British Columbia - Victoria

After six weekend trips, I finally have the time to take an entire week off. I am very excited about that.

We will be heading first to the Olympic peninsula in Western Washington for a day or two and then over to Vancouver Island. We will hit Victoria, Nanaimo, Tofino, Campbell River, and Port McNeill.

As we only have a week, we won't hit Vancouver or Seattle much on this trip.

Any out of the way or off the wall suggestions??

We are heading back to Vancouver and Tofino this summer after spending an idylic vacation there last year. We got excellent culinary suggestions before we went using the Canada board on Chowhound, so I suggest consulting that if you haven't already about Nanaimo and etc. There's someone who works at one of the lodges in Tofino who always responds with great advice about dining and etc. there, but I would chime in with several suggestions: Beaches grocery and etc. on the way into town provides you with terrific fish tacos and great fresh produce in the funkiest, grooviest atmosphere this side of the 1960s; the Breakers deli in town for excellent sandwiches and baked treats; and -- I'm counting the moments till I get to eat these again -- the fresh, fresh shrimp and crab rolls you can get at the Trilogy Fish Co. There is good uspcale dining at several restaurants and at the lodges in Tofino, but we didn't go to them as we had our young children with us, and I prefered to cook, in the kitchen in our cabin, the salmon we could get literally off the boat . Forgive me if you know this already, but Tofino is a major surfing town (for Canada, anyway), so if you're inclined you can rent a board or take a lesson (my 10 year old is now devoted to the sport after several lessons there. Yes, it's cold in the water, but full-body wetsuits help some.) Enjoy yourself. It's a very special place.

I'm trying to think what to suggest. We were in Vancouver, Victoria and Port McNeil last summer, athough the focus of our trip was a long kayak trip in the inside passage.

In Port McNeil, we did two things, both of which I'd recommend. You can take a ferry to Alert Bay, a small First Nations village that has a wonderful small museum with a potlach exhibit that's very moving. You only need about 2 hour in town, so you can take a ferry in the morning and be back in the early afternoon. We also did a very exciting day of caving. It was quite adventurous, but if you're interested, I'll get the guide's name.

Victoria didn't do much for me, so I don't have any recommendations there. About 2 hours north (along the Ocean) there is the famous Sooke Harbor House, which is supposed to have one of the best restaurants in B.C. We passed by and it's a very scenic location. If you're looking to picnic near Victoria, we got the name (from Chowhound) of an excellent Italian deli about 15 minutes outside Victoria. Again, if this is of interest, let me know and I can probably remember the name or location.

You didn't mention visiting Vancouver, one of the world's great dining destinations, so I'll leave out those recommendations.

That's a great part of the world, and I'm sure you'll have a great trip. You do seem to have a log planned for a week. It takes a full day to drive from Victoria to Port McNeil, but you're familiar with the area, so I'm sure you've got it mapped out.

Jonah

Toni,

Thanks for the ideas. I always go to the Chowhound Boards and look to see what is going on before heading out for a trip. I cut and pasted about 12 pages of notes, mostly on Tofino and Victoria ... a nice Sunday activity (g).

As for getting in the water ... not in this lifetime. Every summer of my youth was spent in the Land of Lakes region of Ontario (near Ottawa) getting dragged into lake after lake by Canadian friends. Cold water and I do not get along. (g)

Well, if you do have the time in Tofino (and it is a long drive there, and I would second the ho-hum verdict on Victoria, by the way) a beautiful on- but not in- the water activity is the boat trip to the hot springs (there's only one, as far as I know, and all the outfits go there) in which you are taken on a lovely ride out into the ocean and deposited on the shore to hike through the redwood forest on a boardwalked trail to a hot springs that feeds directly into the ocean -- so you can start at the top in almost-too-hot-to-take water and proceed down through a ever-cooler succession of pools 'till you get to the ocean water, which is almost too cold to take. All this surrounded by spectacular scenery and the chance to see a whale or two. Bring water-proof shoes, though -- our guide didn't tell us and the rocks are dangerous to negotiate without them. Let us all know about your adventures when you return.

We dined at Sooke Harbor House, a wonderful meal and setting, I’m trying to find my notes.

Had dinner at the Pointe Restaurant in the Wickaninnish Inn near Tofino, a Relaix and Chateaux property. The Inn is located near the town of Tofino on the western side of Vancouver Island. We were actually staying in Ucluelet which is a 25 minute drive from the Inn. If you click on the link below and then click on the photo of the resort, you can see the restaurant in the lower right hand corner of the photo. Our waiter said that during the storm season, waves will crash onto the rocks and windows of the restaurant.
http://www.relaischateaux.com/site/...de=wickaninnish
The Wickinnanish Inn's website is http://www.wickinn.com/
Chef Jim Garraway's Signature Menu on the night we dined there (and our ratings) was:
Smoked Salmon and Caper Wonton Pouch w/Apricot and Chervil Salsa "outstanding"
Warmed Octopus Antipasto Potato Cannelloni w/Balsamic Syrup, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
"outstanding"
Sole and Tiger Prawn Mousse Roulade w/Organic Pea Shoots, Citrus Puree, Sevruga Caviar "would have been great w/just the Sevruga Caviar served. A so-so dish"
Seared Fois Gras w/Apple Fondant, Housemade Duck Prosciutto and Fresh Herbs "outstanding" (but then we have rarely been disappointed by any seared fois gras.)
Saskatoon Berry Ice "WOW" Had never had Saskatoon Berry anything, we loved the flavor
Veal Rack Confit w/Savory Tuile Box, Celery Root Mash, Black Plum Jus "just incredible" The only confit we had ever had was duck. The Veal w/the celery root mash was divine.
Gianduja Mousse w/White Chocolate Espresso Sauce "good"
Jack Daniel's Chocolate Pyramid in a frozen cherry shooter "very good"
The Pointe IMO is a must dine when in the Tofino/Ucluelet area of Vancouver Island.
$90 Canadian, $140 Can w/wine pairings (a glass for each course picked by the chef)

In Uclulet, Matterson House is a small restaurant that is in a yellow house. Meals are reasonably priced and very good, not outstanding, they had very fresh seafood. Matterson dishes were very enjoyable and the chef seemed decently versed in a few different cuisines which he brought to the predominantly seafood menu. Dining on the outside patio (heated when cool out) was a big plus as well.

Before hiking the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet, pick up a good deli sandwich from the Gray Whale Deli/Ice cream parlor.

In Tofino, there is a deli that is on the left hand side of the street that goes down to the seaplane pier. We had some very good and unique sandwiches here. This deli also serves great bakery items.

Read about the following place after we had been there:

from Gourmet mag (oct 04), there is a purple catering truck in Tofino called SoBo. Serving such items such as fish tacos of wild salmon and halibut topped with fresh berry salsa; smoked oysters and green papaya slaw; shrimp cakes with fresh herbs and mustard sauce.
250.725.2341
http://www.sobo.ca

A brief trip report about Vancouver Island:
Started our trip from Port Angeles, WA. Took the Coho ferry http://www.cohoferry.com/ over to Victoria, crossing took ~90 minutes, cost ~$35 for car and two people. I liked this ferry because during the summer, they have a 9pm crossing that allows for one to enjoy the whole day rather than traveling during the day.

Stayed in Victoria at the B&B Edwardian Inn http://www.bctravel.com/edwardianinn/ . The owner Ingrid serves a great breakfast. Sadly we only used the Edwardian Inn for one night and did not get to explore Victoria. Looked very interesting, but I was anxious to get to our main destination the wild west coast of Vancouver Island.

Before leaving Victoria, we visited the Butchart Gardens. I am not really a garden person, but this place was amazing. Just beautiful.
Spent two hours there, but a garden fan could probably easily spend the day. http://www.butchartgardens.com

As soon as you are outside Victoria, the road gives way to some gorgeous terrain. We headed up Hwy 1, past Nanaimo to Parksville where we caught 4 over to the west coast. If we thought 1 was gorgeous, we were even more pleased with 4. There are some very twisty turns and some washed out areas of 4 so make sure to allow enough travel time. I am a fast driver and the trip from Victoria to Ucluelet took 4 ½ hours.

In Ucluelet we stayed at the Ocean's Edge B&B. http://www.oceansedge.bc.ca
The Ocean's Edge is a house in the cul de sac of a typical suburban street, what is not typical is that Ocean's Edge is on it's own little peninsula on the ocean with a bald eagle's nest on the property (in a tree next to the garage). Ocean's Edge is a little over a mile outside town and is a nice walk, say to/from dinner. The owners, Susan & Bill, are very gracious and knowledgeable hosts. Bill conducts hikes in the areas, which we took advantage of. His knowledge was incredible, seeing as he used to be the chief naturalist of Pacific Rim National Park. My wife and I would have gone on the hikes and enjoyed them, but Bill's input made the hikes that much more informative. He also has that typical quirky Canadian humor. During our hike, whales were 1/3 mile offshore, frolicking. We did not have to use binoculars they were so close. The trial we hiked with Bill was the Wild Pacific Trial http://www.wildpacifictrail.com

Uclulet is not a shopper's town (thank God, I found one! J) it is a town that has two purposes, local industry and tourism, but not commercialized (although I can imagine in 10 years time it will be L).

The town of Tofino is a 35 minute drive to the north of Uclulet. Tofino is more developed and has more of the kitschy knick knack shops, but it is not overwhelming.

Between Uclulet and Tofino is the Pacific Rim Natural Park. http://parkscan.harbour.com/pacrim/ We hiked many of the trails in the park and all were fascinating.
Saw bear and other wildlife.

Some activities we did not do, (that we definitely will next time) are some ocean kayaking, and taking a seaplane tour of the area. I would also like to come back during storm season in the Fall to see some of the mighty storms hitting the coast.

We were taking a British Columbia 10am ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver ( http://www.bcferries.bc.ca/ ) , Susan said we should leave early to make sure we make it in time for the ferry. We therefore left before breakfast that day, but Karen put together some juices, muffins, granola and some yogurt for the am drive. As I said before, I'm a fast driver and we arrived at the ferry terminal in Nanaimo with over an hour to spare. But because we had an advanced reservation (you pay extra for confirmed res) we were put first in a row of cars. This was terrific because as they were letting cars onto the ferry, we were directed onto the upper level and had the very center front row parking spot on the ferry. MAN what a view! Opened the sunroof and laid back taking in the view and listening to the radio. We sailed from Nanaimo/Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay north of Vancouver. Crossing took 90 minutes.