Tofino


Long Beach in Tofino
We took a mini vacation from our vacation lifestyle and spent a night in a hotel in Tofino.  Tofino is on the western coast of the island, just about the same latitude as Nanaimo. It took us about 3 hours to get to the other side but the drive was beautiful.  I have always said that I love mountains and water together.  So, a lake or ocean, or in this case Clayoquot Sound, where there are no beaches but the mountains just dive right down into the sea... is my cup of tea.

A great back deck for sunset cocktails
Once in town, we went immediately to the sea plane tour place and booked ourselves on a 30 min flight-seeing tour of the sound for the next morning.  Jeff then booked himself for the 5:30PM kayaking sunset tour of the sound.  Since I hadn't packed for that, I enjoyed some Chardonnay with an amazing view instead.  I am sure he was cold out there paddling, right?  My wine was cold, which made me happy :)

Floatplane and Kayak launch



Malcolm's Plane
Jeff in the backseat
As it turned out, the floatplane charter was the second best (behind the eclipse) adventure of our trip so far!  Malcolm was our pilot and not only did he provide the softest plane landing of our lives, but he also entertained us with his classic car restoration stories along the way. Malcolm went to college in San Diego and worked at the local VW repair shop.  Seriously, we couldn't have hand picked a better person to show us the scenery and wildlife.  He is also an artist and paints Volkswagons, so I hope to commission a portrait of Jimmy!
Malcolm





Malcolm first worked as a fish spotter which I am sure helps him in the charter tour business. For the past 2 years, he has counted only 9 spottings of what was to be our treat for the day....Orcas!

Floral depiction of Orcas in Victoria
Clearly something black & white?!
Please understand that I waded through literally hundreds of pictures from both of our phones trying to find even one that remotely captured the awe that we felt by watching these whales frolic in the ocean.  Frolic is a good word for their behavior it seems.  They churn up the water at the surface and seemed to be playing.



We were lucky when we were able to spot some of their distinctive black and white coloring, but never got a traditional whale tail on a dive or anything like that.  You will have to trust us on how amazing this experience was. We saw one pod that was split into two small groups.  These whales are Transient versus Resident whales and are constantly on the go. They are also apex predators, meaning that no other animal preys on them.  Sadly, man is their biggest danger mainly due to pollution of their habitat.




My desire in booking the tour was mainly to see the beautiful sound from above and I was not disappointed on this point either.  It was surprising to see beautiful white beaches as well as the expected tree filled hills dipping into the Pacific.

Pristine little island







We also saw at least 3 gray whales, which are much slower and easier to spot.  Still, the photos make them look like fish vs. whales. They were huge and elegant as they dove to the bottom to sift through sand for krill.  In fact, Malcolm said that he saw more whales on this particular 30 minute flight than he ever had before!  At $325 Canadian, it was well worth the splurge!



Sunset in Tofino
I had been on a whale watching boat tour in Alaska over 10 years ago, which was memorable, but the areal view was simply amazing.  So much so, that I didn't even realize I was in a tiny floatplane doing donuts in the sky!  We highly recommend Atleo River Air Service and especially Malcolm for an amazing experience!

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