Vancouver Island

My other half and I took a little trip north to British Columbia and had quite the adventure. We flew into Seattle and had a quick couple hours there in which we indulged ourselves in Hole in the Wall Barbecue - typical tourist move = eating food from your "homeland" while in a town and culture where it is by no means typical cuisine. All that to say, I was very impressed by the smoked meatloaf sandwich, "pig with lipstick" style.

Sometimes, not planning trip details in advance makes for a great way to get to know an area before you are committed to an itinerary, as long as the anxiety of not knowing where you will lay your head at night doesn't get to you too much. With no concrete plans our adventure was only enhanced. We were incredibly fortunate to meet some new friends, Erin and Avery, on the Victoria Clipper headed over to Vancouver Island. They live on the island and gave us some good insight as to what might be the best places to go.

We spent one night in Victoria...

...headed "up island" to Tofino with a couple brief stops along the way in Chemainus and Coombs.

The Birdhouse is where we landed in the little coastal town of Ucluelet...

Talk about small space living at it's most efficient.

In my opinion, one of the best outlook points is by the Ucluelet lighthouse. With the overcast, misty weather, the landscape in the distance with rays of sun shining through made me think of Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader...

With recommendation from the Wya Point Surf Shop we spent a good bit of our time exploring Wya Point in Ucluelet...

...and then headed to Incinerator Rock for a little surf (literally)...

...followed by stand-up paddle boarding through the islands around Tofino - a great way to explore the ocean...

We guiltlessly finished our eventful visit with a classic Canadian dish - Poutine - fries, cheese curds and gravy. Looks disgusting, but tastes delicious...

A recipe here.

Off we went back to Victoria where our new friends from the ferry picked us up and brought us to Salt Spring Island. It is an idyllic little island. More on that later...