Day 29 - Wild Pacific Trail & Ucluelet - 30/08/13

After having a relatively early night we awoke to yet again the sound of rain. Instead of opting to stay in the nice warm shelter of the camper we decided to again layer up and head out onto a walk called the Wild Pacific Trail which would take us along the island's Pacific Coast and passed a century-old lighthouse.

On our way to our destination the heavens again opened up and the rain seemed to get heavier. We arrived at the car park and the headed off onto the trail. We were not even a few hundred yards when things started to get a bit brighter and the rain stopped. 

With the new found warmth and sun we ended up walking the trail whilst carrying our rain coats. The trail itself wasn't a long one but took quite a while as there were so many places to stop to take photos. It was an extremely scenic route which followed the coastline all along the outside of the island head. 

The first point of interest on the trail was the Amphitrite Lighthouse - a particularly short building that didn't look like it'd perform it's function as well as the more familiar, taller versions! The lighthouse was built in the early 20th century after its predecessor - a wooden tower - was built and subsequently washed away a year before. It is surrounded by a cluster of large rocks that the huge waves of the Pacific continually crashed against, which we happily sat and watched for a while.

We saw a number of bald eagles on the walk, usually perched high atop the tallest trees and occasionally taking to the skies to soar above the ocean. Later, we spotted an even more bizarre bird high atop a tree. After agreeing that it looked like a chicken that'd somehow found its way up there we eventually used the camera to confirm what it actually was. It was a stick!

Once we finished the trail walk we had a little meander through the centre of Ucluelet. On our way back, we stopped off at Long Beach (a long beach) for a quick walk before calling for some tea at an oceanfront restaurant next to our campgrounds before heading back to settle in for the night ahead of our early start tomorrow where we'll be driving back to Nanaimo to catch the ferry back to the mainland.