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It's been a couple of days since our last update, still reeling from the amazing whale-watching trip (reeling in my head as well - I swear that when I put my head down last night I could still feel the swell of the boat). That pizza we picked up after the trip never got eaten, we were too tired to do anything but sit and watch the evening sun come down over the inlet and gradually get off to sleep. The next day (Sunday 15th) was always going to be a slow day - we started off by sleeping in - at least 8am - Shell and I have been waking up before 7am most mornings for some strange reason. No mundane breakfast preparation for us - it was off to Mattersons again for a slap up breakfast in the burning sun, Canadian styleee. Sausage and Toast for Joe (an excuse for having Tomato Ketchup really), masses of French Toast (eggy bread to the rest of us) dripping in Maple Syrup for Shell and Clara and an Eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon for me - what a way to start the day. We planned to visit Tofino and headed off down Highway 4. It appears Tofino and Ucluelet are battling for supremacy in the tourism stakes, with Tofino being the larger and more developed hippy haven and Ucluelet still catching up. That's what the brochures say anyway. Tofino definitely has the beaches, huges stretches of sand with great surf. We got to Tofino and at first had trouble finding the town centre - it doesn't really have one - it's a strange mix of shops and stuff spread over quite a large area. We did the typical stuff - ice creams, hot dogs, and visited all sorts of cutesy gift shops selling stuff made out of drift wood, eco-friendly clothes made of hemp and a thousand different T-shirts. Our overall impression was that we preferred Ucluelet - less commercialised, more authentic (whatever that means), and less hippies !!!. So back to Ucluelet it was - just in time for a last minute visit to the jewellery shop (Shell and Clara) and the clothes shop (Shell and Clara) .... It was here that I learned something - if you park at the side of the road - always park in the direction of the traffic, not against it, cos that is illegal and the town cops have a quota to reach !! The evening was spent packing - we now have a sizeable bag of clothes to be washed but keep missing the opportunity !!
Up early today (16th) - and surprisingly (after the bright sunshine and heat of the last few days) we were surrounded by FOG !!. Time to pack the car and check out. We were going to update the blog but the wireless was down so by 9.45 we were off. (I have to say Ucluelet has been fantastic - we didn't want to leave - the Waters Edge Resort is fantastic and superbly located.) Anyway, 10 mins into the journey we were in bright sunshine again and it just kept getting hotter. The drive from Ucluelet to Port Alberni is 100km drive that takes 2 hrs and was as fantastic on our return as it was when we came out. Alongside Kennedy Lake and through Clayoquot National Park - the views were superb and the drive was a real drivers drive (somebody will know what I mean). Arriving at Port Alberni the kids were for some reason desperate to visit Wal-Mart and see how different it was from Asda - it wasn't !!. We carried on to Nanaimo without stopping and arrived at the ferry terminal with a good 2 hours to spare - remember our experience coming out - plenty of time but in the wrong place - this time I was going to be damm sure that I was in the right place with plenty of time to spare - so for the next 2 hours we were bored silly at the ferry terminal in what was now incredible heat !! Starbucks to the rescue again (more of my hard earned cash going to this corporate coffee stain that seems to have got everywhere). As it happens the Ferry was delayed due to a "medical emergency" on the outbound sailing (like everyone I would have loved to know the gruesome details). So 30 mins late we left Vancouver Island and headed back to the mainland. After an uneventful crossing we found ourselves on the 3rd leg of our journey - joining Highway 1 and heading for the Rockies - through farming country first of all with the imposing mountains a dark shadow in the distance. By 7pm we arrived at a Travelodge just off the highway in the non-descript town of Chilliwack, interesting name but not sure about anything else - to be fair I haven't and probably won't find out too much - it's tag line is "Chilliwack - The Great Outside" - well that could be anywhere couldn't it. It does have an "alluring" lake, a water park with a black hole (??), there's Dinotown ("North Amerca's Only Cartoon Dinosaur Town"...) oh and nearby is the 6th largest waterfall in Canada !!. The bags are unloaded, the kids have had a swim and we headed to The Pantry for a bite to eat - didn't start too well when Shell asked for a glass of wine only to be told that they only had one white and one red !! we'll have that one then shall we !. Burgers all round and quickly out of there. How will we ever draw ourselves away tomorrow ?. The Rockies are calling !!! Stay tuned for stories from Fraser Canyon, Hell's Gate, and the drive through Kamloops to our next stop in Salmon Arm.
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Lyndsey Hellyn WOW, have loved reading your blog. As I stole your holiday from last year(which we loved) can I steal this years holiday? It sounds so amazing. Enjoy love Lyndsey xxxx