Today started our second moose tour; to Vancouver Island. Unfortunately the started two and a half hours late, some driver problem that we wouldn't have known about had we not met Shannon who had a phone to contact the office. Having got up at 6.30, and sitting waiting outside another hostel as they couldn't pick us up at our own, we were less than impressed. Needless to say, even less impressed, when this resulted in us missing the ferry, taking at least 5 hours off the day. Rant over (until we got back to the Moose office where we got a partial refund :) )

This is our group;
Ben (driver) Alberta
Selina Toronto
Shannon England
Shannon Australia
Megan Australia
Eliza Australia
Ida Ontario
Ryan Ontario
Cecilia Netherlands

The tour started with a commentary drive through Stanley Park, great because we've heard a lot about it, just hadn't seen it yet. Great also to be entertained with Megan's storey of how she got attacked by a raccoon whilst there. Then onto BC ferries for a scenic cruise to Vancouver Island.
So here's us picturing a little island, like Isle of Man or Rathlin Island; this is Canada style, so its the size of the Netherlands!!

On the way to Tofino, we stopped by Sprout Lake Provinical Park and saw pretroglyths, which are stone carvings made 100s-1000s of years ago. Nestled in the lake, they had a World War Two retired plane, that is now used to carry water to disperse over forest fires. Pretty cool.
Stopped at Long Beach on Pacific Rim National Park, just to see the beach; jump out, run to see the foggy beach with the drift wood, then run back to the van because its freezing!! Eventually arrived at the hostel at 9.45pm, bit late to even attempt dinner, so peanut butter on toast had to do. (Although peanut butter is def my new favourite.)

Alarm went off at 5.30am, no-one should be awake at that time!! Off we dandered to Marine Adventures. I don't know what or where I expected to go bear watching, maybe to walk somewhere with known sightings, but nope, we went on a zodiac (like inflatable speed boat) in and around the inlets of Cloquoat Sound. The reason we decided to do the Bear Watching was because we'd been to the Rockies before, only for a few days, but I was soo gutted after being glued to the car window the entire time, that the bears didn't want to be found. So I thought, go bear watching and then the absolute 'need' to see one in the Rockies is gone, they can just be a bonus of we do.
So out we go on our zodiac, (half an hour late as the guide slept in, just destined for lateness on this trip!) and ill never forget the excitement at seeing my first bear!! A black bear (the only bears found on Vancouver Island) just pawing along the shoreline. So first of all, the reason we got up soo ridiculously early, was because of the tides. Early morning and again at around 6pm, (varies slightly on a daily basis) the tides are their lowest. This means that sea creatures, clams, mussels, crabs which are usually on the seabed floor or attached to something underwater, are now exposed on the shore. This provides excellent opportunistic feeding for the bears. Whilst they mostly feed on buffalo berries in the Rockies, mostly vegetarian, they can be omnivores here with the best of both worlds; berries and shellfish. (And some wild salmon if they're lucky.)
In total, we saw five black bears, including a mum and cub, soo cute. We learnt that they re considerably smaller here on the island, and its due to their shorter hibernation periods, which results from them using up more of their fat stores whilst active. Also how and when they choose to rear a cub is quite interesting; the mother can carry a fertilised egg until a time when her body has enough fat, and is able to carry an infant. That's pretty amazing; one of the reasons I love tours, learning all these wee interesting facts.
Whilst on the water, we were also treated to sightings of bald eagles and seals, and rain-forests that are 100s of years old. They are protected from logging and therefore hold many unique animal and species not found anywhere else in the world. Back at shore we saw exactly how he tide had risen; upon leaving for the 2 hour trip, we'd seen starfish on the sand and high up on the stilts of the Marine Adventures dock; upon return, both were covered significantly by water but still usable as he after was pretty clear. Also treated to the sight of a family of sea otters.
Controversially on the water, as they protect their forest with might, they gave a salmon farm. Great in one way as the world demand for higher than what can be caught naturally; but farm salmon, when they catch disease, it spreads like wildfire amongst them in their enclosed conditions, but worst of all, the wild salmon in the surrounding water can also pick up the disease. This results in less wild salmon for the bears to feed on, which results in less nitrogen released in their poo, meaning reducing the only source of nitrogen that the rainforest receives; overall dangerous consequences for all. Really took me back to A-Level Biology, but loved it. Really interesting.

So after a wee doze, we went for a walk around Tofino. The majority of the things to do included: surfing, whale watching, fishing, scuba diving, some of which we had already done; others that were a little outa the price range. On our walk, we came across a tree that was protected by a metal brace to hold it up, as it was soo old and they didn't wana cut it down. But it was steady, so along came the idea of a brace, costing a lot of money, but showing how the island likes to protect its trees.

The afternoon was spent on Chesterman beach, where Eliza had been given instructions on how to fun this cave.
Head left towards the cliffs, walk over and the cave is near the mansion. Turns out there are quite a few cliffs and quite a few mansions. So climbing, in places thy I don't think we were entirely safe, and with Ben jumping ahead to check out the area, we made it to the cave. Pretty cool, but not what we were expecting; it had a whole in the roof resulting in a lovely pool at the bottom. But it was fun and also risky a we had to be careful that the incoming tide dust trap us.
We rattled back over the rocks and walked to the other side of the beach to a little island and chilled for a while. Next we went to a beautiful lookout that was there to commemorate the Canadian and South Korean soldiers on the war. Which was up a hill, that I didn't think the bus would make it up!!
Back at the hostel, Ben made up a wraps dinner, which was very good, trying Kale for the first time. Then headed to the beach for a campfire.
We saw a beautiful sunset, fisherman standing in the sea, (Kenny very jealous as he didn't bring his rod!) lots of doggies, a super huge moon whilst enjoying a few ciders and s'mores.

The next day we headed off to Victoria which lies beneath the 49th parallel so USA could claim it, therefore they made it the capital of BC so the USA couldn't take it. On the way, we stopped at Coombs for lunch, which literally had goats roaming the grass roofs. Next we saw a waterfall, which lead to a glacier lake. Kenny being Kenny, jumped into the lake (as he does every one he sees) and it completely took the breath from him; it was sooo cold. I just went in upto my knees and that was enough for me. Cecelia was standing on edge, himming and haaing about whether to jump in. So Kenny pushes her!! Oops, she was not impressed!! But it was hilarious!! Then onto the hostel, Ocean Island, which was fine.

Next day we went for a hike around a little island, then rested on the beach. If Kenny can swim to an island in the middle, so can I but I didn't come back and say, "I thought I was gona drown in the middle!!" Over there, Ryan taught me to dive again, which was great :)
Back we went on the beautiful ferry to Vancouver, where we could see the glacial Mount Baker. Upon reaching land again, we stopped in Chamois, a place famous for its murals; a lot prettier than ours tho.