Travel Day:

Today was crazy! After school, I came home and quickly gathered my things and changed. We then drove to the airport and \240went to a restaurant after we got through security. After that, we waited for our plane to arrive and then boarded. It took a long time to take off (the ice had to be removed from the wings), so we took off about an hour later than planned. That’s okay though, as we landed in Vancouver on time. We waited for our bags and then jumped in an Uber to get to our hotel, the Loden, which is located in Downtown Vancouver. Since we were all very tired - Ontario is three hours ahead of BC - we went to bed right away.

Looking forward to tomorrow, when we will travel around Vancouver!

Day 1:

Today, we went for breakfast at the Tableau, which is a restaurant located in the main lobby of our hotel, the Loden. The avacado toast was very tasty. After that, we went to an OVO warehouse sale in the Convention Centre. Then, we walked along the waterfront in Stanley Park. The view was spectacular - the mountains in the distance were absolutely beautiful. We also ventured into the forest section of Stanley Park, which was my favourite part. The path was quiet and the height of some of the redwood trees was jaw-dropping. We then rode the electric city bus back into downtown Vancouver, where we went to a \240café to grab some snacks and drinks before returning to the hotel. For dinner, we walked back down to the waterfront to Cardero’s. The food was amazing and the view out the window was nice. To end off the day, we walked to a local candy shop and grabbed some candy and then went back to the hotel and went to bed.

It was an adventurous and exciting day, and I’m really enjoying Vancouver and it’s beauty. \240I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Day 2:

Today was a great day!

We went for breakfast at the Jam Café, which was delicious. My sister got cinnamon bun pancakes, which my dad and I happily ate when she was full. After breakfast, we walked by the waterfront and took a water taxi to Granville Island. There, we went to a specialty tea shop, which made my dad very happy. We also went to a tasty donut shop.

After that, we took the water taxi back across the bay and walked to our hotel to drop off some things and get ready to go on a hike. The concierge brought our rental car to the front of the hotel for us, which was nice. Then, we drove to Mount Seymour to go hiking. Even the drive there on its own was beautiful. Once we arrived and had parked our car, we set out on a hike in the forest. I find it fascinating that after just half an hour in the car, you can go from the warm streets of Downtown Vancouver to snowy peaks of mountains in the clouds. This was definitely my favourite part of the day - some of the trees here are truly incredible and the view at the top of the mountain was completely worth the long hike.

After we had hiked back to our car, we drove back to our hotel to get changed into some warmer clothes and get ready for dinner. We went to a nice Mediterranean restaurant for dinner called Hydra. The chicken was amazing.

To end off the day, we went to get ice cream at a place called Perverted that we found online.

Since we are all very tired now and our legs are sore, I am confident we will all sleep well tonight! Looking forward to tomorrow, when we will take the ferry to Tofino :)

Day 3:

Today was another travel day - we took a ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo (yes, the town has amazing Nanaimo bars 😁).

The drive to the ferry terminal was about half an hour. When we arrived, we waited in line to board. Once we drove our car onto the ferry, we got out and went onto the main deck. There, we got some breakfast and searched for some seats. Unfortunately, today was a rainy and foggy day so we weren’t able to see very far out of the windows.

The ferry ride was about 2 hours, and we were eventually able to see some mountains off in the distance as we got closer to the port. Once the ferry had docked, we drove off the ramp and down into Nanaimo, where we stopped at a café to get some warm drinks and Nanaimo bars. I’m not suprised that the Nanaimo bars were delicious in the actual town of Nanaimo!

The remainder of the afternoon was the drive to Tofino, which included our visit to Cathedral Grove. There, we saw incredibly high trees, some of them being over 800 years old (the 1200s). I found this absolutely mind-blowing. As can be seen in one of the pictures below, the tallest tree in the park was considerably taller than the Tower of Pisa.

Once we arrived in Tofino, we went to our hotel, the Wickaninnish Inn, and figured out our plans for dinner. The hotel has a really nice warm feel to it, and view out our window is incredible. We ended up going to a restaurant called 1909 Kitchen. The food was really tasty, and we ordered multiple shareable dishes.

We are now about to go to sleep in our hotel room. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night, when I will update this blog again!

Day 4:

Today was spent in Tofino - we went on a wildlife excursion on a boat and spent time walking along the beautiful beach in front of the Wickaninnish Inn.

We woke up and went for breakfast at the restaurant in our hotel. The food was great and my dad and I loved the tea. But above all, the view of the ocean was spectacular.

After breakfast, we went to our room and \240put on multiple layers of clothing so we could be prepared for our wildlife excursion out on the water. We then drove to West Coast Aquatic Safaris and signed in for the excursion. Once the captain felt the conditions were safe to leave the harbour, we boarded the boat and headed out into the ocean. Almost immediately, we saw some bald eagles in the sky and many sea otters in the ocean, in a group called a “raft.” \240Unfortunately, by the end of the excursion we had not seen any whales but we did see a group of sea lions near the end, which was neat.

Once the 2.5 hour excursion was over, we went to a local coffee shop to get some warm drinks and sandwiches. I was pretty cold, so a hot mocha was delicious and warmed me up.

After that, we went back to our hotel and walked along the beach. This was my favourite part of the day, as the sun was out and the ocean was beautiful. We walked for a long time, from one end of the beach to the other. \240It’s amazing to see how much the tide can rise and fall in one 24 hour period.

Warm showers were very much appreciated after the windy, cold day. When everyone was ready, we got in the car and drove to a restaurant named The Shelter for dinner.

All around, it was a great day!

Day 5:

BC just keeps on giving!

Since we really enjoyed our breakfast at the Pointe Restaurant yesterday, we decided to go there again this morning. The view is just unbeatable compared to any other restaurants in Tofino :)

We had originally booked an ocean kayaking excursion, but the company called my dad to warn him that the conditions were rough and that we would be constantly fighting the strong current. So, we decided to cancel and go hiking at the Wild Pacific Trail instead. This worked out well, as the view was beautiful and we were warm. We actually saw some whales in the distance, which was really neat.

After the hike, we drove to Tacofino, which is a taco truck that is highly rated. I got a beef burrito, which was delicious.

Then came my favourite part of the day (and possibly the trip). We drove to Atleo Air, where we had a reservation for a seaplane excursion. We met the pilot, and learned that he was originally from Ontario. My family let me ride up front with the pilot, which was awesome. In fact, the pilot let me take the controls at one point - I was amazed at how very small adjustments would move the plane quite a bit. We learned that it was a De Havilland Beaver plane from the 1940s. We went on a half hour flight, circling the islands surrounding Tofino. I loved seeing what everything looked like from above. The weather was perfect and the sun was out. Nothing could have been better!

After the flight, we went for gelato at Chocolate Tofino, walked around Tofino for a little bit and then went back to our hotel to walk on the beach. The surfers were out today as the conditions were better than yesterday, so it was interesting to watch them ride the waves.

To end off the day, we went for dinner at the Pointe Restaurant.

Looking forward to driving to Victoria tomorrow!

Day 6:

Today was, for the most part, another travel day.

We woke up for the third and last time at The Wick, and continued our tradition of going to The Pointe Restaurant for breakfast.

Then, we went up to our room and got ready to head off to Victoria. We enjoyed the amazing view from our room one last time. \240The drive was about four and a half hours, but it went by quicker than I had imagined. The views were incredible, with mountains off in the distance and ridiculously tall trees. Even though we have been in BC for almost a week now, the height of some of the trees continues to blow me away.

Once we arrived in Victoria, we checked into the Magnolia Hotel and Spa, and brought our bags to our room. We wanted to stretch our legs after the long drive in the car, so we walked around downtown Victoria for a bit before sitting down for dinner at a pub named Bard and Banker (since it was St. Patrick’s Day). There was a live band and tap dancers, and it was quite busy inside.

After dinner, we went for ice cream at Chocolats Favoris. When we passed by, we just couldn’t NOT go inside! It was amazing 😁, with cones dipped in melted chocolate.

To end off the day, we walked around Victoria a bit more and then went back to our hotel to get ready for bed.

Sadly, tomorrow is our last full day in BC. I’ve had a great time so far, and I’ve also enjoyed updating this blog on our adventures.

Day 7:

Today, my family and I took the ferry back to Vancouver.

I encouraged my family to go back to the Jam Café for the second time this trip, since I loved my sister’s cinnamon-bun flavoured pancakes so much the last time. The pancakes were just as delicious as I remembered!

After that, we walked around Victoria and then went back to our hotel to get in our car and drive to the ferry terminal. Once we got there, we found out that we could actually go on the ferry that was set to leave an hour before ours, since we arrived so early. This was nice, as it gave us an extra hour in Vancouver when we arrived.

The scenery during the ferry ride was amazing, with mountains in the distance and the sun shining. It was much better than last time we rode the ferry!

Once we arrived at the port, we got back in our car and drove off the boat. After the half-hour drive to Vancouver, we checked into our hotel and dropped our bags. We are happy to have a family suite with two rooms for our last night. We went to dinner immediately after this, as we were all hungry. We went to an Italian restaurant and then to an amazing ice cream place. They actually froze the cream on-the-spot using liquid nitrogen, which was fascinating to see.

Sadly, tomorrow is our travel day back home. I’ll still upload a blog though 😀. Overall, I’ve had a great time on this trip and I would like to come back here someday!

Day 7 (travel day back home):

Today was our flight back home.

We woke up, went to the Starbucks inside our hotel for breakfast sandwiches, and then took an Uber to the airport. It didn’t take long for our plane to come after the got through security.

After we had boarded and taken off, I watched some of the new season of Drive to Survive with my dad. Unfortunately, I also had to work on my science homework ☹️.

The flight felt short (it was only 3 and a half hours). Once we had landed and gotten off the plane at Toronto Pearson, we got our luggage off of the luggage belt and went to our car.

And that was basically the day! We drove home and had something to eat, and then went to bed.

I loved this trip and I will remember it for ever; I’m hoping to come back to BC in the future!

Thanks for reading my blog, and I’ll most likely do this for my next trip as I really enjoyed writing it and uploading pictures.