Treasure Island

 Vancouver to Vancouver Island.

Hire car picked up (eventually, do these things EVER go smoothly?) we made our way to Tsawwassen just in time for the noon ferry. A lovely voyage over and a surprinsigly good clam chowder from the cafeteria for lunch. 

It was then an easy run to Victoria where we were pretending to be posh and stayed at The Empress Hotel. It was huge and beautiful and I think our room with a view was as far from reception as it was possible to be. The decor was exquisite and the view was even better.

Reception on the far left  - and our room on the far right.

Our view.

We spent several hours walking around the town admiring the buildings and visited iconic locations like the Hudson Bay Store (in the middle of a closing down sale it seems to be a cross between kmart and myers), the old market square, and Chinatown. I know you'll all be surprised that Matt found us a brewery to visit! Our collection of tasting glasses is getting heavier and bulkier.

Whistle Bouy Brewery

Fan Tan alley was worth visiting. The former gambling hell is such a narrow street you can touch both sides at once, but as a destination it wasn't that interesting and just full of tourist shops.

We found the Chinatown all a bit sad and neglected - so we had Mexican for dinner. House made tamales and cerveza. A fairly easy day ended up with a taste of the Empresses own gin - which was drinkable but not outstanding. The bar however was breathtaking.

 

Fan Tan Alley and not just a zebra crossing

Bard and Banker

 

Empress Hotel Bar and sundown views

Sunday we were woken by a carrilion and a magical view of the harbour. Underestimating the drive time to the other end of the island we didn't set out until around 11. Beautiful country but such slow speed limits that many people seem to totally ignore.

We stopped at Coombs for a late lunch at the old markets, famous for their goats on the roof, sadly not released for the summer season as yet. Still, we enjoyed stocking up on cheese and charcuterie (all from Canada) as we knew the restaurant at our accomodation wasn't open.

Over 3 hours from Nanimo and we finally made it to Middle Beach Lodge. Simple, old fashioned, fiting in perfectly with the scenery and amazing views. Our evening was spent on our private balcony watching the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean.

Trying the BC pink sunshine wine, it was excellent.

Amazingly enough, we haven't run out of sunshine yet so that upgrade they gave us has been a nice surprise. We had a relatively lazy day in the Byron of BC starting with a walk along the beach and then mid morning coffee at Wickaninish Inn.

 

Middle Beach - first time I've ever taken a walk on the beach and NOT removed my shoes and socks

The entry doors at Wickaninish Inn

A pleasant drive to Ucluelet through the rainforrest and visited a brewery in a former church for lunch where we enjoyed a cup of chilli large enough for the two of us to share!

 

Heading back towards Tofino, Long Beach was a mandatory stop. I have always laughed at Matt's stories of going surfing in Canada, surely no one would be that crazy? This is the real reason for visiting Tofino, so he could prove to me that Canadians are undeniably crazy (and possibly part selkie?) and yes they DO go surfing. Yet again, I didn't take my shoes off for a beach walk.

 

 

Back in Tofino post walk, we had a tasting paddle and a gin flight at the adjoining brewery and distillery. Unfortunately the barman at the distillery had zero customer service skills or interest telling us about his product, not even about what botanicals they used. The brewery was much friendlier.

 

Back at our hotel for another late evening picnic dinner on our balcony as our island idyll came to an end.

There was some sort of sea animal under the sand busy digging a big hole ready for high tide- we could see the sand flying several metres!