Quiet hour at Whaler’s on the Point starts at 11, so that’s when I shut off the computer and went up to have a shower. The showers here are very roomy and clean with good pressure. By the time I got back to the room, my two roomies were sound asleep, so I decided to turn in also. I can’t remember the last time I went to bed before midnight!

I had a pretty good night, even with one roomie snoring and there being a bright orange streetlight illuminating the room. I got up around quarter to nine and hiked down to the ‘Uncommon Bakery’ to get coffee since I hadn’t thought to bring my French press and own coffee supplies. A cup of joe was $1.75, and this with my bringing my own mug. Were my stay longer than a couple of days, I would have turned around and gone to the supermarket to get my own supplies.

virew from dorm room \’N\’, which is very similiar to the view from the atrium, directly below

Coffee in hand, I returned to the hostel to make breakfast and plan my day. There are numerous hiking options near Tofino, so I decided to spend my day exploring the trails. There weren’t really any other frugal options for today, with museums and shops being shut tight for the winter. I would have loved to take a cruise to Hot Springs Cove, but that’s something that my budget this week just can’t absorb. I’m just grateful to be in Tofino and getting a taste of the area.

Since all the hiking trails and beaches are located in Pacific Rim National Park, visitors require a day pass to use the facilities. At least, unlike Banff, you don’t need a pass to just drive through the park. A day pass is almost eight dollars, but the hostel rents them for just five dollars, so that was one more reduced expense.

There’s a small full-service ‘Co-Op’ grocery store in Tofino, so I stopped there to get snack materials, intending to return to the hostel for a late pasta lunch before going out for dinner at a restaurant on the edge of town offering good Monday night specials.

The sky was misting as I pulled out of Tofino and I knew that rain was forthcoming. I had brought my full rain gear, so I had no excuse not to get out into the rain forest and the beach even if spending the day by a hot fire with a good book sounded pretty appealing.

First stop, the Bog Trail…