February 22, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Ucluelet, Accommodation
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I could hear the ocean. I couldn’t sleep because I was excited to be able to hear the waves crashing into the rugged shoreline. They were so close. They were just outside my window. I was staying at the Blackrock Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet, BC, and to say I had a ‘room with a view’ would be an understatement.
My two bedroom suite was modern, comfortable, with vaulted ceilings. It showcased a west coast flavour with its decor and design. The full length windows in both bedrooms and the living and dining areas showed off nature’s masterpiece with breathtaking views of the open Pacific Ocean and the entrance to Big Beach in Ucluelet.
We had friends for dinner, and were able to cook our meal in the fully stocked kitchen (including a dishwasher!), and each other’s company as the sun set behind the ocean vista before us. They stayed to drink wine by the fireplace before saying goodnight.
I walked into the bathroom and was forced to choose between a luxurious bath and a luxurious shower. The bathtub, which might be the deepest I’ve ever seen in my life, had a sliding window on the wall near it, so you could have a bath and watch the ocean through the bedroom windows. Then I noticed the shower had a giant pie-plate sized shower head coming out from the middle it's huge tiled stall.
They call it a “Rainforest Shower.” If you’ve seen those shampoo commercials where warm water is cascading from the ceiling, mysteriously, and the actress in the commercial looks like she’s died and gone to heaven... then you might have an idea of my experience in Blackrock’s rainforest shower.
I set my alarm so I wouldn’t miss the sun rising over the tree tops of the temperate rainforest that surrounds the Blackrock Oceanfront Resort. As the sky lit up I could see the ocean I’d been listening to all night, and watched it from my bed until the sun shone into the room. I walked out on the wrap around balcony in my stocking feet, breathed in the crisp salty air, and started to plan another gorgeous day on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island.
February 20, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Ucluelet, Sightseeing Tours
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This morning the sun rose at 7:21AM. That's the best part about waking up early in Ucluelet, being a part of such a beautiful world as it starts a new day. I drove out to Amphitrite Point and climbed out to a rocky perch near the Amphitrite Lighthouse. I watched its giant bulb spin, flashing light into the open ocean, and then I turned by gaze east towards Barkley Sound and the silhouettes of the Broken Group Islands.
The sky slowly turned from a faded blue grey to light pink, then purple and darker pink along the clouds that streaked across the sky. As the sun started to rise over the mountains in the far distance I noticed the rocks around me light up. They were under that special golden spotlight that only happens early in the morning under the first rays of sunshine.
Then the sky burst into golden as the sun finally appeared over the horizon. Sea gulls were flying overhead, heads bobbing down to the rock pools looking for breakfast. I noticed a sea otter close to the shore on his back, anxiously gnawing on whatever breakfast he had already found. The sun hung in the sky like a perfect circle of light, shining bright on my face.
As I walked back to the Wild Pacific Trail I saw two bald eagles take flight off of a tree. They flew in complete unison, swooping and circling the top of the Amphitrite Lighthouse, around and around, over and over until finally leaving together and disappear far over the tree tops.
It's such a special place, Ucluelet, and such a privilege to be amongst nature in its rawest and truest form. It's hard to think of anything that could come close to beating this morning's sunrise over the Broken Group Islands, except for maybe the sunset on the other side... tonight.