Ucluelet

MP3 Track of the day - Du Hast - Rammstein

Weather - Foggy and windy in the morning but clearing to reveal bright sunshine in the afternoon.

5:45am my alarm went off, and so I got ready to leave the Tofino hostel. My bus arrived at 7:30am and I was off to Ucluelet. Whilst at the bus stop I met a German girl called Suzie. By the way; you know I've mentioned before that there are hundreds of Aussies in the Rockies, and hundreds of Chinese ... well ... everywhere. Hear there are few Aussies and Chinese but loads and loads of Germans, much to Suzies dislike. Anyway Suzie and I chatted on the bus before arriving in Ucluelet around 8:30am, we then parted and I headed to my hostel.

9:00am must be some kind of record for someone wanting to check in to accommodation, however to my surprise my bed was free and so I dumped my stuff in my dorm and headed out.

There is a picture of the Pacific Rim Islands (think it's the Broken Islands) within my guidebook and I wanted to find the location; therefore my first stop was the tourist information office. The lady wasn't sure where the photo was taken but she gave me some possibilities (plus loads of other places to go to ... don't think she gets too many customers) to try. With my new found knowledge I headed to Hyphocus Island, south of Ucluelet.

Hyphocus Island should be renamed sewage island as all of Ucluelets sewage is treated here. The smell was disgusting but I went on, trying to get to the south of the island to see if I can get a view of these Broken Islands. This being really my last day of trekking in the North American countryside I through caution to the wind and went off track ... really off track. At one point I scrambled up a hill only to find myself in the middle of a restricted area (still, I bet there aren't that many tourists, British or otherwise, that can say they had their own personnel close up tour of one of Ucluelet's sewage treatment plants!). I quickly left this area to try to find another way around to the south island but alas there wasn't one. Therefore I decided to take the road that ran straight through the centre of the island and approach the south from a different angle ... still I couldn't get to the southern tip. Finally, heroically I headed to the top of the island and again went off the beaten track to see if I could get a view like the photo in my guidebook ... but no it wasn't to be.

A little annoyed I decided to cut my losses and head away from 'sewer island' and go to a more touristy part of the town; I was going to find the 'West Pacific Trail'.

As I was leaving the island I met Suzie coming the other way; I told her that there wasn't much to see here, but she wanted to see for herself and so we parted company.

The West Pacific Trail is in different parts and the part I was at was a one and half mile loop down in at the south/western tip of Ucluelet. The trail ran for a while within the forest (which was okay) and then out along the edge. The view was good but the sky was still foggy (hence completely white) and therefore not great to photograph in.

The trail was okay, worth doing but not amazing. After this I headed into town for a few snacks before getting to the second part of the trail. This part was about 5 miles and went all the way along the west coast of Ucluelet. Just before starting the trail I met Suzie again and so we walked the trail together; she liked to take photographs too and so we stopped often to take images of the stunning coast that had now opened up (as the fog had now done). This part of the Pacific Trail was much nicer than the first.

It was now 5pm and I was close to my hostel; I decided to say goodbye to Suzie as I wanted to get in, do 'computer stuff' and hopefully go out of tea around 7:30pm. I hope to get an early night tonight as a) I'm tired and b) I have another early start to Victoria tomorrow (bus leaves at 8:35am).

Tofino and Ucluelet have been amazing and I've loved my short stay in the Pacific Rim National Park. I am now as far west in Canada as I can go and I have truly gone from the east cost to the west ... it's been an amazing journey across North America and it's starting to dawn on me that, in less than six days, it will all be over (gutted).

Onto my final stop tomorrow ... Victoria