Chesterman & Cox Bay, Tofino

Tofino is Canada's surf capital, and just south of the main township stretches 35 kilometres of prime boarding, bustling with surfers year round. On my first trek I was unsuccessful in my attempts to hitchhike to the furthest beach and ended up walking 6 or so kilometres to Chesterman, making it in time for a fantastic sunset off the rocky outcrops of Frank Island — a privately owned, but laxly cordoned off islet, accessible by low tide. I imagine this stretch of highway usually consists of hitchhikers making their way much further south to the next township, and with most drivers seeming to remain within the outskirts of Tofino, I wasn't lucky enough to catch a ride. Heading back though, the first driver pulled over — even dropped me all the way out on the point where the hostel is, so that was definitely a perfect way to finish off the evening rather than trudging back in the wet and cold. The next day I set off under a complete downpour, rented a bike and made it all the way to Cox bay, spending the afternoon. Strangely there is almost zero wind, right on the un-sheltered beachfront — so despite it being only 7°c and only a handful of days away from the Winter equinox, it makes for a very pleasant walk. As seasoned travelers here are marking the Whaler's Point Guesthouse as their favourite Hostel across their many travels, it will be sad to head off tomorrow, but with my bus to Nanaimo now booked, I'll be off on another adventure.

Ucluelet & Tofino (Vancouver Island, BC)

It has been a very busy past few days. Checked out of the hostel in Victoria just before 7am, and took a Greyhound bus up to Ucluelet — 5 hours north, on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island. The weather has been pretty poor since I arrived, but it's given me great ocean views, with massive swells roaring in from the Pacific Ocean, unobstructed for thousands of miles. I did a complete hike of Ucluelet's west coast, amid the stormy weather and many signs about bears, wolves, and coyotes — and I even bumped into a local who warned me about a "rather large wolf" he just passed a few hundred metres down the track. I didn't manage an encounter myself, but did end up finding a collection of slightly-less-intimidating sea lions who were making a horrendous racket just off the shoreline. I spent a good 20 minutes watching them, finally getting a photo of one leaping out of the water. I finished off my trek out to Amphitrite Point Lighthouse, and made my way back before sundown to complete the 10 kilometre round trip.

I ended up staying in a large cabin in Ucluelet; fireplace, dry kindling and all — with the entire place to myself. Felt rather strange considering none of the doors could be locked, but I certainly wasn't complaining being able to play music undisturbed and having access to a full kitchen without crashing into any other bearded vagabonds. I caught another bus the following day (this time thankfully at a more pleasant 2pm departure), an hour or so further north to Tofino and lucked upon a hostel with fantastic views right on the water, and this time packed with friendly people. Instead of planning the next day, I ended up making a considerable dent in a case of beer, trading stories in front of a fire with 20 or so others until the early hours of the morning. The hostel manager Gary, seems to be quite the character, and organises a gourmet feast for the troops every evening, costing only about 5 bucks a head. On this particular night I ended up with the duty of salad architect, and did the people of New Zealand proud, I'm sure.

Seaplane to Victoria, BC (Vancouver Island)

Found myself traipsing amongst the myriad of Google-chrome tabs I've collected since I set off, and luckily landed back on one of my original "would-like-to-do" items on my adventure list which was now advertised 85% off with limited availability — a sea-plane flight to Victoria harbour on Vancouver Island. Naturally, this quickly spurred on the first bookings that would make up a 10 day or so trip across much of the island. Vancouver, very much like Auckland in winter can be rather dreary, but as luck would have it I managed to find an afternoon of perfect weather either side of a number of quite miserable days. The flight was absolutely neato — took all of 30 minutes flying over a good portion of USA airspace and the collection of San Juan islands north west of Seattle. I had a great window seat underneath the wing (a description encompassing all seats bar the pilots mind you), and ended up with a handful of neat photos. When I arrived I checked into the hostel just a few hundred metres from the dock, put together my day-pack and chased the sunset down to Ogden point — more or less the south-west tip of Victoria. Was very surprised how nice it was walking along the un-sheltered beach in the middle of Winter. Zero wind, nice and snug in my polar fleece jacket, I had a nice walk along the smooth rocks and tree sized driftwood which made up the coastline. Glad I bought my sunglasses though, the harsh angle of the sun this far north would otherwise spoil it a bit. Spotted a small bob of sea lions out on the dock at Ogden, but they were either too camera shy or had other engagements which required attention,  rather than striking a pose or two for a tourist — the blubbery bastards can hold their breaths for 30 minutes so I wasn't about to hang around either. Finished off the daylight watching the ferry depart across the setting sun, which will be my end-game plan from Nanaimo back to Vancouver in time for a (11-20% chance) white Christmas.