The journey over to Victoria is quite picturesque. We took the ferry over and soaked up the views of the mountains in the distance. It rained a little on the way over, but it didn’t keep us from being out on the deck. The calm of the water, the rugged rocky coastline, the deep green treeline, and the fresh cool breeze. Truly serene.
Not far from where we were staying in Ucluelet, British Columbia is a lovely trail called the Wild Pacific Trail. Not to be confused with the longer and more popular West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island.
Sunset
1. Nature
When you make an effort to get out on a trail you are rewarded by being surrounded by some amazing nature. Forests, mountain tops, Sea lines, Canyons are just a few of the areas that we have hiked through. Each area has its own unique flavour and no two areas in the world are ever replicated. That is mother natures gift to us. All we have to do is get out and enjoy it and make sure that humans don’t destroy it.
Hiking in Ireland
Hiking in Zion National Park “The Narrows”
A beautiful, grand park within walking distance of downtown Vancouver – Stanley Park.
Strolling down the path.
Hatley Castle is a short drive from Victoria, BC and is on the campus of Royal Roads University. I must admit one of our main reasons for making this stop on our west coast visit was that I used to watch the TV show Smallville. Hatley Castle was Lex Luthor’s mansion in the TV show and being a huge fan of the show I had to stop by and see it first hand.
About 50 minutes from Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island is the city of Duncan. I had researched the Pacific Northwest Raptors a while back and knew that this was something that I wanted to see. I mean, who doesn’t want to see birds of prey!!!
We were lucky that we went on a weekday in early September because I imagine it gets really busy in the summer. There were many exhibits around the site, but what I was really looking forward to was the bird show. I’ve never seen one and spend so much time watching nature shows, I was very excited.
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
It was a beautiful morning in Ucluelet BC (Vancouver Island) and I was excited to see some wildlife. There is no place in the world quite like the west coast of Canada. We booked our Whales, Islands and Bears tour with Subtidal Adventures in their zodiac. There was a slower 4 hour boat tour but we wanted the faster moving zodiac ( 3 hours) to be able to keep pace with the wildlife.
One of the things that I forgot when I booked this tour was that I don’t handle ocean waves very well, meaning I get seasickness pretty easily. So I made sure to tell Charlene that I might lean over her side if I felt a tad queasy.
In British Columbia for one week and only a few days left. The best part about a road trip is the flexibility you have with your rental car. Our itinerary in British Columbia includes the following:
1. Stanley Park and the City of Vancouver
2. Peak to Peak (Whistler)
3. Victoria, Vancouver Island
4. The Raptors Birds of Prey attraction in Duncan
5. Whale & Bear watching in Ucluelet on the West Coast of Vancouver Island
6. Tofino
7. North Vancouver
More details and pictures to follow about the specific areas we visited.
All I have to say is …. WOW!!!! It truly is beautiful in British Columbia.
drifters chronicles 
