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"BC", as it is
called by Canuckies, is the western-most province in Canada, if
you exclude Alaska. No, wait, Alaska's part of the US now, I
forgot. Anyway, BC is best known for totem poles, killer
whales, ski hills, lots of illegal marijuana farms, magic mushroom
hunters and greenie green environmentalists. Famous people
from BC include silicon superstar Pamela Anderson (who's applied
for American citizenship - traitor!) and David Suzuki, best known
for his very successful motorcycle designs, though also dabbles in
the mating habits of fruit flies.
The People
Nice people.
Very nice. Much less redneck than other prairie-folk, but
perhaps a bit more redneck than citizens of the "British"
motherland. The name of the province is actually derived
from the first non-indian explorer who rowed up to mainland four
hundred years ago, into the bay where present day Vancouver
lies. He was a drug and tea runner named William Escobar,
hence the "British" and "Columbia" connection. He
discovered a virgin market for his product and soon all the
natives up and down the coast were smoking crack and drinking
lovely Earl Grey tea. But they soon tired of this
frivolity and skewered William on a totem pole, then returned to
their lives of tranquility, fishing for salmon and hunting
wildebeest.
Things to Know
You'll find traveling around Canada that the basic things you
need to know don't vary much. Besides the different time
zones, provincial sales tax rates and drinking age, everything
is the same. One unique part of BC, though, is that they
have a few islands - Vancouver Island being the largest of them.
But....surprise!!! The city of Vancouver isn't on
Vancouver Island, it's on the mainland. Don't feel bad,
everybody falls for that one.
Places to Go
We've not had the chance to explore much of BC; only Vancouver,
Vancouver Island, and this summer we are going on a houseboat
trip on Shuswap Lake (stay tuned).
For now, we'll give you a rundown of Tofino and Victoria, both
on Vancouver Island.
Tofino
Long beaches, greasy haired, tattooed surfer dudes, organic
bakeries, skids, backpackers and hippies of all varieties.
If you are guessing Bali or maybe Phuket, you'd be right!
But who would have thought we have a town like this in the Great
White North? We do and it's called Tofino and located on
the western coast of Vancouver Island. We spent a lovely
few days there in May and it felt like we were back on the
"backpacker trail" except for the fact that we were staying at
an up market B&B overlooking a gorgeous bay.
There is a fair bit of commercialization which you can overlook
if you want to, but if you're up for it, you can visit offshore
hot springs, go whale watching, watch (and smell) sea lions,
fish for salmon, go scuba diving or take surfing lessons.
I went on a half-day fishing trip which was great but the rest
of the time was spent hanging out on the beach, loitering around
town and visiting the numerous restaurants and coffee shops.
We
stayed at a memorable B&B called
Tide's Inn.
The beds were soft, the view magnificent, the breakfast terrific
and the hot tub very hot. Considering the cheapest looking
hotels were charging $80/night, the
Tide's Inn was well
worth the $120/night. There seemed to be lots of B&Bs
around and a number of hotels, but they all apparently get
extremely busy in the summer so it's best to book ahead.
The best place we found to eat in Tofino was a small relaxed
cafe called Breakers Deli
which is right across from the Co-op Grocery Store & Family
Fashions (true small town). The restaurant doesn't look
like much from the outside but inside it's got a great feel and
atmosphere, not to mention an incredible array of goodies.
I had a tuna burger that was amazing, a beautiful tuna fillet
with pineapple, hot mustard, greens, sauces, etc. Yummy!
We also ate at the Sea Shanty and the Rain Coast cafes, both of
which were pretty good.
Tofino is a four and a half hour drive from Victoria, which
includes a ten minute stop at McDonalds in Port Alberni for
chicken nuggets and a piss.
Victoria
Don't expect a sleepy island town...this place is tourist
central! Anytime you find a "Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum"
it's best to run the other way. Unfortunately the whole
Inner Harbour area is like this, we're talking Whale Watching
boats, horse carriage tours, rickshaw rides, bagpipers,
panhandlers, overpriced restaurants and a horrifyingly
cheesy-looking tourist spectacles called "Miniature World".
It was only when we got out of this area that we found some
interesting spots.
Beacon Hill Park, which is a five minute walk from the
parliament building, is a tranquil, quiet escape and definitely
worth a visit. We didn't walk through the entire park but
what we did see was very nice. Our favourite place was an
area east of the city centre called Oak Bay. It's a
primarily residential area with gorgeous houses, amazing
greenery and landscaping, and a decent beach, at least by
Canadian standards! It was refreshing to wander throughout
this area away from the tourists and see what a real part of
Victoria was like.
Campbell River
Yet another gem on the beautiful Vancouver Island. This
town and location does seem to have it all; world class salmon
fishing, miles of hiking trails, waterfalls, downhill skiing,
sailing with orca whales in the Pacific, beaches. We spent
a few days there and barely scratched the surface.
Luckily, grandpa Pete just bought a cabin there right near the
ocean with a beautiful big grassy yard perfect for barefoot
soccer matches. The town itself is big enough to have
everything you need, but the proximity to the ocean and to the
countryside gives it a cottage country feel. Since dad's
place has a renter in it for the moment we rented a cabin at a
place called Dolphins Resort (www.dolphinsresort.com)
which was a superb place. We rented a four bedroom cabin
with an ocean view and deck complete with hot tub for
$200/night. The staff were great and the surroundings
pristine. We were a little early in the season for fishing
so we'll have to try that next time.
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Click for 
Ana and Fuzzy on Long Beach
Salmon fishing
A perfect afternoon
The bird lady
View from the Tide's Inn in Tofino
Fuzzy getting some rays
Oak Bay beach in Victoria
Victoria
Magnus' toes in the Pacific
Discovery passage
View from grandpa's cabin
Olson's Oasis - Campbell River
chapter
Tree jacket
Local sights
Waterfall
Ride 'em cowbaby
Pier at Campbell River |
