New plan: buy this, fill with surf gear and BBQ, park on the beach, attain nirvana.
Today we awoke to a lovely Pacific coast morning. The surf was crashing in the distance and we were bone dry. The interpreter last night told us that we were in the middle of a strange dry spell in the rainforest, and more appreciative, we could not be. Once water was boiling and the fire was warming (it was a little chilly in the wee hours) we had a quick meal of instant oats (some with fresh BC blue berries) - and Gordon loved everything, especially the black berries, that he used to paint his placemat, his chair, his face and everything else. Great! Then we were off - we had to be at the surf shop for 9:00.
The drive to Tofino is about 20 km from the park, and Tofino is only about 5 streets long, so it didn't take long before we were unloading at the parking lot of Surf Sisters. T checked in and Gord and I prepared for our day on the beach. Originally we thought Gord and I would wait for the surfers in town, walking up and down the streets and popping in and out of the shops, but Theresa needed a drive to the beach, and it was a few km away from town, so we would be enjoying a morning at the beach as well. What a burden.
We arrived at the beach around 9:45 and I quickly put Gord in the carrier - facing in. I was hoping that his morning nap would be long and uneventful as I meandered up and down a beautiful beach. For once, he played ball, and we were off. It took about 6 minutes for my bouncing and the sound of the waves to lull him to sleep. In addition, the wind from yesterday was all but gone, perfect baby napping weather. The beach was deep and wide, like a table top of damp sand. Surfers were scattered across the beach, most attached to an instructor; Cox Bay beach had predictable and comfortable surf (no huge waves) and there was lots of room for everyone, a good spot for learners.
After about 30 minutes I saw a group of about 10 walk out of the bush, this must be T's group, I guess they had all passed the surf gear and etiquette component of the lesson and were now welcome on the beach. It would be another 30 minutes before any of them made it to the water.
Gord was still sleeping soundly when Mom first paddled out into the big blue (or the green, as they call it here). What a pro! She paddled out easily and was doing trick stuff almost immediately. Well, not exactly, surfing is hard. She has a board sports background (snow and wake), but timing the wave just right is a new task, and it doesn't look easy. Very few surfers 'get up' their first day, but she got real close a number of times. There's a reason why surfers are consciously laid back - surfing, especially when you are learning, can be incredibly frustrating. It takes a lot of energy and time just to get through the surf, and then it can all be over in a matter of seconds. Gord woke up when I went over to talk to his mom, so the two of us headed back to the car. With a new bum and some food in his belly we headed back to the beach hoping to catch Mom's last (and maybe best waves) - but they were all done and met us at the end of the trail heading back to the cars. If everyone's body language is an indication, surfing is tiring.
Once packed up and dried off we headed for town. T had burned off a lot of calories, and Gord and I were many hours from breakfast, so we parked and went hunting. We had heard about SOBO in the guide book, so when we saw the sign we popped in - a more fortuitous move I don't think we've ever made. This place, I believe, is out of a dream T and I have regularly. The menu was fuss of locally sourced, sustainably harvested and delicious food. They even list the fwrmer's name next to the food! We had started with the polenta fries and the pinto bean chalupas, then had the . All of it was delicious. Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead very well and left no room for the desserts, all of which looked amazing. Alas.
By the time we dragged ourselves away from the place it was 2:00ish and we busied ourselves with the town's many shops and stores. There are actually quite a few galleries in the small town, and we found a piece we both loved in one. It was reasonable and the shipping wasn't too much so we dove in and will have a great memento waiting for us once we get home.
We walked around a little more and played in the park a bit. The plan was to stay in town all day, have dinner, and only then go back to the site. But it didn't happen, the surfing and the eating made grumps out of all of us, so at about 4:30 we piled back in the Jetta and arrived back at the tent for a much needed break/nap. At 6:00 we stretched, got back in the car and headed back to town. We wanted to try a different place, the Rain Coast Cafe, a veggie specialist cafe that also pat lots of attention to where their food comes from.
One problem. It wasn't there. I guess our guide book was dted, because it has been replaced by The Spotted Bear, which had lots of meat options, but not a lot for us. So...what could we do? Obviously, we headed back to SOBO! Luckily the staff had changed over so we didn't look like weirdo food stalks, but the food was still amazing. My fab was the tofu/mushroom pocket (a pocket made out of fried tofu filld with delicious and light Asian flavours!) and T enjoyed the local scallops. This time was different though, we made extra careful attention NOT to fill up and to save room for dessert. That meant we could enjoy the chocolate fudge brownie (served warm with house made peanut butter ice cream) and the key lime pie with real whipped cream. They were both unreal.
After dinner we didn't have much left in the tank. We walked back to the car, made our way back to the site, had a shirt fire and went to bed. Tomorrow we were on our way to the provincial capital of Victoria, and the drive back down highway 4 was looming in front of me all night. I'm sure we'd be fine, I just wish I could drive it without the kid in the back, it would lighten my mental load!
Hope everyone is keeping well.
TOTAL FUEL FILL UPS: 6
DAILY WILDLIFE: a jelly on the beach, some anenomies, some sea cucumbers in the tidal pools, and lots of crow!
Way to go Theresa! Looks awesome :) Gord is changing so much....
ReplyDelete