Friday, June 25, 2010 Biking Tofino

Lodged at the Tofino Botanical Gardens Guest House. It's actually the field station lodging for the researchers and students at the gardens, but they rent out extra rooms to travelers. It's such a beautiful facility (first pic) and of course the grounds are beautiful and the whole place is sorta zen and really peaceful. I drove into town to pick up Fran and Jess, who had bussed in the day before. It's a fine sunny (rare) day so we decide that we should rent bikes and tour out to the gardens and to MacKenzie and Chesterman Beaches. Next pic is Fran and Jess on the funky touring bikes we rented. You peddle backward to stop. I fell off twice. Good grief!! First stop at the gardens guest house and a long visit with Petey the resident pooch. He sort of patrols the property, welcomes new guests, keeps werewolves at bay, and makes everyone smile. Very friendly and playful. (pic of me with Petey). He and Fran particularly bonded and I think she is hatching a plan for getting him back to the UK. Next pic is of the eco-confessional (Jess is hearing my confession) where you can get all those environmental mishaps off your chest. I think all those #@%&8% BP folks need one of these. Next photo is of three wood sculptures in the Garden that really caught my eye. The form, texture, color were all so soothing. I noticed that many people were attracted to them. On to MacKenzie Beach. Tofino has a great bike path alongside the main road so it's fairly easy to get from place to place and not take your life in your hands unless you occasionally throw yourself to the pavement as I did. I spent time at MacKenzie yesterday, but wanted Fran and Jess to experience it's greandeur. We happened upon some guys from Kelowna who were celebrating a birthday by charcoaling crabs (pic). They graciously invited Fran and Jess to pitch their tent next to theirs for the night. We rolled off to Chesterman Beach which is the next cove to the north of MacKenzie and equally beautiful. Lots of rock and the beach is wider so it made for fun bike riding on the wet sand. Few pics from Chesterman. Ended the day by cooking together at the hostel where Fran and Jess stayed the evening before. As it turns out, we're amazing cooks :-).

Thursday, June 24, 2010 Tofino

Woke up, popped up, peered out the front windshield. MacKenzie Beach in all its glory. Yes, its cold and foggy and grey this morning, but that's appropriate at this particular beach. If you poured a lot of sun into the mix it would be wholly unnatural. This is, after all, the west coast, and west coasters pride themselves on doing all the things that are done on any tropical beach - swim, sun bathe, surf, kayak - and doing it in 60 degree weather without benefit of excess sun. I strolled the beach for an hour or so, taking in the rugged beauty of the rocky coastline. There are big things at which to marvel - tall craggy rocks and huge firs - and small subtle things - an orange sea star clinging to a rock in a tidal pool, "newborn" barnacles at the base of a boulder. Found a little grotto tucked into the rocks that is likely inhabited by trolls. I've included random beach photos. Also, I've fallen in love with the driftwood along the shore on both sides of the island, in fact driftwood everywhere. I've taken so many photos of same that I may arrange a photo expose at the end of my journey. Coming to a gallery near you. :-) Into Tofino to arrange a trip to Hot Springs Cove which is on an island at the north end of Clayoquot Sound. The island is largely old growth rain forest and is also home to an amazing hot spring that bubbles out of the side of a mountain, creating a small waterfall and then flowing to the sea. Along the water's downward path several pools have formed that make lovely warm spots for "taking the waters." I sign on for a 1:00 departure with Remote Passages. Vessel is a zodiac again and wierdly enough the guide is named Simon just like the whale watching guide in Cowichan Bay(and equally knowledgeable about the local environment). Eleven passengers and 2 guides set out dressed in the requisite red rescue suits with yellow rain slickers (pic). On the way out the guide spots grey whale spouts and we move in close to whale watch a little. The greys are huge creatures and weigh around 35 tons. They don't breach often and the best we could typically see was the "steam" rising from their twin blow holes (looks like a geyser) followed by the top of their body arcing and rolling sloghtly out of the water. Didn't really get any good pics of the greys themselves. Once again, the tour boats have to stay ~100 meters from the whales. First water pic shows the spout although it's hard to see against the sky. There were several of the leviathans feeding in one area and we watched for quite a while before moving along only to run across a number of hump back whales also feeding. The humpbacks are also enormous and don't breach often, but they display thier tales occasionally and have a practice of slapping their enormous pectoral fins against the water - guide says they're not sure why, maybe to communicate or possibly to stun fish. Next 3 pics are of humpback back dorsal fin, tail, and pectoral fin (in the distance). Not very good pics but I tried to spend more time watching and enjoying and less time retentively trying to snag photos. When we reached the island, we ditched the heavy gear and trekked ~2 km through the rainforest to the hot spring (several forest pics included) and changed into bathing suits for the dip. Next to last pic is near the head of the spring showing the hot water cascading down the rocks. Last pic is me in the spring. The water was actually almost too hot in the top pools but combined with the cool air it was wonderful. Spent maybe the most relaxing hour of my life soaking in the little pools. The apparel is my nod to this amazing country - sorry Mom.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 The Trek to Tofino

Set out from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island's east coast for Tofino on the island's west coast. Locals refer to the west coast as the "wild side." It's more rugged, colder, windier, foggier than the east coast and occasionally in the path of a tsunami. It's also sparsely populated, much less environmentally disturbed, and absolutely beautiful. But I can never just go somewhere. The list making, schedule driven person that I am has to find something to do on the way to make the journey even more worthwhile. And so I note that the North Island Recovery Centre is only a couple miles off the Tofino route and just my kind of place. The Centre takes in injured or ill wildlife for rehabilitation and, hopefully, return to the wild. They also take in some imprinted animals and some animals whose injuries are so profound that they cannot be rehabilitated to a degree that would allow them to be returned to the natural environment. The recovering animals cannot be viewed real time or interacted with to minimize the risk of imprinting; however, they have a huge aerie for the eagles (lots of space for exercise) that has a series of "portholes" fitted with one-way glass that allows a peek. There were three juveniles and one mature eagle in the aerie and they looked to be recovering nicely. The "permanent" residents are in enclosures that allow for viewing but that are constructed to appear as natural as possible and provide cover for the animal if it chooses not to be viewed. Took a few pics of some of these guys and they made me so sad. They're all there because of some bad experience at the hands of humans. Second pic is of two eagles - gun shot wounds that won't allow them to return to the wild. Even behind "bars" they are so proud and regal. Next pic is of two barred owls raised by humans (imprinted) who then decided they couldn't care for them. The owls lack the hunting skills to survive in the wild. The centre has a very good public education area and outreach as well and they also have a large pond where waterfowl come and go and turtles proliferate and where the next few photos were taken. Check those crazy turtles. I could watch them for hours, oozing up onto the log only to slip off the other side or disrupt their bretheren and the stability of the log and everyone goes back into the drink. Then the scenario repeats. They're tireless. Ducks in abundance. Back on track to Tofino on Hwy 4 and headed for Cathedral Grove, second intermediate stop. Cathedral Grove is a stand of old growth Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir actually located in MacMillan Provincial Park but easily accessible from parking (limited) on the side of Hwy 4. I'm extremely lucky to find a parking spot, tourists everywhere and business is brisk. Take an hour to stroll the park trail and marvel at the trees and ferns (this is temperate rain forest) and try to imagine what it must have looked like to the first Europeans that hit this area when the entire region was old growth. As in Stanley Park, the trees are so massive that I can't get far enough away to take pics that reveal their size. Included are a few feeble attempts. The ferns look like the cinnamon ferns of East Texas - on steroids. See pic. It is a rainforest after all. Pic after the ferns is of tree remains referred to as Giant's Grave. In 1972 vandals set fire to this 700 year old, 15 ft diameter, 233 ft tall red cedar. It had to be cut down to keep the fire from spreading. Last pic in the grove is of a springboard tree. Note the large notches. Loggers would place planks into the notches to serve as platforms where they stood to cut above the thick, difficult lower part of the tree. I continue west on Hwy 4, passing through Port Alberni where, as advised, I take adavantage of the last "cheap" gas before the coast where everything is priced for the tourists. Don't be fooled. There's no cheap gas in Canada. The road becomes narrow and extremely winding. Hang on St. Christopher on the passenger side. The views are to die for and I try to shoot a few pics, one handed, through the windshield. Too dangerous. One disadvantage to traveling alone - no navigator to pull photo duty. Pull into the Tofino and find the Bella Pacifica camp ground where I spend $50 for a space with electricity so that I can spend the night in the van cause it's about 50 degrees and raining and I'm not puttn up the tent. Plus side is that I'm square on MacKenzie Beach facing the water. Last photos are the view from the campsite. Now that's worth $50. Imagine if you threw in a little sun - maybe tomorrow. Very last photo is from the beach back to the van/lodging.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 Duncan

Overnighted in Chemainus. Need a leisurely day. Still feel the motion of the boat in my head from yesterday's whale watching excursion, and my face is sunburned and windburned. I'm starting to look like badly tanned leather or maybe beef jerky. This day I will saturate myself in outdoor totems, viewed at a leisurely pace in the city of Duncan and at the Quw'utsun' Cultural Centre. Duncan seems to be a slightly uneasy mix of Europeans (picked up on several accents - German, British, Scot) who are the town oldsters and Cowichan First Nations folks who constitute the under 40 portion of the population. That's a broad generalization, but I bet you'd make the same observation. A Cowichan Reserve abuts downtown Duncan. In the 1980's, Duncan's mayor began commissioning First Nations artists to carve new totems. Over 80 were carved and placed around the city. They just pop up everywhere. I'm not sure about the mayor's motivation - to bring in tourists or to beautify the city or to encourage the flagging carving tradition - but I'm glad for whatever it was. I found the local museum in a restored train depot and nosed around there (it's very good for a very small museum) until the 1:00pm walking totem tour began. Ron, the totem pole tour guide (pic 1), was a great guide. He had a lot of knowledge about totem symbology and the various artists who created the poles. He has spent time with many of the carvers and had first hand knowledge about what they were going for in their work. The more I see totems, read about them, and listen to people like Ron, the more I realize that, while a symbol may appear over and over and typically have the same basic meaning in each example, there are endless subtle differences and nuances that enhance the story that the totem tells - not all totems tell a story but the majority that I have seen do. I did not see all 80+ totems - the tour sticks to the downtown core - but a majority and they were marvelous. Second pic is of a totem who's girth is the largest in the world - impressive. Carved on the spot (took over a year) and lifted into place with a crane. Several more Duncan totem photos included. Can you find the totem that seems out of character? It was done by a Maori carver from New Zealand in a carving exchange program. After the tour I drove to the Quw'utsun' Cultural Centre on the edge of town to learn about the Cowichan First Nation and see the totem poles exhibited there. The Centre sits beside the crystal clear Cowichan River (8th photo) and the complex is a little slice of heaven. A young Cowichan man served as our tour guide (9th photo). He was a masterful story teller. He interpreted the elements of the totems then told traditional Cowichan legends that included characters from the totems. Interesting to note that the Cowichan (like many cultures) have a flood legend in which the Earth is completely inundated and only a few people survive to repopulate. They also have a story about a wild woman who captures children, takes them to her house, and cooks them for dinner - almost exactly like the gruesome Hansel and Gretel bedtime story my mother read to me as a child (which is likely why I'm warped). The likeness of the wild woman is carved into a totem and shown in the pic after the river shot. Few more totem shots included. The tour included a film called The Great Deeds which relates Cowichan history and legends. On the way to Nanaimo for the night I pulled into a tiny little provincial park just off Canada 1 called Petroglyph Park. The park protects several aboriginal petroglyphs (images pecked into stone). Of particular interest to me since I have training in recording aboriginal rock art and have recorded in the Texas Trans-Pecos region. Quite different here. Petroglyphs in the Trans-Pecos are often pecked into boulders. Here the glyphs are in soft sandstone slabs laying flat on the surface. Two photos included; however, it's hard to see the glyphs in photos as they are quite weathered and the light was fading - and then there's my lack of camera skills. Tomorrow I head for the west coast of the island (Tofino) to see the rainforest and do some camping and hiking. Likely I won't have internet, so I'll "see" you in a few days.