DESTINATION
Catching Waves
A FAMILY TAKES TO THE B.C. SURF AND DISCOVERS IT’S A SOUL THING BY STEVEN THRENDYLE
IT STARTED TO RAIN the minute we pulled into our campsite at Pa- cific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island. With nerves frayed from the four-hour drive from the ferry dock in Nanaimo with two kids in tow who needed regular potty breaks, my wife Sheila and I didn’t waste words as we divvied up camp chores. In fading light and intensifying rain, Sheila unfolded the brand-new
canopy that would cover the picnic table so we could start dinner. In seconds, the instruction sheet became a wadded mess as useless as wet toilet paper. The pick-up-sticks cluster of poles lay haphazardly on the ground, while eight-year-old Cameron and six-year-old Maddie came up with novel ways to express their feelings about being hungry and wet. As any parent in the outdoors should know, you need to pick your battles. Though the plan had been to save money and engage the kids in the rewarding task of preparing campstove meals, Sheila and I tossed in the wet, sand-encrusted towel before we even started. Off to Tofino we went, about 15 minutes by car. We pulled into Break-
ers Restaurant and ordered enormous burritos while tourists and lo- cals—you could pick out the surfers because of their sunny complex- ions and matted hair—came and went. Tofino has always had a mellow, hippie vibe which has set it apart
from the rusty logging towns that dot the Vancouver Island landscape. Nearby Clayoquot Sound was the battleground of one of the fiercest wilderness preservation battles in British Columbia’s recent history of combative environmental activism. A street-grid of art galleries, funky
PACIFIC RIM NATIONAL PARK
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim 250-726-7721
CAMPSITES: 109 sites in Green Point campground. No hookups or showers.
The shore break is a good place to start.
FEES: $22.75 per night for a drive-in site. SEASON: Mid-March to mid-October.
12 FAMILY CAMPING
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