Tofino Time: Half the speed, twice the pleasure

The next exciting instalment of my life in Tofino!

Home sweet home... the little green house. Practically on the Esso forecourt, as you can see.

I have been working in the Esso garage for a couple of weeks now, selling junk food far more than petrol. The selection of candy in store is second to none, which makes resistance very difficult while at work.The shifts are very long and dull in the most part, but it is regular and reliable and gives us our accommodation. It is also the Tofino equivalent of validating in Whistler: I get to see and speak to the biggest spread of people from the town and so it is quite cool in that respect. Example: I got my fringe cut for free in the local salon because one of the hairdressers remembered me from the garage.

Rob remained relatively a man of leisure until recently, although he did take on a few days gardening work for a local Rhododendron fanatic whose large hillside garden overlooking Tofino is open for public viewing and praise. This involved a lot of digging and wood lumbering and being told he wasn't working fast enough by the old man. Three days was quite enough of that for him.

He has now started work at the surf school in the rentals department, and also training at the Esso garage (part of the deal was that he would work some shifts too). Unfortunately because they don't want us to be working together, we are on back-to-back shifts and never seem to have any time together. Once his training period is over things should improve though.

We bought all our equipment with surprising ease: I got a second-hand board which is ideal for my level and Rob picked up a new one that had been slightly damaged for a very pleasing price. We have bikes from the co-op with expensive surfboard racks, which have enhanced our life enormously. The best surfing beach is about 15 minutes cycle away: it's all (nearly) flat, there's a cycle path and the weather has been delightful for the past week plus, so it's very pleasant. We usually cycle to and from the beach in our wetsuits: sounds disgusting, but it's the easiest way. The little green house has a yard with a hot outdoor shower which is a breeze for rinsing everything afterwards.

We have been surfing almost every day since we got our gear. I have been making some small steps of progress, though I still maintain it is the hardest thing I've ever tried to learn. Rob is a very patient teacher and puts up with my huffs when it's not going at all well with great humility and moral-boosting comments (mostly falling on deaf ears). Conditions change dramatically from one day to the next, so it's hard for learning to be at all consistent. I am still developing the right muscles in my shoulders and arms, so I need the odd day of rest to let them recover. The good bits make it all worthwhile though, and Rob is as excited as I am when I manage to actually surf across a wave.

Beach fires are allowed here and we've become good at rustling up a fire post-surf, putting away disgusting amounts of toasted marshmallows (it's amazing how many you can eat before you begin to feel ill). One of the lifties we worked with in Whistler, Luke, is passing through town just now on his under-canvas tour of Canada, so we have been surfing, drinking beer and playing frisbee with him, upping the stakes on what we can cook on a campfire by making fully successful cheeseburgers.

Life at home took a turn for the interesting when it became obvious in a fore-head slapping moment of realisation that our flatmate Miles and his friend Derrick, who spends a lot of time with Miles in his (very small) bedroom and has episodes of being camper than a row of pink tents are in fact a couple. Why this hadn't been obvious before I don't know, possibly as Miles doesn't show any signs. Being 17 and still, for the most part, in the closet (especially at work – mostly because noone realises and he is too young to know how to/to want to bring it up) I think they were quietly relieved when we worked it out for ourselves and clearly aren't in the least bit bothered. Derrick lives 3 hours away but visits frequently, when they are so extremely happy to be together (plus Derrick likes to clean the house, definite bonus).

Our cat Zeena escaped recently and was gone for a terrifying 24 hours. We were all set to make posters to put up round town, and things were very tense with Miles and Derrick as Zeena belongs to Derrick but lives here in Tofino as he can't have her at his place in Parksville (3 hours away). Luckily she reappeared, so all is well, though it seems she has a new glint in her eye and a wild urge to get back outside...

Other highlights:

My freckles: out of control!

Sealions: very curious about surfers. I nearly messed my wetsuit when one popped up beside us as we bobbed about on our boards.

Not spending much money: a welcome change from Whistler.

Getting very fit: extreme amounts of cycling and surfing are going to do that to you, not matter how many marshmallows you eat.

My birthday coming up: directly coincides with the Tofino food and wine festival – how lovely! If I'm very good, Rob says he'll buy my a bell for my bike :-)

What time is it? Tofino Time!

Life as in Whistler ended on Tuesday 24th April. A three hour delay on the highway resulted in me missing my flight to Calgary and enjoying two exits from Whistler as the bus came back to the village rather than be stationary behind the blockage. I was ready to go at the first exit and very ready to go at the second, even though I was able to have one last precious lunch at Sushi to Go...

I arrived in Calgary late that night and four nights, three days of not very much ensued: a replica, more or less, of my time there prior to Whistler and extremely pleasant. Mum and Dad were there and while the Garden Squad worked hard on Andrew's forthcoming patio, I mooched around avoiding garden centres as far as possible, cooked, ate a lot and marvelled at how much stuff I'd managed to accumulate in six short months.

Saturday 28th and I caught an early morning flight to Vancouver, armed with my new orange and pink wellingtons (for the rain in Tofino, I've justified) and a new laptop: my Acer Travelmate. The cheapest laptop available, and apparently designed with the traveller in mind (titanium frame etc etc). Its specs are all I need and I'm back in action as goes writing and photo storage – hurrah!

From Vancouver I took the Islandlink bus to Horseshoe Bay where I transferred to the BC Ferry service to Nanaimo. Having not been on a car ferry for some time I enjoyed marching around excitedly, making sure I didn't miss a thing and failing to resist over-priced fast food. It's an hour and a half crossing, which surprised me: Vancouver have some nerve calling it 'their' island. From Nanaimo add one four-hour bus journey, some of the largest trees I've ever seen in my life and a friendly Victorian (as in from Victoria, not some sort of ghost...) named Heather, who gave me lots of tips about life in Tofino, and I made it back to Rob, which was very welcome indeed. Five days apart felt like a lot longer; something to do with seeing each other almost every day all winter. I think.

Tofino is a small village, sitting remotely on a headland looking out onto the Clayquot Sound on one side, with random towering islands of thick green rainforest, and the open Pacific Ocean on the other side. It's all about surfing, fishing and whale watching here. Beaches stretch down the Pacific side, from Mackenzie beach nearest the village to the surfers' Long Beach nearer Ucluelet (39km from Tofino. I suggested cycling it the first day: Rob suggested this may be more Iron-Man Challenge than afternoon entertainment).

Our hostel is in the village centre, half an hour plus walk from the nearest beach, an hour walk from the nearest surfable beach (Chesterman). It's a cool set-up: basically somebody's house with two double rooms (ours is really cute, with lots of driftwood features and an en suite bathroom nicer than in some of the flats I've rented) and a bunkbed dorm room. There is a big kitchen, two lounge rooms, computer facilities and an extremely-friendly-but-slightly-smelly dog. Lots of people mill around but it has a really cosy feel.

We knew it already, but it became clear very early on that accommodation is desperate here. Almost every surf school, store, coffee house and restaurant is looking for staff, but none will hire without you having already secured accommodation. Tofino is fairly tiny and spare rooms just don't exist. We made posters selling ourselves as a 'clean, friendly couple', offering a generous sum, sticking them up on notice-boards around town, and have advertised in the Westerly News for a week. Staff housing seems to be the only way to go, but all the beach-front resorts ever seem to want are housekeeping staff: something we'll do if we have to. We embark on a cycle tour of all the resorts, enthusiastically handing in resumes and talking to the hirers, where possible.

The local gas station is hiring, also offering staff housing and we were given consecutive interviews with Linda the delightfully cute (in a farmer's wife sort of a way) manager. Linda confessed this was her first job as a manager, having been Assistant Manager for twelve years and that the education on our CVs was a little daunting. She seemed to like us though, and I think my ticket office experience was right up her street because she's taken us on. We have a good arrangement: I work full time (though less hours are available until the holiday season kicks off a couple of weeks from now) and Rob remains on-call to cover sickness and absence, leaving him free to work wherever else he chooses. We both get to live in the adjacent fixed trailer with the 17-year old nephew of the owner and his cat. Believe me, in Tofino terms, we're really lucky.

We'd both been in contact with the manager of one of the surf schools here, who seemed to value our initiative and experience at Whistler Blackcomb, and has offered us both jobs. While I'm tied to the gas station, Rob can work at the surf school – dealing with rentals and possibly as a lesson assistant (which won't require him to impossibly quickly obtain all the expensive certificates needed to teach). There is the possibility that if we manage to find private accommodation (I won't hold my breath) I can work at the surf school too. Who knows though – I may love the gas station...

I start training tonight. I ought to perm my hair and tumble-dry my jeans in anticipation.

All that we need now is our own surf gear and bikes (to be with added surfboard racks... an exciting contraption that makes transportation of gear a whole lot easier). We've been offered free mid-week rentals from the friendly surf school manager so tomorrow we plan to hit the beach early. Rob reckons he's going to teach me.

There are still thoughts of buying a car/van, which would free us up to seek better beaches and see a bit more of the Island.

We like wandering around the village and the beaches. Hours in the coffee shop. Crosswords and Cooking. Something of a change from Whistler.

Life in Tofino is looking good.