Beaches galore

I opened the curtain to see two deer at the waters edge. So sweet!

Next I watched a guy prepare his sea plane for take off. Presumably he was going to work. What a commute! He eventually floated out of the harbour before taking off into the sky.

It was beach day today. The first beach we visited was Long Beach and yes it was long. Very long and very beautiful. Pristine sand, logs that the sea had washed up, and we were so lucky with the weather. Warm with a blue sky and no clouds whatsoever. We walked quite a way on the sand. And I dipped my toes into the sea. It was very cold.

We then went to Cox Bay. A very nice young Aussie said hello to us and Gail got chatting to him. He said the beach was more beautiful than Oz but colder. This was a smaller beach but still very pretty. I laid back listening to the waves. So relaxing.

Time for lunch and Gail found us a lovely little shack type place serving poke bowls. Very nice.

We had a little stroll around Tofino.
It's in such a beautiful setting. Surrounded by water and mountains. It was once upon a time a whaling station which I don't like to think about. There's a lot of indigenous influence in the town. We visited a gallery and I nearly bought some prints but decided they may not look as at home in Monmouth than they do in Canada! We had parked the car in what we presumed to be the restaurant parking. So like good citizens that we are we moved the car, only to realise that the signs have the indigenous language on as well as English and the language for 'parking' looks like a restaurant name: Tla-o-qui-aht

Gail then showed me the Best Western Hotel where she stayed years ago. Looked like a lovely hotel with pretty grounds that met the beach. Fab beach. What an amazing spot.

We keep passing signs on the road for Tsunami Evacuation Route!

We popped back to the apartment for a bit and noticed a sealion in the water, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. We then went out again in search of a sunset.

Gail had said we could go to a bar that supposedly had a good view. My ears pricked up. A bar? With alcohol? I'd already been disappointed when in the Co op at Tofino I found out that they didn't sell booze. I drank a couple of beers on Sunday but nothing since. The satnav told us we had arrived at the bar but there was no bar! This place is dry!!

Instead we went to Big Beach which was a small beach but so different to the others we had seen. The beach was covered in what looked like volcanic rock. No sand, just masses of tiny, broken shells. It was really dramatic. Couldn't see the sun but OMG the colours in the sky were simply magnificent and they kept changing. Very pale peach to pink and lilac and lemon and more. Really beautiful.

Gail's now planning what we should do tomorrow but I can't imagine she can beat today's sights. Unless there's some alcohol!!