I can't believe I didn't blog all of January, where did that time go?! I was home, only briefly, for a little over 2 weeks before I jetted back out to Vancouver Island for another contract in Port Alberni. I quickly learned that little over 2 weeks was just not enough, it flllleewwwwwwwwww by! Especially with Christmas. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see that's for sure! I had a fantastic Christmas with my family and had a pretty chill New Years Eve with my fur-niece.
January 8 came up so quickly, and I was already back on a plane to Vancouver. An awesome difference about this contract? I HAVE MY CAR! It spent the better part of December on a train getting to Vancouver where I picked her up after I landed and made my way to one of my favourite things out here - the ferry! It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I was sailing around the sunset hours. The ocean, the mountains and the sunset.... what could be better? OH, how about the HUNDREDS of dolphins that happened to want to play with the ferry's wake and let me take a video! Such a cool experience, I'm so glad I caught a video of it! Something I will never forget! I settled in pretty easily since I'd been here before and got right into working. Everyone's been so warm and welcoming, it was great to come back to that. It is a department full of fantastic people!
I'm staying in a different spot this time, a beautiful apartment! Certainly the best accommodations I've ever had. I have a roommate, K, who not-so-shockingly is from Ontario. It's been a great time getting to know her, but most of the time our schedules have been complete opposites so it's been tricky to plan things together.
Last week I took the opportunity on my 4 days off to head to Ucluelet and Tofino. It would be the only opportunity until the end of February for some exploring time as my schedule gets a wee bit hairy this month. I searched and searched for ideas of where to stay, whether it be airbnb or hotels, and found a fantastic deal at Long Beach Lodge Resort in Tofino - a 40% off Solo Traveller's deal! I booked it, and did not regret it! This hotel is ON Cox Bay, and the Great Room overlooks the waves crashing on the beach. My room was incredibly cozy with a fireplace and partial ocean view. I know what most think when you get a "partial" view - that partial will actually mean barely-any-view-at-all, but the reservation fella picked a great spot for me and I had a fantastic "partial view". The hotel was incredible, and I highly recommend it for anyone who gets out to Tofino - if you can find a deal - do it! It can be rather pricey, but the 40% off for me was totally worth it.
After being reminded how wind-ing that road is to get to Tofino and Ucluelet and feeling slightly carsick, I spent the first afternoon in Ucluelet wandering the Wild Pacific Trail (fresh air really helps get rid of that nausea!). It was a beautiful sunny day and the waves were crashing. I could sit there for hours watching and listening to them crash against the rocks - so relaxing to me. The next day I wandered Tofino - mainly where I was - Cox Bay. Up and down the beach, and out to Pettinger's Point. A trail off Cox Bay that lead me to some rocks to perch on and watch a bunch of surfers take advantage of the incredible waves that day. The rain held off - which I'm shocked it did - the whole time I was out there. It was fantastic.
I made a total touristy move too. Trying to get that classic "my toes in the pacific ocean" picture.... well while I was getting that shot, I misjudged the next wave and ended up with a shot of "my knees in the pacific ocean". My boots, which are fantastic and made to keep water out, actually do an equally fantastic job of keeping the water IN once the waves crashed over the tops of them. All I could do was laugh, and pray I wouldn't drop the camera. The strength of the tide pulling back made walking against it useless and only increased the chances of me dropping my camera, so there was no point in me trying to rush out of the water - the damage was done. I went back to my room and felt the slosh of the water in my boots with every step. It was a pretty chilly, too! Thankfully my room had a fireplace - so my boots and pants/socks spent the rest of the day drying out in front it. Just had to laugh it off, and be thankful I didn't end up on my ass in the water!
I ate great food, had some absolutely fantastic "me" time and just enjoyed probably my most favourite thing - the beach. I'm just drawn to it, always have been. On my drive home I stopped at every beach - literally. If there was a sign for a beach, I pulled off and checked 'er out. Long Beach and the Incinerator Rock, Wickinninish Beach, Florencia Bay, McKenzie Beach among others. Then I sadly headed back to PA.... It was SUCH a lovely time and it went by way too quickly.
Travelling solo has become somewhat of a "norm" for me. At first, the though of travelling on my own was terrifying, and out of the question. Now I've come to realize that if I don't take the opportunities when they present themselves, I will always regret it. Solo travelling is a great way to do what you want, when you want it - completely at my own pace. It has forced me to be more present and open to my surroundings. Dining by myself is something I still dread, but I had really great experiences last weekend, chatted with the staff and got some really great tips on what to do and where to check out. I got a bit fearful while on trails on my own - mainly for bear reasons, so I haven't been TOO adventurous with that aspect yet, but I'm getting more brave! I loved being able to sit on that rock as long as I wanted, thinking about anything and everything and watching the surfers catch a huge wave. Taking time with my camera and learning cool features I didn't know it had with a beautiful landscape to experiment with. Now if you know anything about me, that's a pretty perfect day in my books. I spent my evenings with music on in front of the patio door with the fire on and listening to the waves with a good book - I wouldn't have changed that for anything. This weekend was designed for some R&R and that's exactly what I did!
I took a ton of photos (also the norm for me) and went to blog WAY sooner, and then finally ran into the dreaded "not enough disk space" message. After accessing some AppleCare help I managed to move a whopping 13 000+ photos onto my external hard drive so I could start fresh.... No I didn't stutter, I have taken 13 000 photos since getting that Canon camera. It's sure gonna be fun sifting through them to eventually fill my house! Where ever the heck, and whenever the heck that will be!
Enjoy just a few of those photos! Missing everyone back home like usual : ) I hope everyone is staying safe and warm! I must say I don't miss those snowy drives to work on hwy 86 or the snow itself.... The island weather is pretty fantastic. While wet most of the winter, the odd day is sunny and is always above 0 so far! Not to rub it in though.....!
January 8 came up so quickly, and I was already back on a plane to Vancouver. An awesome difference about this contract? I HAVE MY CAR! It spent the better part of December on a train getting to Vancouver where I picked her up after I landed and made my way to one of my favourite things out here - the ferry! It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I was sailing around the sunset hours. The ocean, the mountains and the sunset.... what could be better? OH, how about the HUNDREDS of dolphins that happened to want to play with the ferry's wake and let me take a video! Such a cool experience, I'm so glad I caught a video of it! Something I will never forget! I settled in pretty easily since I'd been here before and got right into working. Everyone's been so warm and welcoming, it was great to come back to that. It is a department full of fantastic people!
I'm staying in a different spot this time, a beautiful apartment! Certainly the best accommodations I've ever had. I have a roommate, K, who not-so-shockingly is from Ontario. It's been a great time getting to know her, but most of the time our schedules have been complete opposites so it's been tricky to plan things together.
Last week I took the opportunity on my 4 days off to head to Ucluelet and Tofino. It would be the only opportunity until the end of February for some exploring time as my schedule gets a wee bit hairy this month. I searched and searched for ideas of where to stay, whether it be airbnb or hotels, and found a fantastic deal at Long Beach Lodge Resort in Tofino - a 40% off Solo Traveller's deal! I booked it, and did not regret it! This hotel is ON Cox Bay, and the Great Room overlooks the waves crashing on the beach. My room was incredibly cozy with a fireplace and partial ocean view. I know what most think when you get a "partial" view - that partial will actually mean barely-any-view-at-all, but the reservation fella picked a great spot for me and I had a fantastic "partial view". The hotel was incredible, and I highly recommend it for anyone who gets out to Tofino - if you can find a deal - do it! It can be rather pricey, but the 40% off for me was totally worth it.
After being reminded how wind-ing that road is to get to Tofino and Ucluelet and feeling slightly carsick, I spent the first afternoon in Ucluelet wandering the Wild Pacific Trail (fresh air really helps get rid of that nausea!). It was a beautiful sunny day and the waves were crashing. I could sit there for hours watching and listening to them crash against the rocks - so relaxing to me. The next day I wandered Tofino - mainly where I was - Cox Bay. Up and down the beach, and out to Pettinger's Point. A trail off Cox Bay that lead me to some rocks to perch on and watch a bunch of surfers take advantage of the incredible waves that day. The rain held off - which I'm shocked it did - the whole time I was out there. It was fantastic.
I made a total touristy move too. Trying to get that classic "my toes in the pacific ocean" picture.... well while I was getting that shot, I misjudged the next wave and ended up with a shot of "my knees in the pacific ocean". My boots, which are fantastic and made to keep water out, actually do an equally fantastic job of keeping the water IN once the waves crashed over the tops of them. All I could do was laugh, and pray I wouldn't drop the camera. The strength of the tide pulling back made walking against it useless and only increased the chances of me dropping my camera, so there was no point in me trying to rush out of the water - the damage was done. I went back to my room and felt the slosh of the water in my boots with every step. It was a pretty chilly, too! Thankfully my room had a fireplace - so my boots and pants/socks spent the rest of the day drying out in front it. Just had to laugh it off, and be thankful I didn't end up on my ass in the water!
I ate great food, had some absolutely fantastic "me" time and just enjoyed probably my most favourite thing - the beach. I'm just drawn to it, always have been. On my drive home I stopped at every beach - literally. If there was a sign for a beach, I pulled off and checked 'er out. Long Beach and the Incinerator Rock, Wickinninish Beach, Florencia Bay, McKenzie Beach among others. Then I sadly headed back to PA.... It was SUCH a lovely time and it went by way too quickly.
Travelling solo has become somewhat of a "norm" for me. At first, the though of travelling on my own was terrifying, and out of the question. Now I've come to realize that if I don't take the opportunities when they present themselves, I will always regret it. Solo travelling is a great way to do what you want, when you want it - completely at my own pace. It has forced me to be more present and open to my surroundings. Dining by myself is something I still dread, but I had really great experiences last weekend, chatted with the staff and got some really great tips on what to do and where to check out. I got a bit fearful while on trails on my own - mainly for bear reasons, so I haven't been TOO adventurous with that aspect yet, but I'm getting more brave! I loved being able to sit on that rock as long as I wanted, thinking about anything and everything and watching the surfers catch a huge wave. Taking time with my camera and learning cool features I didn't know it had with a beautiful landscape to experiment with. Now if you know anything about me, that's a pretty perfect day in my books. I spent my evenings with music on in front of the patio door with the fire on and listening to the waves with a good book - I wouldn't have changed that for anything. This weekend was designed for some R&R and that's exactly what I did!
I took a ton of photos (also the norm for me) and went to blog WAY sooner, and then finally ran into the dreaded "not enough disk space" message. After accessing some AppleCare help I managed to move a whopping 13 000+ photos onto my external hard drive so I could start fresh.... No I didn't stutter, I have taken 13 000 photos since getting that Canon camera. It's sure gonna be fun sifting through them to eventually fill my house! Where ever the heck, and whenever the heck that will be!
Enjoy just a few of those photos! Missing everyone back home like usual : ) I hope everyone is staying safe and warm! I must say I don't miss those snowy drives to work on hwy 86 or the snow itself.... The island weather is pretty fantastic. While wet most of the winter, the odd day is sunny and is always above 0 so far! Not to rub it in though.....!