Friday, it was time for me to pack my bags and get my sorry city-slicker ass onto Vancouver Island, as I read somewhere, the “concentrate of Canada”, everything in terms of landscape a tourist would expect.
I had to get my rental car friday morning, and then drove 40 minutes to the ferry terminal to get to the Island. In anticipation, I was pretty worried that I’d miss a turn, or get completely lost, after all, it’s a foreign city. However, there seem to be enough ignorant tourists like me, you can almost not miss the ferry terminal, there’s perfect road signs. The last bit of the drive is quite interesting, since the terminal is on a pier that is built out straight into the ocean, so you’re following this ruler-straight street for two kilometers, ocean to the left and to the right, and a slight haze that gives the impression that the road dissolves into nothing about 300m further on. Spooky! The ferry trip then takes 90 minutes, and is extremely uneventful. After that, it’s about five hours drive through very nice landscapes, unfortunately, when you drive alone, it’s a bit dangerous to watch the scenery. Nevertheless, I saw beautiful lakes, and even a water bomber flying over me)
Arriving in Tofino, I settled in my B&B, and set out to explore the town. Not that much to see here, it’s about 6 streets that cross, that’s all. Apparently, Tofino used to be a town built on fishing and logging, of which neither is a very profitable business anymore. Thus, they have re-oriented themselves towards tourism, and I have to say, they did an excellent job. You have everything from fast snacks to excellent, refined meals (like clams, scallops and fresh salmon on Soba noodles and cashew nuts, garnished with peppers and other fresh, organic vegetables). Still, a car is absolutely essential considering the distances here, driving here, you pass a sign that says “Check your gas – last gas station for 97km”. Quite different from Switzerland for sure. So, I am here now, and I happily set out, exploring the trails of Pacific Rim National Forest by car and foot.
[no, my fly is not open.]
Another thing that’s very different from Switzerland is that you can walk for long periods of time and not encounter a single person. It’s quiet, just the sounds of nature (and an occasional float plane). At one of the trails, I met a guy at the parking ticket machine. We exchanged a few words, and I thought I caught a familiar accent, so I asked him “Where are you from?”, and he replied “Switzerland”, to which I replied “Ich ha mir’s no dänkt”. Hmmm … in retrospective, that wasn’t very thoughtful of me, since he later told me he just spent five weeks in Vancouver to brush up his English. Well, sorry for spotting your accent!
One of the trails I visited was particularly interesting, it’s called the bog and is a marshy place with acidic soil. This troubles the flora, and so, trees grow very slowly, evolving into a kind of natural bonsais, since they are only about man-sized, but maybe hundred years old.
On a unrelated note, I forgot to tell that this friend of mine sms’d me as soon as I had arrived in Boston, asking me for computer advice and hoping I wasn’t asleep yet. He probably was quite astonished when I wrote back “Of course, I am not asleep, it’s 5PM! (here in Boston)”. Well, he assured me the computer problem could wait in that case. So, I couldn’t try out cross-continent troubleshooting (a good thing, I guess).
Enough for now, more as it develops.
