Tofino Road

Checked out of the Twin Peaks apartments nice and early. Our landlord Hearty Mike scared the shit out of me by appearing out of nowhere in that way people in his business do when they "sixth sense" that a tenant is leaving and want to be sure to get their keys back. That was a great apartment. I'm sure I saw The Log Lady at one point.

Yesterday was gloriously sunny and sweaty, today was damp and cold. Typically British (Colombia) weather you could say. We drove into Victoria (having peeled two parking tickets off the windscreen of The Girl Racer's car) and she shopped for camping gear in MEC whilst I looked In the second hand camera shop. It was full of geeky guys with beards buying accessories for twenty five year old Minoltas. Charming but not me. Then had a huge vegan breakfast in Shine; the refried beans had me farting for hours but it was very good. The cafes here in Canada are awesome, genuinely varied and quirky and generally much more popular than the ubiquitous Starbucks.

Very long drive to Tofino. Like nearly seven hours. Mind you that did include stops at a weird and wonderful shop called Goats On The Roof so named because .... well, it has goats grazing on its turfed roof (see extras) - and a picnic of humus and tacos in the Walmart car park at Port Alberni. Two different but very surreal experiences.

The journey up was spectacular; this country is unbelievable. Towering cedars, lakes the size of inland seas, and misty mountains that would happily play host to hobbits, trolls and wizards without the need for CGI. Didn't stop me nodding off a couple of times. I mean, I am sixty next year. Besides, it is just like the UK in that the roads are full of painfully slow caravaners and rented RVs. Looking at the back of those for any length of time is so soporific.

Tofino is fab. Cabin a hundred metres from the Pacific Ocean and stunning scenery. There is also The Wolf In The Fog, a lovely bar and eatery in the nearby town where we had a samosa with seaweed and chips. Proper seaweed, really nice. We tried to get to the Tofino Brewing Company taproom but Jinx! They were closed for a staff event. We shall try again tomorrow.

I love this country. It has everything, including wrecked Morris Minors, beautiful beaches and vigilante old ladies (see extras) ...