This was a short three day getaway to celebrate a friends special birthday. Got a great deal at a resort that offered cabins and hotel type rooms. There were 10 of us. We had a large 2 bedroom (with a sofa bed) waterfront cabin, a one bedroom waterfront cabin and a large one bedroom, with sofa bed suite in the main building. Managing to get this many together was great. Half live on the mainland and the other half on the island.
Besides having a fun few days we were hoping for some great storm watching but that was not to be as we had terrific, fairly warm, sunny weather for April.
April 24 Wed
Up early to catch the ferry at 8:25. Left from LG’s house. Her husband, Gabe, decided he’d ride his motorcycle so Linda, Mike (friend) and I followed in her car. Motorcycles get priority boarding on BC Ferries and the best spot right at the front, so first off. We took the ferry (had made a reservation) from Tsawwassen that goes to Duke Point to save a couple of extra hours of driving up from Victoria.
Was a beautiful day so a really enjoyable ferry ride. It takes about and hour and half.
Off the ferry just after 10. Nice drive to Port Alberni, just over an hour. Part of the drive takes you thru the Cathedral Grove in McMillan Provincial Park. It’s an amazing forest of huge, old growth Douglas Firs. Very pretty trails on both sides of the highway and bathrooms! Didn’t stop this time.
Met the rest of the group for lunch at Pescadores Bistro, great menu with lots of variety. No problem getting a nice big table for all of us.
The drive to Ucluelet from Port Alberni took a couple hours with a stop or two along the way. Arrived at the Terrace Beach Resort around 3.
Got checked in and organized. Eileen and Ken, Kim and Al and myself shared the big cabin. Not huge but good enough. One loft type bedroom and bathroom up stairs, main floor has a teeny little kitchen corner, nice big living room and a full bathroom and a nice little deck. Downstairs was one bedroom. I had the sofa bed! The other cabin, Peggy and Gordie, was a similar layout without the loft and a hot tub on the deck. The hotel room (Linda, Gabe and Mike) was a suite, sort of. Mike had the sofa bed. The cabins had great views of the bay, and a gorgeous sunset.
We had come well supplied with food and drinks!! Had a lovely happy hour, got caught up on what everyone had been doing. Our cabin was the biggest so used as the gathering spot. Got dinner going. A couple of big pots of beans and E put together a very pretty salad tray.
Great day and evening!
April 25 Thurs (Birthday day!)
Up early! Made coffee and grabbed a muffin then took a bit of walk down to the water. What a pretty spot this is. Not another person around…..which was great but then I remembered there are lots of bears, and it’s not unheard of to see a cougar or two, in the area!
Back up to the cabin to start decorating before Peggy popped in. Got my bag of decorations out and Kim and I started putting up the banners. LG arrived with her bag so we got it all done before Peggy came to get coffee and muffins! She was thrilled! Slowly everyone was up and about so some of us went on a bit of hike along the trail that leads to the Wild Pacific Trail head. Was a beautiful morning. A bit nippy in the shade but quite nice once in the sun.
While we were out walking E and K had found a guy to get some crab to have a birthday feast tonight so she drove Ken down to the marina to go out with the guy while he set the traps.
The girls went to explore downtown Ucluelet. It’s not very big!! A few shops (jewelry, gifts/crafts, a BC Liquor Store), a couple of little cafes and that is pretty much it. Another wee ferry terminal but not sure where it goes. Probably way busier in the summer.
E heard from Ken that they’d gotten a pretty good haul already and would be back in around 2 so we all headed down to the Eagle Nest Pub for lunch and to wait for our crab. The pub is a funky place….food was OK but great views out over the inlet and marina. A real interesting mix of clientele…..some that had been there since opening I think! Entertaining for sure.
Ken and the crab guy arrived back with an incredible haul for an even more incredible price!!! We had 20 Dungeness and 3 rock crabs!!! Long story of how he got paid but short version is $200 plus some beverages and “smokeables”!! Ken did make sure he had a valid license before he went out with him so that was all good.
Lucky they’d gone out earlier in the day because by the time we got back to the cabin the wind had really picked up. It was almost impossible to open the door to our little deck! Spent the rest of the afternoon just sitting around and prepping dinner. They guys took the crabs down to the beach to clean them, the girls got the rest of the food ready. Had to go and buy another big pot for the crab…..our cabin had one but the others only had medium sized ones. And we only had two burners to work with so who doesn’t need another huge pot!
Dinner was excellent!! The crab with melted garlic butter was so good. There was so much each person could have had two! I never thought it was possible to get my fill of crab but it was to a point that I was just eating it because it was there. We even had leftovers! Just a great evening….birthday presents, cake, music and lots of good conversations.
A great day!
April 26 Fri
Another glorious morning. Still pretty windy but not as bad as last night. After breakfast most of us bundled up and went for a walk on the Wild Pacific Trail hoping for some storm watching! There are many trails up and down the coast between Ucluelet and Tofino.
The trail is absolutely beautiful. Ancient trees covered in moss, beautiful coves and bays, lots of great lookout points and waves crashing into the rocks and shoreline. Even though is was quite windy it wasn’t the great storm watching that usually happens but still pretty spectacular!
After our walk we warmed up back at the cabin with a few beverages, leftover crab and snacks.
Dinner tonight was at Frankie’s. Fun place with a good but simple menu.
Another great day and another fun getaway with this gang.
April 27 Sat
On the road by 9 in the rain!! We were so lucky to have had good weather for this getaway. Was a bit tough on Gabe and his bike but no problems luckily. Lots of road work on the way though which meant we were stopped a number of times for one way traffic. The drive is quite nice, which helps!
A quick stop in Port Alberni again for lunch and off we all went in our respective directions heading home.
No problems with the ferry from Duke Point to Tsawwassen, which was good because we didn’t have a reservation to go home.
My Travel Journals 