An Unwanted Sunny Day

The idea with Tofino (coastal town on the west cost of Vancouver Island, 6 hours bus ride from Victoria) was to go storm watching - apparently magnificent storms coming in from the Pacific Ocean is meant to be a tourist attraction there. I have never heard of such a thing so wanted to check it out. Lucky me (grr), the weather god must have heard my distress over the shitty weather in Vancouver, and gave me a perfectly sunny day in Tofino!

I was really dissapointed at first, Tofino may be a happening place in summer, but in winter... there isn't much to do except hike.. which you needed a car to get to the trails... or storm watch... which you need storms to watch!!!

I managed to kill some time sitting on the beach. The water emits a strong glare here, and it took me a while to realise that it is because it is the first time I have sat on a coast facing the west. This also meant that I saw a beautiful sun set on the horizon... something that I have always wanted to do! It was very, very pretty... maybe even equal the Tuscan sunset I saw earlier this year.

But the one thing that really made the trip worthwhile for me was the hostel. Whalers on the Point Guesthouse, is a HI Hostel and having lived in many hostels, I have rated this one the absolute best. Imagine waking up in the morning, with the view of Pacific Ocean at the end of your bed! The place is equipped with free pool tables, sauna, and plenty of lounges and fireplaces.. all with the amazing view of the Ocean. I came across all sorts of people here. I guess I'm pretty arrogant in thatI don't tend to care much for meeting people who you know just come in and out of my life, like travellers, per say. But my stay at this hostel really changed things.

A couple that only knew me for 20 mins invited me over to their house for Christmas and a place to stay whenever I'm in Calagry. Seeing as I was a total stranger to them I was really touched by their generosity... they must have thought anyone who can curl up and fal asleep on the couch is harmless. They were so sweet... Trang is right, it is surprising how far a little effort can sometimes go when it comes to meeting people.

I met some other interesting characters too as some of us hung around the fireplace with a guitar. Thats another thing, everyone acts as though they are travelling together, which is really nice.

Anyways, I met this english guy who use to be a project manager in London.. he quit job because he implemented a system which would in effect cost 120 of his colleagues their job in the next year.

And then there's this other guy who had stayed at the hostel for over 2 weeks. Doing nothing, had no purpose, didn't know when he was going to leave. Left his job as a software developer, is thinking of studying, but not really. Quite happy to hide away from all the realities in this nice guest house in the middle of nowhere. My guess is that he is in his late 20s. In a way, we're similar in that we realise we hate what we do and we are taking the risk to make a change. But I think I still have a goal in life, it may be a bit blurred at the moment (coz I want to do everything), but it's there somewhere. I really hope that I will never get to the stage where I am as lost as this guy... I also hope he would make a move from the guesthouse one of these days... and not because he's out of money.

All this makes me think about the careers most of us are in, and how sterile it all is. Having said that, I think I am still very career minded, ambitious and materialistic, thats the sad part!

Okaes, so I didn't get to go storm watching, but after only one night, leaving that hostel felt a bit like leaving home. On the other hand, it also felt good to be going "home" - which is Vancouver now. Anyhow, I never got contacts for the people I met there, I guess thats why people come in and out of my life!