On Monday morning, Will and I drove to Horsehoe Bay to catch the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Our 10 AM ferry was cancelled, so we waited an hour for the next one, nice view to enjoy your coffee:
We were staying at the super-schwank Wickaninnish Inn on Chesterman Beach just a few miles before getting into Tofino.
Sunset from the balcony:
On Tuesday morning, Will and I had breakfast in Tofino at Caffe Vicente and then toured around downtown Tofino.
Just checking the view from our room before we go to Ucluelet, yup, it's low tide:
About 30 min from Tofino is a little fishing town called Ucluelet.
We hiked the Lighthouse Loop of the famous and beautiful Wild Pacific Trail.
For dinner, Will and I headed to Norwoods Restaurant, a little gem of a restaurant that was recommended to us by Will's folks. We were lucky enough to get seats at the "Chef's table" where we could see the kitchen in action.
To start, Will had the Local Gallow Mussels and Little Neck Clams with griller herb baguette and piquant tomato sauce:
I had the Grilled Pacific Octopus with sunomono salad:
For dinner, I had the seared Pacific halibut with risotto of local dungeness crab and asparagus:
Will had the roasted cedar plank salmon with new potatoes, grilled vegetables and tomato salsa:
For dessert, we shared the blueberry goats milk cheesecake:
The dinner was really fantastic. Who knows if it was the beautiful setting or the restaurant itself, or whatever, but it was one of the nicest dining experiences that I've had.
The next day, Will and I bid adieu to the luxurious Wickaninnish, got back in the car, and headed to go visit his folks in Arbutus Ridge. I can't wait to come back someday.
