Surf's up, dude!

Last night we stayed at Bella Pacifica Campground on Mackenzie Beach, and again, we were late to leave the site. We got up at 6am, but because we were still figuring out our gear arrangements, we cooked our breakfast, and we had some unforeseeable mishaps (I had a flat in my sleeping mat), we didn’t end up leaving until 10 am.

We were set on going surfing in Tofino, and this ended up being the perfect day to do it! After walking into town to rent gear, we took a cab to Cox Bay to surf. The scene was incredible – blue skies all around, waves crashing into the shore from the oceanfront (not too big, but perfect for beginners like me and Nicole), and a really warm sun on our backs. Nicole did do surfing once in New Zealand, and so she was trying to tell me how to stand on the board. We must’ve looked ridiculous! We kept on trying to stand on our board, wipe out with flailing arms, laugh about it and then eagerly getting back onto our board for the next wave. Even though they were all short lived, both Nicole and I managed to stand on our board a few times by the end! Take that surfing lesson! There were so many places offering lessons, but I’m glad we didn’t go with them because I had so much fun just fooling around with the surfboard anyways!

Today we started biking. We didn’t leave until 3:30pm, but we still managed to go a fair distance. There were short but rolly hills along the Pacific Rim, and a tail wind really did us well. Some points were very interesting as on both sides of the highway was a forest so thick that it seemed like it was nighttime only a few metres away. We stopped at the side of the road along Kennedy Lake to set up camp before it got dark and to not push it too hard on our first day of biking. I’m about to go to sleep soon, as the sun is setting over the mountains. There’s a small waterfall on our right, and the sound of the lake on our left. It felt good to just pause for a minute and try to take it all in.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 46.495 km

Total distance travelled: 46.495 km

Starting point: Tofino (Bella Pacifica Campground)

Our Route: Took The Trans Canada Highway the entire way. There was a bike path along most of the Pacific Rim Highway (Highway 4), and a shoulder after the junction with the Ucluelet Tofino Highway. Road conditions were excellent.

Ending point: somewhere along the east side of Kennedy Lake, by the side of the road.

• We should not have bought as much food as we did. We bought way too much food in Tofino because I thought that it’s better to be safe than sorry (We have enough to last us to Victoria). Big mistake when trying to carrry it all on our bikes! We got a lot of fresh food too, which definitely weighs us down. Next time, stock up on the dried foods, and just buy enough fresh food for the day.
• Nicole found her gear very top heavy, and I was stronger on the uphills. We’re going to try an arrangement tomorrow where I will get more heavy gear, and I will be drafting off of her the whole way.

Day 3

Since we didn't get our surf in yesterday, we decided to delay our start time until after surf o'clock. We got all our camping gear packed away again (last night we camped at a campground just across the street from the Botanical Gardens") and then headed into town to go surfing! We rented our gear at "Long Beach" rentals and went surfing at Cox Bay. It was so fun! We decided to forgo the lessons and just give'r for two hours and figure it out ourselves. Standing is overrated, right? WRONG! We stood up all by ourselves! (we don't actually have photo proof of that....we mastered the standing after we took the pictures... and let me just say that when i said "mastered" i meant we were able to stand up and either fall down soon after, or stay standing while the waves passed us by). But it was a blast!
We ended up leaving Tofino officially at 3:30 and hit the road! We only went for 2hrs and completed approximately 45km before calling it a night. At about km 30, we stopped off at the junction (where the road either veered towards Ucluelet or Port Alberny). There, we talked to three older men who were traveling in the opposite direction who warned us about the road ahead. They recommended camping at Lake Kennedy because the hills were really bad up ahead and we probably shouldn't do it in the dard (long, windy, narrow, trucking route, no shoulder). So, as we were coming up to a large hill, there was a road crew working. We asked where we could camp in the area (ie no more than 2hrs bike ride away) and they recommended just at the side of the road before the hill. So that's what we did. It was a good sleep and we had tons of daylight to set up camp and get ready for tomorrow! It was a beautiful day and we officially cycled 46.495km! Now i'm just worried about the massive hills that we are supposed to face tomorrow!