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travel / great places / cg recommends / tofino
| CG Recommends |
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Pacific Jewels: Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park
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| Playing on Chesterman Beach |
Almost 20 years ago my family moved from
Ottawa to Vancouver. A few months after we got settled we took our first
trip to Vancouver Island, and headed for Tofino and Pacific Rim National
Park. Every part of the adventure was memorable: the ferry ride from
Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo, the drive on the winding highway across the
island, with views of snow-capped mountains and rushing streams, and
finally, our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at Long
Beach, and although it was only mid-March, I ran from the car and headed
straight into the crashing waves. For a girl from the Ottawa Valley
who had never been west of Toronto, it was as if I had been transported
to another world.
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| Cox Bay, near Tofino |
We spent the next few days exploring many
of the coves and beaches along the coast, hiking over rocky headlands
or through lush rainforest to get from one bay to the next. New sights
and sounds were everywhere: crystal-clear tidal pools filled with starfish
and anemones in rich hues of purple, red and orange; flocks of tiny
shore birds racing up and down the beach; giant yellow slugs in the
damp, dripping forest; surfers riding giant curling waves.
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| View of Meares Island from Tofino Harbour |
Although nothing — for me — can top the beach experience, there are
lots of other things to do in the area. The town of Tofino offers craft
shops, boutiques, native art galleries
and the freshest seafood in Western Canada. Or there are whale-watching
trips on Clayoquot Sound, sea-kayaking expeditions, and miles of hiking
trails through the rainforest.
I have been back to Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park seven times
since that first visit. And though I am now back in the East, I will
always be drawn to the grandeur of the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Margaret Williamson, Photo Editor
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