A Vancouver Island Road Trip – Day 2
After a good night’s sleep at Best Western Cowichan Valley, Callum & I woke up early so we could make the nearly 3.5 hours drive to Tofino (with some stops along the way).
I really wanted to check out Cathedral Grove (they filmed some of Star Wars here, but unfortunately it was closed due to COVID), but we still stopped at some cool places along the way.
With our snack bag from the Best Western of a granola bar, apple, cookie and beverage, we were on our way nice and early. Honestly these snack bags were great because it allowed us to leave early, and hit our first stop early.
Hole in the Wall Waterfall
I read online to park in this one place for the trail to the Hole in the Wall Waterfall, but it was clearly not an official parking area. It was actually private property (we knew this because there was a sign).
There was also a different sign that said to park by the candy shop for the Hole in the Wall Waterfall so we did that instead.
To get to the trailhead you have to run across the highway. It was a very tame hike and the waterfall was cool.
After our nice little hike, we went to the candy shop for a sweet treat (and to use the bathroom).
Coombs Country Candy
Coombs Country Candy shop was cute and I recommend taking a stop in here before hitting the road (also a good idea to do a safety pee).
I got a London Fog, homemade salted caramel ice cream and we split a kettle corn. The kettle corn was so good.
Road to Tofino
We took a bit of a detour and stopped in Ueclululet to do the Ancient Cedars Trail Walk.
Before the hike we decided to grab some lunch in town. We went to Howler’s Family Restaurant, and sat on the patio. I had a very good falafel wrap and kale caesar salad.
After lunch we did the Ancient Cedars Trail Walk. It was fine, but I suspect Cathedral Grove would have been nicer. I just wanted to see some massive old cedar trees (which we could on the Ancient Cedars Trail).
After the trail walk, we headed to Tofino.
Tofino
We had booked an airbnb for two nights near the Tanquin Trail. This is a nice trail that leads to the beach.
We walked to a few different places around there so Callum could scope out a few different places for astrophotography.
After our little walk, we went back to our airbnb to sort out our surf lessons. Most things were actually sold out, but we ended up finding a place.
Dinner and Sunset in Tofino
Our airbnb had this board of recommended places to eat, so we headed to Kuma Tofino (this place is now closed 😢). We wanted to sit on the patio, but we also wanted to catch the sunset. Unfortunately the wait was too long, so we headed to The Shed for dinner.
The Shed had a lot of patio space. We still had to wait a bit, but not too long. We had beers and burgers. The burger was amazing.
We finished just in time for us to head down to the beach for sunset. Callum took some nice photos and showed me how to take sunburst photos with my camera.
Astrophotography in Tofino
I definitely underestimated what went into astrophotography. I didn’t know there was so much pre-planning, but when we arrived in the dark, I understood why.
Typically Callum likes to set up his camera and do a timelapse, but there were animal noises and I was afraid. It also was starting to rain, so Callum took some photos (they turned out cool in my opinion—you can see some meteors from the perseids meteor shower).
We headed back to the airbnb to get some sleep before our surf day tomorrow.
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A few books, documentaries, and podcasts I recommend consuming before or during your trip to Canada 🇨🇦. Evolving Pop Culture Guide to Canada.
