Our kayak adventure started in the picturesque town of Tofino.  The small town of Tofino is located on Vancouver Island in Clayoquot Sound.  If you ever find yourself on Vancouver Island, make it a priority to visit Tofino.  Tofino is a must.  Even more make sure you take a kayak trip.  We signed up for our tour with Black Bear Kayak.  Our tour guide TJ was awesome.  Kayaking and hiking with him felt like hanging out with an old friend.  He was also very knowledgeable about the trees and plants on our hiking trip.  We highly recommend this tour.

TJ and his dog Sawyer, Andrew and I

This was our first sea kayaking trip, and it won’t be our last.  It was also our first time on a two seat kayak.  We really enjoyed ourselves.  We were so proud of ourselves that we were able to paddle through the currents.  Our wildlife viewings included bald eagles and crabs on the kelp.

Me and the kayaks.

We really look like we know what we’re doing!

The hiking portion of the trip was fabulous.  It was a nice walk on the boardwalk.  This forest had some incredibly old and very large red cedar and western hemlock trees.  You could sit there for hours to stare at the trees and plants.  The air was fresh and clean, I kept taking deep breaths just to enjoy. 

Andrew and a red cedar.

Charlene and a red cedar.

As you can tell from the pictures above that the tress are large, we are tiny in comparison.

The forest.

Clayoquot Sound was recognized by the United Nations as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on January 21, 2000.  This biosphere is approximately 349,947 hectares.  Within the biosphere there are coastal rainforest, ocean and rocky coastal shores.

This is the inside of a tree, totally hollow.

A four hour paddle on the Pacific Ocean and hike through the ancient Big Tree Trail on Meares Island – magnificent!