Author Archives: Katja

Sunday afternoon (6/5), all the coulds disappeared and we got some really beautiful sunshine. So, we went on a final hike, this time on the Wild Pacific Trail, a well prepared trail that follows the wild shoreline west of Ucluelet. Even if the wind was mild and friendly on this particular Sunday, it is evidentContinue reading “Chapter 139: The Wild Pacific Trail”

On Sunday (6/5) we drove to Tofino, just to see what it looked like. Tofino is where most of the tourists stay when they visit the park, which became obvious as soon as we entered the little town. All the houses on both sides of the main street had signs offering surfing lessons or kayakContinue reading “Chapter 138: Tofino”

Finally, I got my second chance to make my lentil soup and reclaim my reputation as a decent cook. This time, I had the red lentils and even though it ended up being slightly on the boring side (no cayenne pepper), it was good enough. Now they can all go back to South Korea, NorwayContinue reading “Chapter 137: A second chance”

The Pacific Rim National Park was one of those places where I went completely nuts with my camera. All that moss! And ferns! And mushrooms! Bare with me… Wild strawberries! Just by the beach. Oh, I’d like to be here in the end of June. Okay, so, this maybe isn’t rainforest greenery. But it’s greenContinue reading “Chapter 136: A second study of moss and other rainforest greenery”

The last time I met Natalia before I left for Canada, she gave me two things: Mr. P, who wanted to see the world, and a dare. When we were in Bolivia together, Natalia, Jonna, Cecilia and I, we visited Lake Titicaca and the island Isla del Sol. On a particulary sunny and warm day,Continue reading “Chapter 135: Natalia’s dare”

But dad might be happy to learn that this slug is not like the brown ones he picks in his summer house garden and puts into buckets of salt, cursing them as if they were his biggest enemy in the whole wide world. No, this is a banana slug, and it is actually a vitalContinue reading “Chapter 134: This slug is not for Elin”

The Long Beach Unit, situated inbetween Ucluelet and Tofino, of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a very diverse piece of protected land. It’s got beaches, windswept coastal forests, lush temerate rainforests and wetlands. And everything within a twenty minute stretch of highway. Saturday (5/5), we spent an entire day hiking on the extremelyContinue reading “Chapter 133: Pacific Rim National Park Reserve – Long Beach Unit”

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 theyContinue reading “Chapter 132: Ucluelet”

For the three nights that we spent in Victoria, we stayed at a hostel called Ocean Island Inn. And there’s just smething with backpacker’s hostels. Wherever in the world you go, there’s a special kind of atmosphere in these places. And for me, they make me feel at home. I think it’s from when IContinue reading “Chapter 131: The thing about backpacker’s hostels”

Friday (4/5), we picked up our rented car in Victoria and started our drive towards Ucluelet and the southwestern coast of Vancouver Island. We somehow ended up with a brownish Dodge, and I know nothing about cars, but both Karin and Frida got all excited about it. Frida wouldn’t be allowed to drive it, though,Continue reading “Chapter 130: The drive”