. I wish I could eat at this place every day!

 

 

All in all this Canada trip was one amazing experience which I will keep in my heart forever and think back at often. I hope I was able to share some of those happy moments with you.

 

 

MerkenMerken