One of the things my Husband most wanted me to see on our recent trip to Tofino, was Long Beach.  He had happy memories of his Family taking him there when he was a child, and he wished me to see just how amazing it was.  Long Beach is a part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve , so there is a small fee to visit it – you can get a Day Pass, or one for several days, which will save you money. It is definitely worthwhile, as you will want to visit it, and the other beaches, more than once. 🙂

Entrance to Long Beach

    One of the first things we saw ( other than lots of Surfers ) as we walked from the car to the beach, was Incinerator Rock, which was pretty awesome.  The sun was out, it was warm, but everything looked a little bit misty/hazy.

Incinerator Rock

     The beach seemed to go on forever ( yes, it lived up to its name ) 😉 so we were able to have a leisurely stroll, enjoying the view, with the waves lapping at our feet. We took so many pictures of waves and Surfers – the place had a really cool vibe to it.

Long Beach

          One of the cutest things we saw while walking along the beach was a Mother showing her children how to balance on a surfboard – it was absolutely adorable.

Surfing Technique

     The waves were just incredible, and it was fascinating watching all the people surfing.  I would imagine that the water was very cold, and we had no desire to find out.

Long Beach Waves

     Even though there were a lot of people there, it never felt crowded, due to the sheer size of the beach.  There were plenty of places to lay on your lounge chairs or towels, and still have your privacy.  It would be a great place to spend an entire day, if you had the time.

Long Beach Little Surfer Girl

     I’ve never been anywhere, before this, where people were so incredibly mellow.  It was great to see everyone so relaxed, and having a good time – absolutely no stress on Long Beach. It is a place I would certainly like to visit again some day.

Waiting For the Right Wave

Last week was my first week of Holidays for 2015.  As I have mentioned many times before, for me, a “Holiday” means getting off my feet ( which I am constantly on at Work ) relaxing, and laying in the sun.  It means catching up on sleep, not having to set alarm clocks, and feeling rejuvenated. I love the feeling that I don’t have to feel obligated to “do” anything, except for kick back, and enjoy …

When your Passports are expired, and you are on a budget, your options are limited.  My Husband has always come along on “my kind” of vacations, so this time, when he suggested something different, I wasn’t going to refuse. He mentioned he wanted to go to Tofino on Vancouver Island to hike, take photographs, explore the beaches etc. I had never been there before, and I knew this would be a very different kind of vacation, but I still agreed. I will admit, I was a bit apprehensive.

We live on the Sunshine Coast of B.C., so we drove the half hour to the ferry, took the 40 – minute ferry ride to Horseshoe Bay, then an hour and 40 minute ferry ride from there to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.  From there, it was a 3 hour drive to Tofino.

Road Sign

It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day,  so we certainly enjoyed the ferry rides and the scenery.  It was great to sit on the upper deck of the ferry in the hot sun, anticipating the week ahead …

Scenery

Once we arrived in Tofino, we were anxious to find our Hotel, get checked in, and get our feet in the sand. I just had to get a picture of the sign welcoming us to our destination.

Welcome Sign

I had us booked in at the Tin Wis Hotel, right on Mackenzie Beach, which was very private, quiet, and sandy.  Most of the beaches where we live are quite rocky, so this was a welcome sight. 🙂  We could hardly wait to get out and explore.

We quickly unloaded the car, checked in, and went and found our room.  I had made sure that we got a King sized bed, Ocean view, and a fireplace when I booked it. I had heard the weather could be all over the map – from warm and sunny, to cool, rainy/windy/foggy … and could change fairly quickly.  I was going to learn just how true this could be.  Thankfully, I had packed everything from bathing suits and tank tops to full on raincoat and rubber boots, just in case. ( we were going to be hiking in a Rainforest, after all )

Our room was on the ground floor, so we could literally walk out the patio door, take about 10 steps, turn left, and be at the beach in about 20 seconds.  We had changed into lighter clothes after our road trip, and were happy to take a long stroll along the beach, and enjoy the warm sunshine.  It was an absolutely gorgeous beach – nice and private, and not crazy busy.

Archway

The archway to the beach had a carving welcoming guests to pass through and enjoy …

Carving

The next picture is of our building:

Our Building

This shot is of the main building:

Main Building

Looking through our patio door towards the beach:

Beach View

Since we had arrived mid-afternoon, we didn’t want to venture too far the first night, after our long drive. We had dinner in the Restaurant at the Hotel – the Beachfront Bistro.

Dining Room

After Dinner, we tried really hard to stay up to watch our first sunset there. I’d had only 3 hours of sleep the night before, we’d driven much of the day, and we were both very tired. It was, however, Summer Solstice, and we certainly didn’t want to miss that sunset.

I will post a few of those sunset pictures very soon …