Island life

Tofino is one of those strange places that has that unmistakable small-town feel while also having a healthy tourism industry. As a result of all the whale watching, surfing, and kayaking (to name a few of the things that you can do here), prices at food establishments are quite inflated. I've found myself cooking for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Since I was dead tired on the day that I arrived, I only really got one full clear day to enjoy the outdoor activities of Tofino. The original plan was to go kayaking, but I was tempted by some other people to go on a whale watching/hot springs tour, so that ended up being the activity of the day. It was almost worth it just being on that boat, going at high speeds while surrounded by beautiful scenery. After an hour or so, we got to see a bit of a gray whale and also spotted a few sea lions. However, the main point of the trip was to visit Hot Springs Cove.

We landed on the dock just past midday, and walked along a fairly long boardwalk onto the natural hot springs. On the way there, we were treated to a lush forest just by the sea. The boardwalk had carvings of the names of the various ships that had visited the cove. The smell of sulfur became evident the closer we got to the hot springs, and the steam was visible as we approached the little hut beside the hot pools.

The pools themselves were something else. The water was very hot right underneath the waterfalls, then got progressively cooler towards the ocean. If you lay at the right place, you would get a really warm current from the spring, interrupted by the waves crashing into the pool area. The hot-and-cold sensation was unbelievable and is something that has to be experienced. It was perhaps the most relaxing hour of my life.

Everybody was feeling rather lethargic afterwards, and there were a few people taking a nap on the boat ride back to Tofino (myself being one of them). Just before reaching land, we spotted a bald eagle sitting on a tree, which topped off the trip quite nicely.

Yesterday, it was considerably cloudier, leading up to the typical rainy weather that has returned today. Still, I did manage to catch a great movie at the Tofino Film Festival. Assuming I won't be going to any more for the next couple of months, this makes it film festival number five for the year (the others being the Tribeca Film Festival Drive-In in New York, the alFresco filmFesto in Halifax, TIFF, and VIFF).

Oh, and new photos are up.