A Pacific honeymoon with a difference: Wet weather and whales on Vancouver …

By
Amy Watkins

PUBLISHED:

12:57 EST, 27 September 2013

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UPDATED:

12:57 EST, 27 September 2013

Naturally, I reached for my bikini and factor 30 when my soon-to-be husband told me he’d booked us a Pacific island honeymoon to a destination full of beautiful beaches and lush rainforests.

Then he mentioned the words ‘Canada’ and ‘storm watching’ and suggested I pack an anorak.

It was a stormy start to our trip to Tofino on the west coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island, only a 90-minute ferry ride from Vancouver. And it was to get stormier.

Tofino Beach

Storm’s a-coming: Tofino Beach plays home to extreme weather – and the moodswings of the Pacific

This pretty peninsula is one of the world’s best places to watch Mother Nature’s fury at her finest.

But I was a little nervous.

I tried not to read too much into road signs announcing ‘Tsunami Hazard Area’ and ‘Wave Threat: Extreme’ as we neared the western peninsula of Tofino.

But, goodness it was pretty: ancient cedar forests, snowy mountain passes and lakes.

If we had kept going we would have hit Japan.

Between November and March, swells up to 20 feet high crash into the coves of the peninsula, and galloping waves race onto the shoreline like an army of white stallions.

We were staying at Pacific Sands Beach Resort, hidden amongst alder trees along the bay, in a two-bedroom beachhouse.

The wind howled, the stampede began. Trees bent inland as the sea morphed into a fury of whipped white foam. It was time to batten down the hatches or, in our case, wind down the rattan blinds.

We lit candles and then curled up in fluffy robes in front of the fire to watch the chaos unfurl outside.

Our romantic candles proved useful when we were plunged into darkness as the winds tore through nearby power lines and left a trail of broken trees scattered over the highway.

In the calm after the storm the morning brought an eerily quiet sea that twinkled in the sunlight – and we discovered that the previous night’s 70 mph winds were part of one of the biggest storms of the year. Even hardy local surfers had taken a rare day off from catching a wave in Cox Bay.

Tofino takes a bashing from the Pacific, but reaps the rewards of exquisite seafood like tuna sashimi at sophisticated Shelter restaurant or a hearty bowl of salmon chowder at chef-run Spotted Bear.

Pacific Sands Resort

Huddle round: The Pacific Sands Resort is the sort of place where you can see out the worst of the weather

When the storm eased off we headed out in a boat from Jamie’s Whaling Station to explore rainforest-covered islands. Resident grey whales and migrating orcas were enjoying the choppy Pacific, but we stuck to the calmer inlets to spot eagles, otters and sealions.

Back at the resort we donned yellow oilskins and went beachcombing.

I was excited to find a white urchin-like shell; until my new husband scoffed that it was from the resort’s plant-pot and claimed that it even featured their five-pronged star logo.

I later discovered this ‘sand dollar’ shell has a natural star pattern and he was duly dispatched outside to find me another. I settled into the bedroom’s hot-tub and watched him disappear into a yellow dot as he searched the beach.

He returned triumphantly brandishing a grit-encrusted sand dollar and admitted I was right after all.

A good sign for sure for married life.