The BIG 50th Vancouver Vacation Sept/Oct 2021 - Day 5 - Pacific Rim NP, Tofino & Bear watching

**smithlane** · 24 Dec 21, 12:44 AM

Day 5 - Monday 4th October 2021

Woke up at 9 o’clock after a fabulous nights sleep! Beds were a little too soft but I slept like a log

After everyone was up we had a little explore of the gardens outside. This was such a cute set up and would be wonderful if we were staying here in the summer, a little too cold though. I do love these Adirondack chairs!

Sean the owner came out to meet us, a really lovely guy. He showed us some video footage he had taken last week of a black bear who came wandering into the garden and was on the hunt for food, it was where we were actually standing

. He says he sees them all the time and in fact his friend that stayed a few weeks before got trapped in his car on the drive as two bears came out of nowhere and jumped on the bonnet! As much as I want to see the bears in real life, I'm not sure I want to get that close

. As we were about to head back inside we saw two deer grazing on the bank right by our front door. Adorable!

Once back inside we decided on the plan for the day. I was keen to go on a bear watching tour and so was Helen and the boys wanted to play golf.
The timings for any bear watching tour will depend on when low tide is and today they were starting at 4pm. So it still left the rest of the day to do something else.
The only golf course on this part of the island was Long Beach Golf Course so we thought we’d explore part of the Pacific Rim National Park and go for a walk along Long Beach whilst they played and would then meet them at the golf course after, we’d then drive into Tofino to where the bear watching departed from and they’d go and find somewhere to have a few drinks and wait for us.
I looked at various companies for the bear watching and decided on Jamies Whaling Station & Adventure Centre after great online reviews. For the two of us it came to $292.38 including all taxes for a 3 hour tour departing from Tofino, the neighbouring town 30 minutes away.

We first needed breakfast and I had noted down Barclay Cafe in Ucluelet so we headed there once dressed and ready.
This is a very cute little coffee shop that does a roaring trade with locals so we figured it must be good!

There isn’t a huge breakfast menu, only breakfast bagels, ciabattas and burritos.
Jim and I went for the burritos and a latte for him and apple juice for me. Found a table that we crammed onto, it was seriously busy in here.

Got chatting to a group in their 60’s who had moved from the U.K. to a remote skiing resort in Alberta in 2005. They decided they wanted to move somewhere with a warmer more temperate climate after regularly getting 9 metres of snow in winter so came over to Vancouver Island a few years ago. Their friends were here to visit from Sussex. We have so far met a lot of ex pats from the U.K. and I can honestly see what the pull to Canada is all about!

Our food soon arrived and was oh so good. I did get a little food envy when I saw Helen’s bagel but it was decided we’d come back here tomorrow so I’d get it then. The burrito was still delicious though.

Once done we headed to the Pacific Rim NP Visitor Centre to get some info on what walk to do.
The girl in there was very helpful, there were so many sections and different trails to do it was hard to choose!
It was decided the boys were to keep the car and we’d walk to them so as we had approx 3 hours we needed to be dropped off within roughly 10km of the golf course.

We started with the Rainforest loop which looked interesting and we could access the beach from there.
We got dropped off, said goodbye to the boys and that we’d meet them at roughly 3pm. This would then give us time to get to Tofino for our bear trip at 4pm. We wouldn’t have any phone signal or WiFi so we’re really hoping we hadn’t overestimated this walk…. Told them to send a search party if we hadn’t arrived by 3.30...

The rainforest loop only took 20 minutes but was just a beautiful trail through the trees. There wasn’t another soul there and was incredibly peaceful with the sound of trickling water below. The trees were incredible and photos don't do the size of them justice!

We came out of the woods and walked part of the trail by the road until we came to the track that takes you down to Long Beach.

Wow wow wow, just stunning! The sea mist and washed up driftwood just added to the eerie atmosphere, there were breathtaking views all around. It really reminded us of the end scene from the Goonies, when they’re on the beach and the pirate ship comes sailing out. I believe it was filmed in Oregon so the Pacific Northwest must all have similar coastline to here as it’s not a million miles away.

We started our walk along the beach just taking in our surroundings. It wasn’t busy at all, only passing a few people out jogging or taking their dogs for a walk.

We got to a point where it looked like you couldn’t go on any further as the tide was coming in and we didn’t fancy scaling the rock!
Thankfully Helen found a small path that took us round the back.

Back onto the beach we continued up, stopping every now and again for a drink and a rest.
We could now see why it was called Long Beach as it seemed to never end!

We were a little concerned about the tide as we couldn’t see how far the next exit point was to a parking lot and the water was coming in a lot faster than we first realised

. With having no signal on our phones it wasn’t showing any info and the map the lady at the visitor centre had given us wasn’t that detailed.
We only had one choice to continue the way we were going and thankfully after a while we could see the beach entrances up ahead.
This end seemed a lot busier with loads of surfers either in the sea or just getting suited up.
This side of the island is a huge surfers paradise so they must finish work and head straight here. What a life!

Luckily there were restrooms in the car park so after using them we picked up the trail and continued up next to the road to find the turn off for the golf club. Again with no phone signal, Google maps was only showing the main roads not any side roads so we weren’t sure if we had already passed the turning when we were on the beach.

We ended up stopping at the entrance to the Esowista Village which is closed to any public at the moment due to Covid. The First Nations people have a huge community here which is usually open to visitors but they have shut a huge chunk of the Pacific Rim park that they own so you can only get from one side to the other by road.

A car was just exiting the community so we flagged it down and asked if he knew where the golf club was. He said we needed to continue up this road for another 1-2km, so at least we were heading in the right direction. I had a nasty feeling we had gone too far and had to turn back on ourselves!
It was 2.45 so we power walked uphill, found the turning and into the Golf club.

The boys had just finished their round and were having a drink so we popped into the pro shop to get a drink and a bag of crisps.
We inhaled them we were so hungry

. We had certainly earned our dinner tonight!

We soon got going and Jim drove us to Jamie’s Adventure which was just at the start of Tofino town centre and right by the main road so hard to miss.
We told the boys to find a place they could wait and to suss out dinner options as Helen and I had a hankering for steak!

We bid them farewell again and headed inside to check in for the tour.
We had to sign a waiver each, I’m assuming so we can’t sue them in case of any injury, then walked down to the dock ready to board the boat. There were 12 of us including the captain who was called Daryl.
He was hilarious with a wicked dry sense of humour which I love!

He explained it was getting harder and harder to spot the bears as it was coming to the end of the season but he had his favourite spots where he knew some should be.

We set off at quite a speed as he took us through the Browning Pass of the Clayoquot Sound. The scenery all around was just stunning and I decided if we didn’t see a bear it was still worth it to see the backdrop of the various islands and mainland from the water.

After about 20-30 minutes he suddenly turned the boat around and slowed right down. Sure enough, along a small stretch of beach was a mother bear and her cub searching for food. They turn over rocks in the hunt for crabs and clams.
We weren’t too close to get any decent photos but you could see them so clearly through the naked eye. Daryl leant me his binoculars to look through too, just amazing creatures, I could see every detail on their faces. The baby was very cute running after his mum trying to keep up!

We slowly drifted nearer to them so managed to get a few better shots but after 15 or so minutes they disappeared into the growth once there was no beach left. A few minutes later we could see a few trees shaking so we were told they had probably climbed up in search of berries.
I was so stoked we had seen them

We now turned the engine back on and headed further up in search of more.
We passed a rock full of seals who were quite happy sleeping. Apparently they are like catnip to Killer Whales so if there are seals in these waters there should be whales too. It surprised me as I thought they would be found more out in the open waters not in the calm inlets but as they are just giant dolphins they don’t need to be in the ocean.

Another 15 or so minutes one of the guys on the tour said he could see something so we again turned to find out. Sure enough another mummy bear but 2 Cubs this time!

We seemed to drift a bit closer so we could see them a lot clearer but the photos still look like they’re really far away! These iPhone cameras are a bit crap aren’t they? Helen was kicking herself that she had left her proper camera back in the AirBnB and that she also hadn’t swapped her phone with Nick for this tour as he has a Samsung. They have amazing cameras on their phones.
Anyway, we still got some half decent shots and some video footage too

I thought we were going to turn back now as we had found 5 bears but no, we carried further on up. I was loving this!

More stunning scenery

I’m not sure how he spotted it but way in the distance Daryl said he thought he could see something but not to get our hopes up as it could be a bear log or rock, he’s been fooled many times. I kept seeing what I thought was a bear but turned out not to be!
Again sure enough it was another bear, but a lone male this time. He was a lot larger than the other two and had the bonus of finding his dinner without the kids tagging along

He was on the beach in a little inlet that we didn’t think the boat could get close enough to but Daryl managed to get really near without scaring him off. Every now and again he would look up and straight at us wondering who we were and why 12 pairs of eyes were watching him eat but he would then go straight back to hunting his dinner.

He would turn over huge rocks as if they were as light as a feather, unbelievably strong animals that you wouldn’t want to get too close to!

Interesting bit of info, all animals on Vancouver Island can swim in deep water. These include bears, deer, wolves and cougars. I honestly didn’t think they could but apparently that’s how they get from Island to Island. If a young bear tries to hunt for food on a beach where an older one is, they are literally kicked off the island so have to swim to another

Also all of the above animals are smaller on the Island compared to their mainland counterparts which I found interesting, he wasn't sure what the reason was though

We stayed watching him for a good 30 minutes until he disappeared out of sight. It was just mesmerising to watch!

I’m not even going to apologise for the amount of photos I took

We now needed to navigate our way out of these shallow waters and we nearly made it but there was a rock that Daryl missed and the boats propeller went over. There was a huge jolt and Helen and I nearly fell over but we were fine. He was so apologetic to us but it was honestly a mistake, I only cared that my phone didn’t go overboard

Once out onto the open water he announced that the small vibrations that could (barely) be heard was down to a dented propeller. He must know his stuff as we couldn’t hear anything different!
He said we needed to go back to base as he couldn’t take us any further with a broken boat, we were all absolutely fine with this as we had seen far more than what any of us were expecting.

We did see a bald eagle on the way back sat on a pole which I was really pleased about. We waited until it took off in flight.

Once back on solid ground we thanked him profusely as he went above and beyond what he needed to, especially at the cost to his boat getting us really close to the last bear!

I went up to the office to try and pick up their WiFi to see where the boys had ended up. They had WhatsApp’d to say they were in a bar called The Shed but were struggling to find a restaurant for us. Apparently in the off season a lot of restaurants are closed on Monday and Tuesday in Tofino and Ucluelet, really pleased I chose those two nights to stay here 🙄

We drove up there as it had started raining quite heavily, eventually found somewhere to park, it was really busy everywhere!

There was a huge queue for a table but luckily Jim and Nick had been there for a few hours and had saved us one.
I was driving back tonight so just had a Diet Coke.
We discussed dinner plans and it didn’t look too promising as there were queues outside all restaurants that were open so we decided to just stay where we were for food as we knew we had a table. The menu only offered burgers and fries which I’m not a huge fan of but equally I was ravenous so could have eaten a horse rare!
I got the bacon cheeseburger, Jim and Nick double bacon cheeseburgers and Helen the chicken burger.

They soon came out and to be fair they were really good, I like it when they use a brioche bun. Sorry no photos as it was gone in minutes!

I was starting to flag by now and as I had to drive we got the bill which was $80 per couple. Not bad considering the amount of beers the boys had consumed prior to us arriving!

The drive home was quite possibly the worst I have ever experienced. When I say it’s dark out here, it’s blacker than black! The full beam lights are fairly useless and with the rain on the road it made seeing the lines near on impossible. I had cars coming up the back of me flashing but I didn’t care I was not speeding so they could just overtake me!
I am not a nervous driver in the slightest and will drive in any country, in any car, on any type of road but I can safely say I’d rather drive around LA’s 7 lane highways in rush hour than do that journey again!
If anyone has driven this road from Tofino to Ucluelet will know exactly what I mean, it’s twisty and turny with up and down hills which is bad enough in the day but with zero lighting and wet roads it was awful

Dave is not the best car for these conditions but thankfully got us back to the AirBnB in one piece! What should have been a 30 minute drive was nearly an hour

It was only 9.30 but I was physically and emotionally exhausted so I went straight to bed! A bit of a rubbish end to what was otherwise an amazing day full of memories I'll never forget

**anji** · 24 Dec 21, 01:38 AM

Wow! What a stunning day 🥰 Your photos are fabulous and I'm very glad you took so many!

Very interested in today as I've already booked Jamie's for bear watching in September, but from Ucleulet. They were really good when we had to cancel this year too. The water looked like glass so calm. You were lucky to see so much too.

Can't wait to walk the trails and beaches. Roll on September!

**Goldia** · 24 Dec 21, 07:19 PM

Good that you finally got a decent nights sleep! The garden of the Airbnb was fab and the deer were beautiful. Such a lot of lovely photos again. I'm so glad the bears were out in force and little cubs too. Wow, it must have been wonderful to see. The journey back sounds terrifying, well done to you for sticking it out, not that you had much choice. Phew!

**smithlane** · 3 Jan 22, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by anji

Wow! What a stunning day 🥰 Your photos are fabulous and I'm very glad you took so many!

Very interested in today as I've already booked Jamie's for bear watching in September, but from Ucleulet. They were really good when we had to cancel this year too. The water looked like glass so calm. You were lucky to see so much too.

Can't wait to walk the trails and beaches. Roll on September!

It was definitely one of my favourite days Anji and I think if I hadn’t got engaged would have been THE favourite 😂

Jamie’s we’re fabulous so I’ve no doubt you’ll get the same experience yourselves, they really go above and beyond what was expected!

The beaches and trails were one of the best bits on this part of the island, take good walking shoes though!

**smithlane** · 3 Jan 22, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Goldia

Good that you finally got a decent nights sleep! The garden of the Airbnb was fab and the deer were beautiful. Such a lot of lovely photos again. I'm so glad the bears were out in force and little cubs too. Wow, it must have been wonderful to see. The journey back sounds terrifying, well done to you for sticking it out, not that you had much choice. Phew!

We were so lucky we saw as many bears as we did as it was the end of the season so could easily have come away seeing nothing. The stunning scenery would have made up for it though!

I can honestly say I NEVER want to drive that journey again 😂

**jocat** · 27 Feb 22, 05:38 PM

Looks like a fabulous day. The bear watching tour sounds fantastic! It was lovely you got to see as many bears as you did.

That drive back sounds horrendous though. 😱 I would not have liked that at all. Well done on handling it so well.

**smithlane** · 5 Mar 22, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by jocat

Looks like a fabulous day. The bear watching tour sounds fantastic! It was lovely you got to see as many bears as you did.

That drive back sounds horrendous though. 😱 I would not have liked that at all. Well done on handling it so well.

Oh Jo it was a dream come true to see the bears in real life, we were so lucky as it was almost the end of the season.

I can't tell you how awful that drive was, one I'll never repeat in my life!

**Fuellady** · 24 Apr 22, 07:03 PM

What a great day with beautiful walks in the morning and then a bear hunt later in the day. How amazing to see the bears in their natural habitat. No wonder you were starving with all that fresh air!

Don't like the sound of that drive - I'm glad you made it back safely.

**smithlane** · 29 Apr 22, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Fuellady

What a great day with beautiful walks in the morning and then a bear hunt later in the day. How amazing to see the bears in their natural habitat. No wonder you were starving with all that fresh air!

Don't like the sound of that drive - I'm glad you made it back safely.

It was such a bucket list item to see bears in the wild so I was ecstatic we did!
The drive was awful, I've never been so glad to get out of a car in my life!