May 1st – Meares Island Big Tree Trail hike and Whale Watching

I got a phone call from Ocean Outfitters, letting me know that there was a group heading over to Meares Island for a hike on the Big Tree Trail – so I gladly joined. I did most of the trail (but headed back early so I wouldn’t be late for the pickup time), and saw some pretty amazing old trees that were absolutely massive.

After the tiring hike, I decided that I should make the most of day and do the whale watching as well. Which I was extremely glad because of all the whales I saw. I first saw a pod of orca killer whales near the coast, which was pretty rare according to the tour guide. Next we saw the air blow of a grey whale. Next we checked out a group of sea lions, and they were pretty hilarious making funny noises. As we left we spotted the group of killer whales heading toward the sea lions. We were all excited because the tour guide was thinking that the killer whales were going in for some sea lion hunting. Sadly the killer whales ended continuing on their course down the coast of Vancouver Island towards Victoria.

At the end we saw a few hump back whales that the tour guide suspected were juveniles. Overall, he said we had a pretty good day because we saw three different whales which was pretty rare (like 4 or 5 times a year this happens). I should finally saw the boat ride on the zodiac was super fun because it went really fast like a speed boat jetting it through the waves. The bad part was that I got sea sick halfway on the trip and tried to hold it together and not puke hahaha.

April 30th – Schooner Cove pt. 2 and Long Beach

I went back out to Schooner Cove so that I could finish my walk down the beach (which I didn't get to do last time). So this time I walked right from there, all the way down to the end of Long Beach. The walk along the beach was pretty nice, and the sand was nice and clear, hard packed so it’s easy to walk on or even bike on. There were a few surfers out that day as well. At the end of the beach there was a lone sea lion taking a nap. It didn’t mind that I got pretty close to it and so I took a few pictures of it, which was a cool.

I forgot to mention a guy I met here, his name is Raymond Lam (a fellow Chinese guy). It was sort of funny because I had seen him before at the Vancouver hostel but I didn’t talk to him. When he saw me here in Tofino, he recognized me (us being the few Asians here) and introduced himself to me. It was funny because he was surprised that I could speak English, I guess I can sort of understand because most of the Asians staying at the hostel were from overseas. I got to know him pretty good, and exchanged contact info. He lives in San Francisco, so I’ll have a contact him if I ever make my way there.

Raymond was traveling solo like me from the States. He was a bit of an interesting character, as he liked to talk to everyone at the hostel. He was traveling for the purpose it seemed to figure things out in his life and see the world. He told me in college he studied Liberal Arts, but he used to party a lot and do a lot of DJ at clubs, but later on it caught up to him and left him empty with a purpose in life I guess. He told me that he got a job as garbage/recycling guy at Yosemite National Park, but got let go because he didn’t do the work fast enough and that he wanted to talk about the meaning of life and stuff like that lol. Which kind of sums him up, because when I talked to him the conservations sort of came to topics on the meaning of life and society.

April 29th - Tofino

I checked out Radar Hill and took a quick panorama shot. Afterwards, I went out and hiked through a 1km boardwalk that took me through a beautiful old-growth forest. I’ve never seen any trees as big as these before, they were wider than my car. At the end of the boardwalk, it took me out onto the beach of Schooner Cove. It was pretty beautiful and I took a short hike around the rocks to take pictures of the scenery and marine animals (starfishes and stuff like that).

Later on I caught a boat tour to go bear watching in clayoquot sound. The boat ride itself was pretty fun and scenic. We first saw a lone male bear eating plants along the shore. The tour guide estimated it to
be about 300 pounds. Afterwards, we spotted a mother and 2 cubs (at least one year old) feeding on the barnacles clumped on an anchor line leading to a salmon farm in the water. We got pretty close and a good view of them eating away. After that we headed back and spotted some sea lions on a rock.

April 28th – Drive to Tofino

I was glad to finally leave the Vancouver Downtown Hostel, it sort of sucked. The worst part was the washroom, it smelled bad and I believe the toilets were leaking gross stuff on the floor (like it wasn’t well sealed). Also, on our floor there was only one functional sink for the guys, which was of course not enough for all of us to use.

I took the ferry across to Nanaimo, which was an alright ride (I got a bit sea sick). After landing in Nanaimo I headed through the mountains to Tolfino. It was a bit of a scenic drive, but nothing too special. I didn’t take any photos, as I only wanted to check into my hostel and settle in for the night.

April 27th – Vancouver Aquarium

I figured that being a Thursday the aquarium might not be busy. Nope, I was wrong. It was packed with kids and parents. Overall the aquarium was pretty cool, the most memorable part was meeting the Dolphin Daisy (she was rescued a month old in Victoria in 2008). Daisy would swim right up to you and stare at you for a couple of long seconds and then swim away and return. I hung around for a few minutes and grabbed a few shots of us together. The dolphin kept staring at me intently so figuring she’s just as smart as a human, I flipped my camera to show the LCD monitor of the picture of us. To my surprise Daisy turned towards the mini LCD view and gave a small nod in I guess recognition of us. So I took a few more pics and showed her the final image on my camera (and she kept a keen eye on it). It was a pretty cheesy touching moment with the Dolphin, and I wished all the best for her. But I felt bad since she was mostly likely to spend the rest of her life in that small tank and never feel freedom.