Just get away…..
Sometimes we just have to get away, its healthy and it helps us to focus again on the important things. I wanted a get away that allowed us to turn our cell phones off and just be a couple, and thats exactly what we got.
This week my husband and I got in the car with our three pups and went on a get away to Tofino, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. It was a destination that I had actually looked at going to years ago when I was still living in Alberta. My husband had never been there, nor had I. It was amazing.
For those who have never heard of Tofino, it is a small town on the upper tip of Vancouver Island. We live in Victoria, so it was about a five hour drive. The population of this beautiful town is under 2000 people, but of course it is a vacation destination and explodes in season I am sure. Surf boards, sandy beaches, botanical gardens, rain forest and so much more.
We got in the car early on Tuesday morning, we were on the road by 6 am with Cory taking the first shift as driver. We are morning people so for us this was not a problem. First stop was Tim Hortons for our morning fix and a bagel. The dogs were comfortable in the back of the car with their blankets and toys. Maxwell sat up for probably the first hour wondering where the he** we were going, but the girls just cuddled in and went to sleep. Our first major stop was Parksville, we parked at the public park area for Rathtrevor Beach. The dogs were harnessed up and off we went for a walk along the boardwalk and beach. Stunning beach. The water was gently lapping against the shore, and was so calming. We were only there for about an hour before we packed them up and carried on. We switched drivers and now it was my turn to get us the rest of the way to Tofino. A second Tim Hortons stop was in Port Alberni. A beautiful city, we actually stopped for the dogs to get out at a huge Fas Gas station on the edge of town. After packing back up we headed on for the final part of the drive to Tofino. This section of road was interesting, there were tons of curves, narrow roads, and beautiful scenery. We arrived at the Best Western hotel about an hour and a half later.
The hotel was located right on Mackenzie Beach. We had to wait a couple of hours for our room, which was frustrating at the time, but in the end it didn’t really matter. The first day while waiting for our room we drove into Tofino, which was about two km from the hotel. My stomach sunk, and I was very nervous about our choice to vacation here. There was absolutely NO familiar restaurants at all. No subway, no Tim Hortons, no McDonalds. I wasn’t sure how we would survive three days without these essentials. Not only that, but there was a lot of spots where we had no cell phone service, and only one radio station that was a “talk” station. I think it was CBC. I had never listened to this before. Honestly I was disappointed.
But, by day two I got over it.
On our first morning in Tofino we got up early as we always do. We drove to Tofino to get coffee only to find nothing was open. We drove to Ucluelet, which was a bit larger than Tofino but not much, and there was a coffee shop open! YAY The coffee was amazing and they had fresh baked cranberry orange muffins. With a smile on our faces, we headed back towards the hotel. The sign for the rainforest was inviting and we stopped to walk through. The dogs were leashed up and off we went. The rainforest was in the Pacific Rim National Park. The path through the forest led to a boardwalk that led us through the most beautiful forest! The walk was only a kilometre, lots of stairs and inclines very much worth the stop. From there we headed back to the hotel and let the dogs run on the beach a bit. I finally began to relax. We cuddled and watched a show or two, for a bit before heading out again. Long Beach was simply amazing. It reminded me of the seven mile beach in Grand Cayman. The sand was soft and the waves were huge. The beach went on forever. It was surreal. On the way back to the hotel a couple hours later we stopped at a roadside hut for burgers and fries.
On our second morning, and last full day of our getaway it was rainy. Mackenzie beach was fogged in and gorgeous. We went into town to browse a few shops, found a delicious spot for coffee and just walked in the rain. Amazingly soothing. Later we returned to town for supper at the Shelter Restaurant. The food was natural, direct from farms, and absolutely amazing! A great way to end the last day of our get away.
The get away was a huge success! We had couple time, we had time with our fur babies, we had tons of beach time, and absolutely no interruptions from our cell phones. Pure bliss.
