Kyle suggested we take Keora and head up island to spend the weekend in the seaside town of Ucluelet. After leaving Victoria around 4:30 on Friday afternoon, and almost six hours on the road, we were all sick of the car (as evidenced by Keora's exasperated expression) and so happy to finally arrive at our destination!
We rented a studio cabin at Reef Point (www.reefpointcottages.com). When we walked in the door, one of the first things I noticed was a spare towel and stack of Milk Bone biscuits they had left for Keora! How thoughtful!
She and Kyle immediately stretched out to relax.
And the road weary traveller settled in for a good nights sleep.
The next morning we decided to hike the nearby Wild Pacific Trail.
For the first half of our two and a half hour hike we didn't see anyone else - It felt like we had the whole trail to ourselves!
The view of the nearby beach.
A few steps further, and we get a view of the open ocean!
Pretty exciting!
Stop for a quick break on what we assume is the only makeshift bench along the way... Little did we know there would be about a dozen real benches at great lookout points on the trail after this spot!
We ventured off the trail down a hill where we found a rather large tide pool. The water was gorgeous and clear - We hoped to find some little creatures swimming around.
All we saw were some hermit crabs - This guy came out to say hi.
This lighthouse was the first of several local historical points we saw along the trail.
And then we realized the spot we started the trail from was actually the mid point. Whoops!
Is it lead based paint? Is it not? Why the quotes?
Kyle learns some local history.
In the early 1900's there were several wooden boardwalks and plank roads in the area that is now the trail. Some of them are still standing. It was actually pretty cool.
We headed back to our cottage after our hike for a quick break before heading out in search of a good place for lunch. We ended up getting over-priced fish and chips from a truck that made my stomach upset. Lunch was a big fail.
But we powered through and drove to Long Beach. This is one of the most popular places for surfers. There were tons of tourists but only a few people in the water.
The weather was amazingly gorgeous.
Kyle and Keora played fetch for almost an hour.
After arriving back home we took Keora down to the beach near our cottage (the one we saw from the trail on our hike earlier) so she could run around and go for a swim.
This little guy (named Fynn) was a ball of energy and kept chasing Keora as she fetched the sticks Kyle threw for her. He was so excited and really wanted to play, but she was not interested.
She started to guard her sticks so Fynn couldn't play with them...
... No matter how much he tried to entice her!
We walked back to our cottage to enjoy a glass of wine, BBQ dinner, a game of travel Scrabble (Kyle won) and a movie before bed.
