Whistler and Tofino This was the first three week holiday we had ever been on. I took a lot of photos, so I've had to split the holiday into three galleries, broadly one for each week. This is the week 1 gallery.
Flying Sunday - As it was a daytime flight from Heathrow to Vancouver, we'd booked Premium Economy seats. At the check in desk we were offered an upgrade to Business Class for £550 each, which we declined. So we were surprised to be given a free upgrade to Business Class at the boarding gate!However, we had barely got our bums into our Business Class seats when a fellow came and asked to see our boarding cards. Oh-oh! "Would you mind relocating to First Class?" OMG!Here's a photo of Judith sitting in her First Class "pod".
Greenland The view flying over Greenland.When the fellow came to take my order for (the six course) dinner he asked "And will you be dining with Mrs Sissons?", to which I replied "Er? Is that a thing you can do in First Class?" Apparently it is. First Class pods have a guest seating area and a fold out dining table larger than some of the tables for two I've had in ground-based restaurants.
Vancouver Approaching Vancouver.
Vancouver Vancouver skyline shortly before landing.
Westin Wall Considering we were on an Airbus A380 with several hundred passengers and we'd checked in as Premium Economy even though we'd flown First Class, our bags turned up remarkably quickly.Having cleared customs and picked up our hire car (a VW Tiguan), we drove the short distance to the Westin Wall.This is a photo of the impressive green wall they have out front of the hotel.
Room Our run of good luck continued with an upgrade to a corner room, which was basically floor to ceiling windows on two sides.
Pool The hotel's pool looked very inviting, but we were too shattered to get wet by this time.
Night Market Just across the road from the hotel was a Night Market. In an effort to be enthusuastic we walked across to have a look, but you had to pay to get in and we didn't have the energy left to walk around for long enough to justify the entry cost.
Beer So we headed back to the hotel and had a swift beer in the bar before collapsing into bed, having been awake for almost 24 hours.Beverages sampled today:- Champagne (on the flight)- Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon (also on the flight)- Parallel 49 Gypsy Tears Ruby Ale (in the hotel)
Sunrise Monday - Due to the 8 hour time difference with the UK, we were up and about in time to see the sunrise. So we packed up and headed for Grouse Mountain.
No Grouse Grind! I'd been looking forward to having a go at the Grouse Grind trail since we'd booked this holiday several months ago, so it was a bit disappointing that it turned out to be closed for maintenance. Fortunately there's another trail, called the BCMC Trail, that runs broadly parallel to the Grouse Grind, starting and ending in the same places, and that was open.
BCMC Trail The BCMC Trail was also looking like it could do with some maintenance. Considering I set off at about 07:30 there were already a fair few people out. This must get really busy during the day.
Grouse Mountain Cable Car While I was walking up, Judith was on the first cable car of the day (but not on the roof).
At the Top It took me 71 minutes to get to the top, which I was quite pleased with as the guide said the Grouse Grind should take "novice walkers" 90 to 120 minutes and the BCMC Trail is a little longer than the Grouse Grind.
Bears. So if we see any bears, this is how big they'll be. Fortunately we're extremely unlikely to see any Polar Bears.
Grizzly Bear! Luckily this one is a Grouse Mountain resident and lives in a large fenced off area.
Hot Bear Even though it was still only about 09:30, it was starting to get quite hot out already so this bear had sensibly decided to sit in a pool/pond.
Squirrel
Grouse Mountain View After spending an hour or so wandering about at the top of Grouse Mountain we decided to get the cable car back down and continue our journey.
Tesla Model 3 Back at the bottom this Tesla Model 3 was parked near us. First one I've seen in the metal. I still think it looks like a Chrysler Neon. A £50,000 Chrysler Neon.
Cleveland Dam A short distance from Grouse Mountain is the Cleveland Dam. Dams are usually a good bet for a good view so we popped in for a look and we weren't disappointed.
Cleveland Dam This was the view from the top of the dam looking down the slipway.
Grouse Mountain View There was a lovely view from the dam across Capilano Lake towards Grouse Mountain. The cable car is in there somewhere, but I think it's just a bit too small to be visible.
Britannia Mine Museum We were heading for Whistler up the Sea to Sky Highway when we passed the Britannia Mine Museum, which had somehow not turned up on any of my searches for things to do on the way to Whistler.
Britannia Mine Museum There was a short but interesting tour showing how mining here had evolved over the years. This amazingly huge shed is where they separate the valuable copper from the rest of the stuff they've dug out of the ground.
Machinery Some old mining machinery.
Sea to Sky Gondola A bit further up the coast was the Sea to Sky Gondola, which was on my list of things to do as it's the thing to do on the Sea to Sky Highway. Here we are on the cable car on our way up to what looks like an amazing James Bond villain's mountain hideout.
Sea to Sky Gondola View The views from the top were stunning. It was also getting very hot by this point.
Sea to Sky Gondola View
Suspension Bridge They have an impressive suspension bridge and you don't even have to pay to walk across it like you almost certainly would in Europe.
Panorama Trail Despite the heat we decided to walk the short and relatively flat Panorama Trail.
Panorama Trail View Point It was definitely worth suffering the walk in the heat for the view.
Panorama Trail View Point
V Hot! Back at the car, the car's external thermometer was showing just how scorchio it was.
Nita Lake Lodge A short while later we arrived at the lovely Nita Lake Lodge, which sits at one end of Nita Lake (obviously) about three miles from Whistler Village.
Room View We had a magnificent view of the lake from our balcony.Beers sampled today:- Strange Fellows Guardian White IPA
Train I woke up at about 2am and went out on to the balcony to look at the stars. I could hear a train coming so I went and got my camera (as you can hear the trains from miles away so there's plenty of time to prepare for their arrival). The bright lights in the bottom left are the train passing Nita Lake.
Sunrise Tuesday - The view from our balcony just after sunrise. It was looking like it was going to be another lovely day.
Cycling The hotel provided complimentary bikes, so we decided to cycle into Whistler Village rather than drive. Although the excellent trail was a little hillier than Judith would have preferred.
Whistler Village Gondola Once in Whistler Village we caught the Whistler Village Gondola to the Roundhouse.
Peak 2 Peak Gondola From the Roundhouse we caught the Peak 2 Peak Gondola to the Rendezvous Lodge. This is the view of the Peak 2 Peak Gondola from their observation platform, where you can see the working of the cable car machinery.
Spacious We appeared to have arrived in a quiet period as we had a whole gondola to ourselves, which was nice.
Peak 2 Peak Goldola View The Peak 2 Peak Gondola has the longest unsupported cable span in the world at 3,024 meters (1.88 miles).
Peak 2 Peak Goldola View There were great views down the valley to Whistler.
Peak 2 Peak Goldola View It's also very high. 1,427 feet above the ground at it's highest point. That tiny little black dot in the middle of the photo is the shadow that our large goldola is casting on the ground!
Helicopter A sightseeing helicopter. It was very tempting to have a go on that but it was rather expensive.
Marmot The marmots here look just like the ones in the Alps, but here they're called groundhogs.
7th Heaven Express Chair From the Rendezvous Lodge you can take a ten minute bus ride to the 7th Heaven Express Chair, which takes you up to the Horstman Hut...
Skiing on the Horstman Glacier ...and the Hosrtman Glacier, where there were lots of people skiing, even in the 30C heat!
Drinks at the Roundhouse Anyway, it was way too hot up at the Horstman Hut to stay there for long, so we had an icecream before heading down to the Roundhouse to have a drink and admire the view.
Random View A random view from the Roundhouse. I thought it was interesting as, with the trees in the foreground, the background looks like it should be full of sky, but it's also full of trees.
Whistler Olympic Village Back in Whistler, we had a nice lunch in the Beacon Pub (no air-con but a nice and shady spot with a lovely cross-breeze) before taking a stroll to the Olympic Village.
Cycling A miscellaneous view on the cycle ride back to the hotel, on which we had to stop because there was a bear on the cycle path! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I didn't get a photo as it didn't hang around for long enough once it had spotted us.
Whistler Brewing Back at the hotel we picked up the car and drove to Whistler Brewing, which is oddly in a business park a few miles outside of Whistler, which isn't very convenient for popping in for a couple of pints. Fortunately they have a shop.
Pineapple Express So we bought a four pack of Pineapple Express Wheat Ale before retiring to our hotel balcony.Beers sampled today:- Stanley Park Sun Setter Peach Wheat Ale- Whistler Brewing Grapefruit Ale- Whistler Brewing Pineapple Express Wheat Ale
Lake Panorama Wednesday - Another lovely, scorching day so I popped down to the lake side before breakfast to take a few photos.
Dock This is a very popular spot for people to sunbathe and swim in the evenings.
Train Wreck Trail There was a significant trail derailment here a few years ago and for some reason they left a few of the carriages where they were. Now there's a short trail to the crash site.This trail turned out to be a bit of a mosquito nightmare, but fortunately we were packing bug spray.
Suspension Bridge There's a very sturdy and impressive suspension bridge on the trail. That's me crossing, as taken by Judith.
Suspension Bridge This is also me, taken by Judith.
Train Wreck Site The train wreck site is spread over quite a large area.
Train Wreck Site The carriages have become quite covered in graffiti.
Train Wreck Mad Bike Trail It also looked like someone had built an insane bike trail through here at some point, although it was in a significant state of disrepair now. I think you're supposed to jump off the carriage on the right and land on the ramp on the left. It's a shame Judith's not in the photo to show what a very big gap that is.
Train Wreck HDR Playing with the HDR settings on my camera.
Nairn Falls Trail We walked back to the car and headed for the Nairn Falls Trail.
Nairn Falls Trail It was a good, easy going trail, although Judith would have preferred that it was a bit flatter.
Nairn Falls There's a great view of the upper falls from the view point...
Nairn Falls ...but I reckon the view of the lower falls from the semi-hidden view point is better. It would be easy to miss this if you weren't careful.
Nairn Falls Judith at the lower falls view point.
Slow Shutter This was an excellent opportunity to have a go on the slow shutter application on my phone.Time to head back to the hotel.
Ford GT This Ford GT was parked in the corner of our hotel's underground car park. Seems a bit wasted on Canada's long, straight, wide roads.
Whistler Brew House Judith got the complimentary shuttle to Whistler Village, whilst I borrower another bike and cycled into town. We met up at the Whistler Brew House, where they sadly had no air-con, although the nice reception lady did find us an outside table with a pleasant cross breeze.
Balcony View Later on, back at the hotel, here's a couple of people chilling out of Nita Lake, as seen from our balcony.
Rocky Mountaineer We'd seen a few freight trains go past, but here's the Rocky Mountaineer passenger service dropping some people off for an overnight stay. The station is attached to our hotel.
Sunset Not a bad sunset for up in the mountains.Beers sampled today:- High Mountain Brewing Raspberry Porter (this was very much nicer than it sounds)- Hoyne Honey Wheat Ale
Sea to Sky Highway Thursday - Up and out fairly early as we have to make our way to Horseshoe Bay for an 11:00 ferry to Vancouver Island, so not much time to spare for taking photos on the way. This is a miscellaneous view along the way.
Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal Approaching the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. The pink shape on the left is the card I had to put on my dashboard to show that we had a reservation (and were therefore allowed to board ahead of the people who had turned up without a reservation).
Horseshoe Bay A view of Horseshoe Bay while we were waiting to depart.
Horseshoe Bay Judith on the ferry as we departed Horseshoe Bay.
Vancouver Skyline We got a nice, but very distant, view of the Vancouver skyline.
Nanaimo Approaching the Nanaimo ferry terminal about 90 minutes later.We disembarked and headed for Tofino. The road out of Nanaimo was impressively busy.
Cathedral Grove About 90 minutes later we arrived at Cathedral Grove, which is a particularly scenic bit of rainforest full of really massive trees, half way across Vancouver Island.
Cathedral Grove Trail There are a couple of good trails that wind through the trees.
Tree on a Tree This is a little difficult to make out, but there's a tree growing on the stump of another tree that's fallen down. New trees will grow here anywhere they can.
Tree Fall Down The trees have very shallow root systems, which makes them very prone to blowing over.
Trees HDR It's a shame that the photo doesn't capture the scale of any of the trees. The trunks of those fallen trees are probably over six feet thick and they've just fallen one on top of another.
The Big Tree The biggest tree in the park, The Big Tree is over 800 years old, 79 meters (259 feet) tall and 9 meters (29 feet) round.
360 A 360 degree picture of the tall trees.Anyway, after all of this messing about in the woods, it was time to head for Tofino.
Float On Guest House A couple of hours later we arrived at our accommodation for the next three nights, the Float On Guest House.
Lounge It was as nice inside as it looked from the outside.
Bedroom This was the main bedroom, but there was another smaller one.
Bedroom I couldn't decide if I liked this photo or the other one best.
Birthday Girl Today also happened to be Judith's 50th birthday. I'd arranged to pick up a cake from a local wedding cake maker on the way into town. This was the smallest cake she made. The photo makes it look smaller than it actually was and it took us all of the three days we were in Tofino to finish it.
Cake
Camper Van An interesting camper van ornament in the house.
Growlers The owners has also considerately provided us with a couple of Tofino Brewing Growlers, should we fancy popping down to Tofino Brewing for a top-up.
A Thing Having settled in to our accommodation, we went out for a walk. Here's a thing made out of various bits of sea detritus.
Pier In black and white, this picture of an old pier could have been taken any time in the last hundred years (apart from the speedboat, but I couldn't be bothered to Dom that from the photo).Judith had booked a table in the very busy Wolf in the Fog for dinner. Their pasta was very excellent.Beer sampled today:- Tofino Brewing Dry Hopped Blonde
Wild Pacific Trail Friday - We drove to Ucluelet to have a walk on the Wild Pacific Trail Lighthouse Loop. The trail is only 2.6km long (just over a mile-and-a-half), but there are so many fabulous views it takes about two hours to get round.
Wild Pacific Trail
Bird We saw loads of these everywhere we went, but I never did manage to find out what they are.
Bald Eagles However, these are definitely bald eagles. The last time we were here there were loads of them around, but these were pretty much the only ones we saw on this day, and, as you can see, that was from a pretty long way off.
Woodpecker
Kwisitis Visitor Centre Having eventually finished the Wild Pacific Trail, we popped in to the Kwisitis Visitor Centre to see if we could get a bite to eat as they had a really nice cafe/restaurant the last time we were here. However, this time it had shut down. Doh!
Wickaninnish Beach So we had a bit of a walk on the beach. Yes, it's in black and white.
Wickaninnish Beach Random people walking on Wickaninnish Beach.
Incinerator Rock Judith at Incinerator Rock on Long Beach.
Tofino Brewing Take-out We popped in to Tofino Brewing on the way home. It was well busy given that they're another one in a business park a bit of a way out of town (although not too long a walk from our house). So we bought some take-out to take home and enjoy on the deck.
Tonquin Beach Trail We walked into town to have a very nice dinner in The Schooner (chowder and planked salmon for me). After dinner we had a walk down the Tonquin Beach Trail, which starts pretty much in the middle of town.
Tonquin Beach Trail Judith on the boardwalk on the Tonquin Beach Trail.
Tonquin Beach Judith on the deserted Tonquin Beach.Beers sampled today:- Whistler Brewing Pineapple Express Wheat Ale (that we brought with us from Whistler)- Tofino Brewing Kelp Stout
Sunshine Saturday - Finally, the sun had come out again. This was the view from our lounge.
Chesterman Beach We drove to North Chesterman Beach and walked all the way down to the southern end of South Chesterman beach.
Wickininnish Inn This is a recreation of a photo a took the last time we were here. We were surprised to see that the half buried log was still there seven years later.
Surfers There were a lot of surfers out, even though there didn't look to be enough surf to challenge an even basically competent surfer.
Wickaninnish Inn After walking the length of the beach and back we decided to pop into the Wickaninnish Inn for lunch.
Wickaninnish Inn Restaurant Here's Judith in their restaurant. Lunch was excellent (as is everything at the Wickaninnish Inn).
Back on the Beach Back on the beach after lunch, heading for the car.
Chesterman Beach View A miscellaneous Chesterman Beach view on the way back to the car.
Radar Hill View We headed for Radar Hill, which is quite high for this area. However, you can drive almost all the way to the top. Here's Judith admiring the view at the top.
Schooner Cove Trail We then headed for the Schooner Cove Trail.
Schooner Cove Trail There's a fabulous boardwalk through the forest...
Schooners Beach ...before you pop out on Schooners Beach (and not Schooner Cove for some reason).
Schooners Beach Island At the end of the beach is this small island. If you look carefully you can see a fellow in the foreground with a camera on a tripod, just to the right of centre.
Bald Eagle This is what he was taking a photo of.
Schooners Beach Judith on Schooners Beach.
Another Island...
...Another Eagle
Selfie I balanced my camera on a log and used the remote shutter to take this photo.
Schooner Cove Trail Judith on the trail back to the car. You can just about see her right in the middle of the photo.
Mackenzie Beach On the way home we popped in to Mackenzie Beach, which is where most of the local hotels are. Consequently the beach there was way, way, way busier than any of the other beaches we'd seen so far.
Mackenzie Beach Huts They look rather nice.
Basic Goodness Pizerria We popped in to the Basic Goodness Pizzeria for dinner, mainly because it was the closest restaurant to our house. Their sign says "Open from 12 until the dough runs out". Good pizza. This beer was almost as expensive as the pizza!
Net Thing This net thing was in our house and it took me two days to realise that it says "float on", the name of the house. Doh!And so ended the first week of our holiday. Tomorrow we would be heading for Campbell River.Beers sampled today:- Tofino Brewing Tuff Session Ale- Mount Arrowsmith Blonde Ale