Hello again fan, another day and another entry in the Blog. Today we enjoyed another days rest, before getting back on the bikes in the morning. Then there will be another two days of riding, which will take us to the far side of Vancouver Island, another ferry and finally to the home of the last Winter Olympics, Whistler BC. The hotel at Tin-Wis has proven to be such a totally restful place. It was quite an effort to drag myself away and go into town today, to see what Tofino had to offer. First things first, breakfast! The dining room at the hotel has magnificent views of the grounds and the ocean, as three of the sides are covered in glass. So whether enjoying a breakfast or dinner, either is a lovely experience due to the views from anywhere in the dining room. Breakfast was the usual buffet style fare and we both enjoyed a good meal before heading off for the morning. Back in the room, we put on some 'outdoor' cloths, without getting into full riding gear. Tofino is about 10 minutes away and we planned to walk round the small town. Riding gear would have been too cumbersome and too hot. Wendy had planned a rough itinerary, so we headed into town, parked up the bikes and wandered off.
Tofinao is a pretty little town, built at the end of a thin finger of land, extending out from the Pacific Rim Park. There are only about six main streets to the town, which incidentally claims to be the furthest West town in Canada! First port of call was a local gallery and a look at some local art. West Coast aboriginal art is quite distinctive and features a lot of brightly coloured wood carving. Beautiful as it is, it is also quite expensive, so my only acquisition was an aboriginal decal the size of a beer map. The depiction is of a Raven and it now has pride of place on one of 'Gerties' panniers! Other than that, Wendy spotted a beautiful hand knitted sweater which was tried on, then put back to, 'think about it'............... Heard that one before guys? So had I, so I said just get it. 'No, I'll think about it', says she! Out of the gallery, we headed down to the dock, to see what was going on there. I was captivated by the sight of a couple of float planes and stood about watching the comings and goings of various boats. In the mean while, the sweater got the better of Wendy. 'I think I'll go back and get that sweater', she says. No surprise there then, just surprised she took so long to go back. In fairness, I got quite a cool long sleeved T shirt out of it as well. I eventually dragged myself away from the float planes after watching and listening too the Beaver take off from the calm waters in the inlet around Tofino.
From the dock, we headed back into town in search of coffee. Wendy had read the local newspaper in the hotel room and had a couple of places she wanted to visit. We didn't find the coffee shop of her choice, but we did stumble on a cute little place selling juice drinks and fresh baked goods - muffins. We sat out in the courtyard enjoying the berry and yogurt smoothies, while munching on huge muffins. Only after we had finished did we actually find a couple of other coffee shops on the main street, just yards from where we had enjoyed the smoothies.......... Next on the list of 'must do's', was a local glass artist. Although he was in town, getting to his studio would have been a bit of a trek, so we returned to the bikes, deciding to ride there. While getting ready to ride away, an old guy with scraggy white beard drew up, and parked his truck right alongside us. He stopped and we both expected a little trouble, thinking we would have a bit of a 'run in' with this guy. As it was, he came round the truck, big smile on his face and said, 'it's ok, I'm friendly'. Turns out he had seen 'Sydders' as he drove through town and wanted a closeup. He too was a biker - see my earlier comments - and wanted to know more about the Spyder. We chatted about bikes in general. About the British bikes he had owned over the years, BSA's, Triumphs and the Harleys he now owned. Before we headed of, he made a passionate plea for us to ride with care over the mountains out of Tofino. It appears that too many folks have come too grief on this road. I'm sure his words will be ringing in our ears as we make our way back to Port Alberni on the Pacific Rim Highway.
After we left our friend, we rode the short distance to the glass workshop. It is located in a small residential area on the edge of the small town and the workshop itself was housed in an old garage. Never the less, the work was truly different. Too say the signature piece was masks, is too underestimate theses works of art. Different they certainly are, fun they definitely are and we bought one to bring home. We chatted with the artist for a while before leaving for our final stop in town - the brewery!!! The Tofino brewery is a new venture in town, though correctly, it sits in a small industrial unit just outside of town. They only brew two styles of beer at the moment and such was the popularity of the local brew, they had actually run out of one of them. We met and chatted with the young guy who is the brew master. I had too ask where this young guy had learned his craft. Would you believe England! Of course you would. Actually, it was in the North of England, Sunderland to be exact. He told us that during his first six months of study in Sunderland he hadn't understood a thing that had been said to him. Then he gave a perfect rendition of a 'Geordie' accent, complete with a 'whey eye man'. We sampled the beer and purchased a 'growler' - 64fl oz and a brewery T shirt - well you have to don't you! Purchase complete, we headed out to the bikes to load up as another BMW GS rider came into the carpark. We learned that 'Bruce' was spending a little time up here in Tofino with his son, before heading out on some major motorcycle trips, he called it the Cross. Coast to coast Canada, then from the tip of Alaska to the tip of Chile. It appears that this guy has sold his house and plans to live on his bike for how ever long it takes. You meet some amazing folks on the back of a bike!
Back to the hotel room then and finish off yesterdays Blog, down load a few photos and break into the 'Growler'....... Before we knew it, it was time for a shower before heading over to the dining room for a spot of dinner. Once again, a lovely meal, though this time we were a little more traditional - fish and chips. Though on this coast, they substitute cod with halibut, but the end result was still very tasty. So, the end of day 2 here at Tin-Wis. Tomorrow we will load up the bikes and head back over the mountains, for a night on the East coast of Vancouver Island, our last night in fact. Wednesday will see us on the homeward leg of the trip. We have really enjoyed this part of the Island, stunningly beautiful and so so laid back.
Thats it then, time to get this down the ole electric string and posted for your delectation. I hope those who have read my scribbles, get as much enjoyment reading it as I do writing them. Nite nite fan, see you again soon.
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