Weather: Sunny, bright and beautiful
I caught the Greyhound at 9:30m and left Port Hardy for a 12 hour trip to Tofino. Whilst waiting for the bus I met a Japanese guy who I had seen on the ferry to Port Hardy and a lady who was going to Tofino. We chatted a little and we almost missed the coach through talking.
The first leg of the coach journey was to a place called Parksville where I was scheduled to wait around 2 hours before changing to the Tofino coach. The first leg of the trip was okay; there were occasional good views but these were few and far between due to the tree line hugging the road. At the first stop an old guy got on the bus and, surprise surprise, he decided to recline his seat into my knees (if I have a coach company I am going to specifically ask for no reclining seats!) and kept doing so periodically throughout the trip, not working out that the reason the chair won't go any further is because my legs were in the way.
We stopped for lunch and the Japanese guy (Ryota) and I went for something to eat. Previously I had told him that I will be going to Japan later this year and he was quizzing me where I was planning to go (he lives to the north of the main island and he has said, if I go up there, then I can stay at his house) and how much Japanese I knew. I said that I wasn't sure where I was going and that I will need to look at my guidebook when I get home; I also said that I knew a few words of Japanese but, as they were karate words, I didn't think they would help me much in modern day Japan society ... I started to reel off 'front kick', 'back kick' 'front punch' in Japanese which made him laugh.
Soon after I arrived at Parksville and I was concentrating so much on getting off the bus I forgot to say goodbye to Ryota (will have to email him and apologise). I was glad to get off the bus; two stops previously some woman got on with the worlds worst sneeze ... not to sound to disgusting, but it sounded like she was pouring germs into the coach at an alarming rate! I had a two hour wait for the next coach and so I got a drink and some fries; the lady I spoke to at Port Hardy bus station was also waiting and so we chatted to pass the time. Her name is Barb and she is biologist focusing in the conservation of amphibians (umm ... don't hear that everyday). Our conversation therefore mainly revolved around the conservation of wildlife, her using her life knowledge of conservation and I using the 14 episodes of 'Planet Earth' I had watched before coming to Canada.
Soon enough the second Coach came to take us to Tofino and off we went. This journey was allot more picturesque and we had scenes of mountains, lakes, forests ... it was beautiful. The journey however wasn't quite as beautiful; when I first got on the coach the bin next to me had a nappy in it (who leaves a dirty nappy on a bus?) and so I moved seats; then the journey became abit of a roller-coaster with us going up and down and side-to-side ... a few people looked a little green and I wasn't feeling 'tip-top' myself. Still the view was beautiful and it was worth it.
I arrived at Tofino at 9:30pm and went to find my hostel, which is located right on the coast. It is simply stunning here and I am so looking forward to tomorrow to walk along some beaches and take some photos (weather should be good tomorrow ... fingers crossed). The only problem at the moment is accommodation ... I only have only two nights here because it's fully booked (this hostel is very popular and it's easy to see why) and so I keep checking for cancellations. The other possibility is a place called Ucluelet but I'm having trouble getting through; I will have to try again tomorrow and see if I can get a cancellation here or find another hostel to book into near here.
I'll keep you posted
Toodle Pip!
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