THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
You think these coast guard guys earn their dough,when they have to rescue wayward boats & folks...... check this out off the coast of Tofino near Pacific Rim National Park (Long Beach) Btw: come & visit ,it's worth the trip........
My Guess is they are not having a 'coffee' when in this close,............
HF&RV
11 comments:
I stayed on Long Beach for about 6 weeks in the summer of '79. It was very nice peaceful then, tourists, yes, but not like the east coast of the island. Some good memories. I preferred Tofino as a "town" to go into and drank occasionally with some native beachcombers. I hear it s all built up now though with big box type stores in Uquelet, kind of inevitable I guess. Morin Heights is like that now.
KenM
Hi Ken I'm not aware of any 'big box ' stores at all.(anywhere on the Extreme Westcoast like Tofino/Ucluelet/PtAlberni ---your hard pressed to find anything that resembles a bar/club).....Langford is the big box store city (and this helped the little town of Langford ,by the efforts of Mayor Stew Young) who Btw: owns plenty of business in that town ,but he got all the big Box Stores to build up Langford and it does look pretty good from what I see (but Langford is only 15 minutes from me & I'm in Oak Bay) ,this was a little place just heading out of Victoria ,but now is home to all the big box stores.....The Westcoast towns of Tofino & Ucluelet are still very much smalltown,but with the usual Greed that comes from Resort development,......but in no way is it a Big Box town.( & you can still be mauled by a cougar,quickly if you wander too much into the bush/rainforest)I would think you would certainly feel very comfortable along the westcoast..... Now the Westcoast Trail is a different thing,with people signing up to do the trail 2 years in advance ,usually from Germany.Japan,...wanting to explore the Canadian Westcoast.absolutely beautiful .....your right the East coast of the island is far more developed with the Condos,thing ,but still a lot of coastline on that side to appreciate,Teresa & I just came back down island from Saratoga Beach ,which is still a nice place but not as rustic as the real westcoast...The reason for that is predominantly because the only highway for many years was the old island highway,which lent itself to prospective buyers,there is now a more 'inland hwy' which helps us get by towns like Nanaimo,Parksville, Qualicum etc etc ......but Remember this 'island is about 350 miles long and anywhere from 50 - 80 miles wide at certain points,....... BC is still as they say in the ads 'Super Natural' ........ There are a lot of malls in Nanaimo & big box stores,(the first Costco on the island is there,but towards the Westcoast you will still find it unreal for beauty .......It does however have a peak season in the summer when tourist come from all over,slowly it's also becoming an all season destination,as people come to fish,whale watch (all over this island for that) ,and of course 'Storm Watch' ...........
Now that I've done my sales pitch for visiting ,give it some thought(you are Welcome) & I'll provide the tour of Victoria )...lol Also keep your windows battened down as I hear some possible heavy weather is headed your way too.......
Cheers Ken HF&RV
Ken I just saw that your talking about '79......Crazy stuff ,as I lived here then,too bad for no internet at that time,There are many great spots (at least in those days) all the way up the coast.(Westcoast of the Island that is)...French Beach,..China Beach,.Jordan River,..Sombrio Beach was one of the greatest places to see in the 70's ,& it still is .However it was really devastated by logging around the late 70's ,People going there now still think it's amazing,but it's no where near the place it used to be: At one time there was at least an hour + hike down to the Ocean....and at the short end about 45 minutes ,depending on the season ////////Spring is a Slippery Place to be & Dangerous......but now the Trek down (due to logging) is a little shorter.....There have been people / families that actually grew up & some born on Sombrio Beach........................Ahhh Life certainly is changing ............. HF&RV
This makes me laugh as well as makes me sick............10 minutes now to the beach ......You had to be there ,I'm sorry this is sick: http://www.explorevancouverisland.com/Sombrio_Beach_Vancouver_Island_BC.htm
Sombrio Beach is a large cobble beach and an easy 10 minute (one way) walk along the trail from the parking lot. Explore the beach, camp, surf or hike eastward along the beach (30 minutes one way). Parkinson Creek is a 9 km hike from Sombrio Beach.
There are two designated camping areas at Sombrio Beach; one at east of the beach and one at west end. Visitors can explore or hike east or west along the beach, enjoy a
picnic or try their hand at surfing in this world-class surfing area. If you are going to surf please be advised Parks Canada warns that full wet suits and booties should be worn all year long as most of the rescues they perform are for those that are ill suited for conditions
Absolutely stupid , this used to be a Hike ,not a 10 minute walk to the beach..........BS: You would be happy to regain your breath once you made it to the beach,never mind this 10 minute stuff........THIS IS NOT WHAT A TREK DOWN TO SOMBRIO USED TO BE........... & I Did it many times:
HF&RV
Well, 3000 miles can shift stories and rumors around. I used to love the trip to the coast taking the old road from Parksville through Coombs, with the goats on the roof, heh heh. Never really liked Port Alberni because of the mill, but it was a very nice ride I thought. I stayed a few days at Long Beach at the end of September one year and it was just really nice - rained most of the time but I love west coast rain, so it worked out pretty good actually.
KenM
Hey Ken,
.. I saw your name on here and wondered if it was you. Now its confirmed by your tofino post.
I did the 79 long beach scene with you. I recall i ended up staying for the full summer. it was durning my bohemian artist period.
We stayed on thet beach at schooner cove. was quite a walk through the forest to get to the beach. quite secluded. Beach bumming for the summer.
I remembered we hitched from Nanimo through port alberni, spent the night somewhere then through the mountains to the coast the next day.
Remember the Gust of Wind? the cafe hangout in Tofino. the hotel bar.. good times for sure. the pow wow get together evening fires on the beach. great memories for sure.
Im still on the west coast in burnaby love the coast.
Funny though never been back to long beach.. been around through asia and India a few times though.
John OSullivan AKA JohnnyO
Your right about Port A, though,never been a favourite of mine,but have had to go there at times ,as all lagging towns get into financial trouble these days the places are slowly trying to change to 'destination' type places (don't think Port will really make that list) but the people from there love there town.
You mentioned it rained while you were there,well it took me several years out here to ever see Long Beach at all,as it was always covered in fog every single time I went there..lol Even a couple of years ago I was flying up to the Comox Glacier ,and we decided to head over to Tofino just for a ride,& as we approached you could see this one band of fog just hanging over Tofino,so we turned & headed back through the Alberni Valley and back to Courtenay ..
You also say you were on the beach in September '79 , well just 6 + months later I was on Bamfield Beach at the beginning of the Westcoast Trail,celebrating my birthday that weekend ,about 20 of us,camping on the beach when Mt St Helen's blew up & we could hear it plainly .we had no idea what it was,thinking Naval Exercises maybe ,or an explosion in a logging camp.but never guessed it was a Mountain blowing it's top down in Washinton state...yikes !! Mama Nature again flexing.her muscles...
The goats on the roof are still there,in Coombs...it is a fantastic coast for sure,as is the whole westcoast right down to California, ..............makes me want to do a road trip, lol
HF&RV
Hey John!!
Really, really good to hear from you! Wow! Those were good times for sure.
I will email you if I can figure out how all this works, heh.
KenM
Les, my son-in-law Simon is a great surfer and he's surfed most places in Southeast Asia, Hawaii, California coast etc. Is Tofino known as a surf destination and if so, when is the best time of year to visit for surfing?...Diane
Hello Diane ,yes Tofino is a surf destination,becomming more popular all the time (Cold Water)
People surf all up & down the Westcoast (several spots favoured) here's one site that may help,as to time of year best,I believe they surf all year,with of course winter storms adding to the surf....(we get could storms,some come to 'Storm Watch' .....Visit anytime that's best suited to you.but summer would allow you to visit other parts of the Island as well.........
http://www.surfingvancouverisland.com/surf/ HF&RV
Thanks Les, We've visited the Island several times. You sure picked a beautiful place to live! I'll pass on website to Simon, who keeps a watch on surf spots around the world. Thanks again...Diane
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