Ucluelet is this small coastal town next to what might be the most by tourists frequented park on Vancouver Island, Pacific Rim National Park, the Long Beach section. On the other side of the park is Tofino, which is where most tourists go to stay, but Frida had found a place in Ucluelet where they had condos for rent quite cheaply. And I must say that Ucluelet was a really cute town. Small houses, some hostels and B&B’s and surfing stores, a gas station, a supermarket and a few restaurants. A very relaxed and slow paced place. I liked it.
The small apartment was originally probably only meant for two people, or maybe a couple with two kids. There was only four of everything in the kitchen. I had to lay out the couch cushions on the floor and sleep there. But I didn’t mind, because the place was awesome. Really. Such a nice change from the crowded hostel in Victoria. All new and fresh and clean and with a balcony with a beautiful view of the tiny harbour and the mountains on the other side of the bay.
On Friday evening (4/5), as soon as we were settled in, we cooked dinner, ate it and hurried on to the Hatteras lighthouse, a ten minute drive from Ucluelet. We had been told by the condo owner that the sunset would be beautiful to watch from there.
Well, the sun went down into the clouds, but it was beautiful anyway. An the ocean! The wind was blowing strong and the air was full of the smells of open sea – salt and sun dried cliffs and seaweed and that hard-to-place smell of freedom. I could have stayed all night, just to watch the waves roll in and the almost-full moon rise and fall on the starry sky.
But the others were starting to get cold, so eventually we walked back to the car and returned to our awesome apartment. But before that, a fellow tourist managed to catch us (in focus!) with my “fancy” camera. So, the girls, from the left: Karin, Frida, Marit, Kate and me.
Katja Malmborg 