Friday Jun 24, Port Alberni, BC

Ian was up at 5 and off fishing, while I slept on, then had a very lazy but relaxing morning – cup of tea in bed with my book, then sat in the sun having a late breakfast. I walked into town and had a look around but nothing very exciting in the way of shops.

Ian arrived back in a little disappointed, although was one of the lucky ones on the boat getting one 20lb halibut, most didn’t even catch anything. A few salmon were also caught. He felt the company were just taking you fishing rather than actively finding good fishing spots and left a lot to be desired. Although he was pleased that he was in a 40 foot boat as even though it was quite calm, there were still huge swells. I am so pleased that I was on the shore. The fish were all gutted and packed by the time they got back to shore so no shots with a line up of halibut like last year.

We continued onto Tofino and Long Beach, which is in a Provincial Park, and the cost to park you vehicle and walk through to the beach was almost $8 per head, so hard to comprehend when all NZ beaches and lakes have free access. So Ian stayed in the vehicle while I did a quick walk to check it out. Must say that it was a beautiful beach, with miles of white sand and can understand why it is so popular. The surf wasn’t up today, but it is a evidently one of the top surfing spots.

Then back into Port Alberni for the night and the rain started again. When we had stopped at the Provincial Park yesterday to see the old Douglas Firs, the guy at the information stand was really helpful, and “quietly” mentioned that there was a big boat and trailer parking area down by the river in town, and it was quite acceptable to overnight there as well. So took him up on the suggestion and it couldn’t be better with a huge flat open mown area, off the main road and there is one other camper here as well.