Day 5 – In Ulcuelet
Still at N48° 55.313’ W125° 32.584’
By accident more than design, today was a day of rest. Sort of. After four days of motorcycling, it’s extremely nice to not have to go anywhere unless we feel like it. We’re staying where we are for tonight. After a brief jaunt out to get some breakfast, we’re back at the cabin for a relaxing morning here. I have some work to catch up on: the inevitable last report that didn’t get done before I left on vacation. Mom is catching up on her reading, and relaxing on the couch in the living room.
Heading in to breakfast at the Cynamoka Coffee House.
Innumerable cups of tea, minimal daydreaming and 4,500 words later, I decide enough is enough. The report is coming along, but slower than I’d like, and what I’d really like now is a break.
It’s like a treehouse, but for grown-ups!
We headed up the highway to Tofino with lunch on our minds. It being 1:30pm by then, we thought this to be an entirely reasonable proposition. We went straight into Tofino to get a lay of the land, but settled on a restaurant we found just outside of the town, the Shelter Restaurant. Just on the west side of the highway from Jamie’s Whaling Station (I don’t know Jamie personally, mind, that’s just what it’s called). There was enough sun to make eating outside promising. Once we sat down, mind you, the sun promptly went back behind the clouds and stayed there. At that point, however, we were comfortably settled in and opted to stick around. Through a combination of propane heaters and many layers of motorcycle gear, all was (reasonably) toasty.
It’s like a treehouse, but for grown-ups!
And lunch was fabulous. Mom had a crispy chicken sandwich, and I had the halibut burger with a side of home fries, served with a smoked paprika mayo. Absolutely scrumptious. The restaurant has only been there for a year, but is really nice. The interior is modern beachhouse meets steakhouse, and by the looks of it they’ve got a pretty decent wine list. It would be worth checking out for dinner.
Welcome to the land that time forgot. At least after the hippie era.
After lunch, we did a little more wandering throughout Tofino. We checked out the Eagle Aerie Gallery, which is owned by and features the art of Roy Henry Vickers. He’s a native painter, sculptor and general all-around artist (I recognize this description likely does him a complete disservice, but I’m trying to tell a story here…) who does spectacular work. I got Dianne a book of his work while I was here in March, and I enjoyed going through the gallery just as much today. Mom was blown away as well… while his pieces look simple, they are enormously complex, well thought out and incorporate numerous layers and fine degrees of shading that make for some spectacular works. They also have the original of one of my favourite works of his for sale. It’s a winter scene of a mountain with three totems before it, the middle of which looks like it has a teddy bear impaled on top of it. And while that might sound a little gruesome, it’s still a great piece of art. Unfortunately, the $38,000 price tag is a little outside of my league. The print may be a little more realistic, but it won’t fit on the bike. And sadly, they don’t seem to have a print of it.
The Eagle Aerie Gallery in Tofino.
Lack of space on the bike in no way stopped us from also visiting the Mermaid’s Tale bookstore. And buying more books. Which goes to prove that it is physically and psychologically impossible for me to go to a bookstore (at least, a really good bookstore, without buying something. Or two somethings. Of course, Mom bought a book as well, so I feel marginally vindicated. Although she at least had the excuse of running out of reading material. The wee margin of space that we had created on the bike has now essentially disappeared. Everything still fits, but it just fits without having to force anything closed. So we’re still OK, but only just. No further acquisitions are possible unless we can wear it, and are willing to wear it the whole way back.
It’s not every bike that is sufficiently comfortable in its masculinity to pose next to flowers.
We also stopped at Long Beach, and went for a walk down to the end. We saw a number of eagles, as well as a whole flock of sandpipers. Total wildlife count for the trip so far: 2 bears, 5 deer, 6 bald eagles and numerous locals. We saw the bears on the side of the road both times. Discretion led us to avoid stopping to take a picture, even though both times they looked awfully cute. All the people in the four-wheeled vehicles at least have some modicum of protection, while we might look just a little close to dinner for our liking. Or at least like an appetizer.
Mom on Long Beach.
Speaking of which, there is an argument that can be made that much of this trip is lurching from meal to meal. Which is not too dissimilar to many of my other vacations. The day finished off with dinner at the Boat Basin at the Tauca Lea Resort. A lovely view, with the weather breaking long enough to have another nice sunset, and some fabulous food. Mom had the pancetta-wrapped halibut with risotto, and I had the special – grilled red snapper, asparagus and a red-pepper risotto. Both were fabulous. Dessert was chocolate cake for mom, and a goat cheese cake for me. Which even disguised in this incarnation did not go down well with Mom. She really, really doesn’t like goat cheese.
Dinner a the Boat Basin. Yes, this is what roughing it on a motorcycle looks like.
The evening ended the way it started, with me working to finish my report. Final count, 7,500 words, 3 litres of water, two pots of tea and two glasses of champagne. But it’s done. At 1am, I finally packed it in, sent a goodnight email to Dianne and turned out the light. Tomorrow is another day. But tomorrow is a day that doesn’t have any more work obligations, apart from dealing with whatever email comes my way. And you can’t complain about that.
I knew I should have made that right turn at Albuquerque.