We had a couple of good weather days and some free time, so we decided it was about time for us to head over to Tofino and check out the possible boondocking sites there. We had read on ioverlander that there was not much to be had in this direction, but wanted to know. Also, we have been living on the island for a couple of years and had yet to make the trek out there – almost sacrilegious when you live in this area.
So, van packed, gas tank filled, we took off for the 2+ hour drive, which seemed much longer now that I think of it. There is some construction happening along the way, but the delays were minimal. Maybe it was the fact that you go up, then down, then up again. Each time, I figured we had made it through the mountain range that runs along Vancouver Island and were headed down to the coast, only to be met with yet another long climb. This was a great opportunity to see how the van handled big hills while fully loaded, and it performed admirably. Not quite as zippy as our last car (a really sweet Honda Civic SIR), but hey, this is our home, so I am giving it a break.
The scenery along the way was beautiful, and if it hadn’t been for the aforementioned construction that we knew might mean an hour long wait if we hit it at the wrong time, we would have stopped at some of the lovely spots along the way to check out the rivers or lakes that were tantalizing us with little glimpses through the trees.
Finally, we came down the last long hill and into the Ucluelet end of the coast area. When you arrive, you can take a left and quickly be in the town of Ucluelet, or turn right and drive another 15-20 minutes to Tofino. Interestingly, by the time we made it down, the clouds had taken over the bright blue sky and when we got out of the van, we found it quite chilly – oops! I knew I should have packed my toque (that’s Canadian for stocking cap)! Ah well. We drove along to first check out a possible boondocking site for this night, up past the local garbage dump. Yep, doesn’t sound terribly attractive does it? But it is apparently very popular with the locals. We drove up the road, but must have missed a turn as we ended up on an active logging road. Not wanting to be run down by a logging truck, or be awakened by them in the morning, we quickly turned around and headed back towards the Visitor’s Centre near Ucluelet. By now it was getting on and we were just hoping to find a good spot to camp for the night at a regular camp ground – yes, we are still pretty tentative at this boondocking thing. While at the Visitor’s Centre, we were able to purchase National Park passes for each of us. The guy took pity on us and kindly sold us Senior passes, even though we are a few months shy of the actual big 65 – thanks, buddy! Our passes will work for all National Parks and Historic sites in Canada and since we plan on hitting a bunch of them, we will get our money’s worth. Unlike the States, where you can buy a lifetime Senior’s park pass, this one will last us for only the year, but what the heck, its still a good deal. Park passes purchased, we discussed possible camping options with the folks manning the centre and then headed into Ucluelet proper to check out the two we had chosen. The first, at a local marina, had a couple of nice spots near the water, but the walk to the bathroom was a bit long and we weren’t really feeling the vibe, so off we went to the Ucluelet Campground, where we found some very nice sites and facilities. It was a bit pricey ($45.00!), but at this point we just wanted to settle in for the night. We pulled into our little spot and set about making dinner. We had a couple of backpackers dinner we wanted to try out and the one for this night was pretty good although now that I am writing this, I can’t remember what the heck it was – hmmmm… maybe it wasn’t all that good after all! Dessert though, was pretty yummy – a raspberry chocolate thing that you could eat warm or cold. We washed it all down with a glass of wine while enjoying the tiny view we had of the harbour. After cleaning up, we retired to the van to watch a movie before settling down to a peaceful sleep under the trees.
In the morning, we enjoyed our granola and coffee in the van as it was a bit chilly out. The little table that detaches from the bed is working perfectly! When we finished, it was a simple matter of tossing our garbage and driving off to check out the town of Tofino and then head to the beach for the day. We were thinking we would look for another boondocking spot in Ucluelet for the night, but needed to pick up something for dinner in Tofino. I also wanted to find a toque before venturing off onto the beach in the cold.
Tofino is a funky little town and we enjoyed strolling around the Co-op grocery store, picking up what we needed for this day. Just across the way I found just the hat I was looking for, so we were good to go. But before heading off, we went for a little stroll around the town and down to the waterfront marina. Here we saw a group of backpackers being dropped off by a boat. We weren’t sure where they might have been coming from, but it looked like they had enjoyed their adventure. Just on the other side of the marina, we spotted a group of geodesic domes and we walked over to have a look. Turns out this is the home of Wildpod, a truly Tofinoesque hotel where you can “glamp” on the shores of the Clayoquot Sound. Now, I won’t go into the details, but this is ultimate in this kind of experience and if we had that kind of money, you can bet we’d be giving them our business! However, since our own little slice of heaven was patiently waiting for our return, we walked back to Vincent Van Go and off we went in search of a beach.
The beaches along Pacific Rim National Park are quite simply spectacular and we quickly found a place to park where we could walk right onto the perfect beach. There were many people surfing here and we enjoyed watching them take on the waves. By this time of day the waves were much smaller so the more daring surfers were finished, but it was fun watching the beginners none the less. Despite how fantastic this area is, the beach was not at all crowded and we enjoyed spending time walking along the beach, getting our feet wet, drawing in the sand and taking pictures. It was a glorious and relaxing day – just what we needed!
Finally, we made our way back to the car and down to Ucluelet to find a spot to park for the night – this time without having to pay! I had checked a spot on ioverlander the day before, but had mistaken the location. Upon looking at it again, I realized that the parking lot was just across the street from the camp ground we had been at the night before! This parking lot was for the disused community hall and even had a porta potty! When we drove by, we saw one RV already parked there. It looked quiet and perfect and we knew this would be our spot for that night – hurray! That decision made, we drove out to the Wild Pacific Trail, which is near the Amphitrite Point lighthouse. We wanted to get in a walk and as well, try flying the drone. As we can’t fly the drone in any National Parks, we couldn’t get it out at the beach in Tofino (also its too close to the airport there). The walk along the craggy shore was just perfect and we found a little quiet spot to get the drone out. It looked a bit like a moonscape, all grey and rocky, so the footage wasn’t great, but it gave us some practice and we are slowly getting used to sending our new little buddy up into the air and around, although flying over water is definitely a little scary, I have to say.
The day of fresh air and the walk did us good and we stopped at a little park with picnic tables to warm up the chilli we had picked up for dinner (hoping that it wasn’t a mistake eating chilli before sleeping in the van!). One thing about boondocking we are finding is that you need to eat in a different location unless you are at a place where no one cares. We like to error on the side of caution and not take undue advantage of places we stay so that they will be there for us and others in the future.
Dinner done, we headed back to our little spot. Over the course of the evening a few other RVs showed up, but it was a very quiet group. As we walked over to use the Porta Potty, we saw an RCMP officer over at the attached field talking with someone who had been walking their dog. He didn’t even look our way and gave no indication that we shouldn’t be there, which was pretty nice. Once again we crawled into the van, watched a movie and enjoyed a blissfully quiet sleep – this one costing us not a cent!
In the morning, we once again had our cereal in the van but elected to bring our coffee making over to one of the beaches in the park so that we could enjoy coffee on the beach. We parked in the nearly empty parking lot, got out the coffee fixings and in no time had our yummy morning lattes with us down on the perfect beach – ah! Now this is living!!! Eventually we went for another long beach walk before packing up and heading back to Nanaimo. It was a wonderful little getaway and another successful trial in the van. We are feeling more and more ready to head out on our long awaited adventure! We’ve touched our toes in the Pacific, now we need to do the same in the Atlantic! Check out the great video that Jim created of our time in Tofino on our Youtube Channel – and don’t forget to like and subscribe!!!
