Day 16 - The Lap of Luxury

Leaving this picturesque town was not an easy thing to do. Well, that's not entirely true, we really just got in the car and drove off, but it was the hardest (non-family/friend) good bye we've had to make all trip. We talked about retiring their (maybe we'll crowd source the funds necessary), but at the very least we'll return one day, and stay a while. We didn't even get to Uclulet, or Haida Gwai, or any of the broken islands. Tofino was great to devour, was a great landing/take-off pad, but some places are worth soaking in. Tofino is one of those places for us. We'll be back.

As expected the drive south was relatively uneventful. The boy slept for most of it and T predictably got a little ill in the back seat (long gone are her roller-coaster days, the liquid in her inner ear has thickened and she can no longer take it). One thing we were not able to do on our way to Tofino was stop at Cathedral Grove, a 300 hectare provincial park and stand of old growth Douglas Fur trees. These trees are massive, nearly 9m in circumference, and they're old, many over 800 years old. It's a special place than we had to drive through last time because Gord was sleeping. This time, however, the kid came through, waking up just as we were getting close. We found a coveted parking spot and checked out some trees.

Gord was impressed with the place and was pretty quiet throughout our shirt time there. Not to be surprised, this ancient stand is a remarkable place and is worth the stop. Words can't adequately capture the feelings that places such as these muster up, so I won't try.

A quiet place.

In the company of old, noble giants.

But we couldn't stop for long. We weren't halfway done yet. We were heading for the ocean and the tip of the island, no stopping until Victoria. 

When we finally pulled into the provincial capital it was about 3:00 and the tourists were flooding thencitynstreets liked locusts hungrily gobbling up the nobility and grandeur of this old dame. Feeling a little sheepish we made a hard right onto Government Street and put it into park in front of our home for the next 2 days, the Fairmont Empress. From Wikipedia: The Edwardian, château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific's steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away blah blah blah. It's big, it's impressive, it's a little stuffy. But the linens were great and the location was perfect, right on the inner harbour. Like, right there. 

We had been camping (and beaching) for two days so the two self-respecting ones among us ran to the shower. The bathroom was steamy and smelled oddly of camp fire and hemlock. Tired, we didn't feel like doing much, but the harbour beckoned. 

We've been trying to heed the advice of our well-traveled friends as much as possible, after all, who better to tell us what we'll like than the people who know us best. And so, with a name in hand we walked a few blocks up Gov't street to 'rebar'.

The place is hip but not too hip, we didn't bring the first baby to the party and they actually had some great toys to keep him busy while we waited for our food. We started with the yukon gold and sweet potato fries - they were a big hit!  I got the BBQ and smoked cheddar veggie burger and T got the enchiladas. Again we did 't leave room for dessert, but we were happy and sleepy. 

We walked the streets for a bit, heading to the water where Ska Fest was in full swing. It was a full-on concert with expensive tickets and big names, but it was so close that we could hear everything it hour lying anything (or dealing with the crowds). It was busy downtown, but the cars stop for pedestrians and you always feel safe (I'm from Hamilton, I usually feel safe!) - but I will say that I felt a little young for this town, and that's during Ska Fest no less. 

We finished up our walk at the heart of the inner harbour and as we were watching the cute harbour water taxis puttering about we noticed our digs...

That's our place, on the left.

Again, the linens were great, and we stretched out on our King sized bed (at the Empress? Whatever.) and slept well. Tomorrow we would explore all that the town and this old lady had to offer, that was the plan anyway.

TOTAL FUEL FILL UPS: 7

DAILY WILDLIFE: gulls, dogs, no other animals in the Empress, they wouldn't dare!