The Peanut Diaries - Part 2

Day 2, Saturday, Sept 24, 2011

Time to Explore

So today I woke up tothe sound of the crashing surf. What a view from my room! Did I mention thatthis is the suite I wanted? Ahh J I madebreakfast and proceeded to set off the smoke detector. Apparently it doesn’tlike toast, even unburnt toast. I made myself a cup of tea, and got ready to go out. Now here is where I made a rookie mistake. You don’t have a shower, getready with the clothes you are going to be in all day, and then go down andbeachcomb! I didn’t get that wet or dirty, but I should know better.

I found a few interesting shells on the beach,nothing majorly interesting. There was Bull Kelp everywhere. I still shudderthinking about it. In grade 7, my class went on a weekend camping trip to SaltSpring Island. There was lots of that kelp everywhere and one of my classmatespicked up a HUGE length of it and started swinging it about. Like a whip, itcame around and smacked me squarely in the back of my calves. I wasn’t standingclose to her either. I had those marks for at least 2 weeks after. Man did thatsting!

I came back to my cabin,changed, and left to go exploring. There is a small little shopping area(plaza?) just down the street from where I am staying. Beaches Grocery is thesmallest grocery store for campers and vacationers I have ever seen. My cabinmight be bigger! So cute though and fun just to say I have been in there. Andthe funny thing is how much they pack in that place. There are lots of thingsyou wouldn’t think they would have, and do! Then around the corner is ChocolateTofino. All handmade, local chocolates and gelato ice cream. Once I was donethere, I left for town.

Tofino really isn’t a big town. I just parkedin the middle and walked in a big circle. There are lots of cute shops, and youcan tell this is a fishing tourist town. If it’s not talking about surfing orfishing, it’s about relaxation and Zen or the native equivalent. There iswireless internet everywhere to keep you connected, and the cutest places toeat. The thing that lets me know I am in a small town; there are no trafficlights. Oh there are one or two flashing four way stop lights, but no actualtime changing green, yellow, and red lights. I don’t think I had seen one sincePort Alberni nearly 2 hours away!

I strolled around,ducked into the main grocery store The Co-Op, The Common Loaf Bakery, TreeHouse Gifts, and The Mermaid Tales Book Store…to name a few. I began to noticesigns that there is going to be a planned power outage on Monday, for Hydro todo upgrades. Fabulous! And it’s up and down the coastal section I am in, somany businesses won’t be open on Monday, my last full day here. My last stopbefore breaking for a really late lunch is Jamie’s Whaling Station, to book myWhale Watching Tour. Now they tell me that they are planning a trip on Sunday,but may have to cancel due to weather! Apparently a storm is coming in! Ohwell, we shall see.

There are so manydifferent people here. There are the transient surfers, who look like the Atypical international backpacker who floated in on their surf boards, and thereare the international explorers, many couples from Germany and Australia. Lastbut not least, you mix in the locals and tourists from within Canada and thatis the population mixed bag

So I head back to mycabin (did I mention it’s cute?) and make lunch. After resting just a bit Ihead the other direction to Ucluelet. Seriously, another cute town. And again,no traffic lights. Gotta love it. I spot a lot of very cute stores there aswell. On my way back, I stop at Incinerator Rock, one of the many access pointsto Long Beach. The waves are gigantic and the sky is brooding. Off in thedistance a large dark gray mass of clouds are heading right for us. And theWIND is so strong and loud, someone could be standing 10 feet from me yellingand I would probably not even hear them. I was quite a ways off from the water,but I still felt like the swells could come and get me.

So I head back to mycabin to make a late dinner. I fill the room with the scent of my fajitas,which I think I make pretty well! The storm has just about hit, the rain ishitting my little cabin sideways, and there is lots of it! Next you can hearthe water begin to surge and pound the shore line. Then comes the thunder andlightning, loud and right above us. Too bad you just never know when it willhit since the lightening lights up the sky enough to actually see the waves.What a picture that would be!

The storm ragesoutside, while I am inside, enjoying dinner and watching a movie on my laptop.I don’t think I am going to be here as long as I want to… I need to come backsometime soon…

The Peanut Diaries

This is my daily journal of my selfish vacation. Actually, I have never gone anywhere like this before by myself and it's only because of my grandpa that I can do this. Thank you Grandpa!

At first this trip was supposed to be about 2 nights, in a cabin 20 minutes from my house. It ended up being 4 nights in a cabin, 2 nights in a hotel 6 hours from my house on Vancouver Island. I am not sure exactly how that happened, but I am glad it did. Most people don't travel because of cost, and if they do, it's better to take 2 or more people with you since you are spending the money anyway! But I was heading out on my own for  ME trip. I am well beyond the age where I am qualified to do this on my own - plan and execute. I still feel excited, like a young child, just starting out on my own adventure.

Day 1, Friday, Sept 23/2011

Orinoco Flow

This day did not start out the way I wanted. In a perfect world, I was supposed to leave super early. I wanted to be on the ferry when the sun came up. In a perfect world I would have been packed fully and my all my reservations be fully taken care of. In a perfect world, I would have gotten more that 4 hours sleep... This is not a perfect world.

At least my trip started. When I finally got on the ferry, I went directly to the most upper observation deck. The wind blowing was warm. I still can't get over how many people insist on staying inside! Do they take this ferry all the time? Anyway, I stalked my spot where I could get the best look at the side of the islands I have never seen. After all the rain we had just had, who knew the sun would peek it's head out of the clouds so strongly? Still, we are heading into the rain clouds. I can see them coming in the distance. I even see what looks like a patch of fog, hugging the coastline of one of the islands we are passing. Being up on the top deck and the clouds being so low, I feel like I can touch them as they pass. I know my camera wouldn't do them justice.

The wind is warm, like a Chinook. I can handle many kinds of winds, but even the perpetually 'cold ones' as I call them would be okay in this. I can almost hear Enya singing Orinoco Flow in my head. Who would spend a 2 hour journey inside unless they had work to do, were unwell or just plain ungrateful for the buffet of nature to look at.

And just as the clouds take over the sun so I no longer need to squint, and we pass through a pod of seals, swimming quite close to the ferry. Cute little black Loch Ness type heads in the water - until I spotted a flipper in the air. The wind is really blowing hard and changing the cloud formations - and with it, the rain patterns falling. Seriously, I live in one of the rainiest climates in North America and I am wanting to take pictures of RAIN?? It's not just the rain though, it's the open water, wind blowing through your everything, the hum of the ship and the sound of the waves it's creating, the seagulls...it's lovely.

It's lightly misting now, I think we must be getting close to Naniamo. The clouds now look like 'the Nothing' is coming to get us, and I should be able to look over at an island and see the Rock Eater there... We just passed seal pod #2... a gentleman came over to tell me that there was a double rainbow on the other side of the ship. As I wander over (you should see my Sea walk), the rainbow is rapidly fading, but I got the idea. And now it's time to get back into our cars.

As I pull off the ferry at 5:20pm, it occurs to me that I 'know' where I am going, but I don't have any road maps at all. I sure hope the signs get me there! I stop in Naniamo to get some groceries, then keep following the signs to Port Alberni. The road there makes me feel like "Where in heavens name am I going? I get into P.Alberni as it gets dark. I find a pay phone and call my parents to let them know I am alive, and then find the last Tim Horton's before I leave. The line up is stupidly long. Doesn't matter where you go, Tim's always gets the lines...

With coffee and doughnut in had, I set off. I know this road is amazing and the scenery fantastic, but I don't see anything. Nothing but rainy mist, fog, and the bright lights of the truck following me in my rear view mirror. As the road progresses I am seeing now why I wouldn't ever want to be on this thing in the winter. In fact, I don't want to be on it now! The turns, the steep hills...the turns....good grief! And my brakes failing on this one hill and nearly hitting someone, that was special! :-( That road took forever...pulled into my resort at 9:40pm. Dark dark dark, but I could still hear the pounding ocean surf. Since I am checking in after hours, I find the key to my cabin and instructions in an envelope with my name, thumb tacked up on this board outside the office door. Thankfully, there are about 7 other people who were obviously late getting there too. My cabin is so CUTE! Everything in it, my hideyhole for the next 4ish days. And it's right where I would have wanted it when I looked at the website. Nice view, and lower suite. I unpack as fast as I can and head to bed...this is not going to be a long enough trip!