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74 BCBUSINESS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 NOUN PROJECT/ALEKS/ESTEVÃO SARCINELLI; JEREMY KORESKI FOO D + TR AVE L TO FI N O 48 HOURS IN TOFINO A plucky pair of adventurers prove that you can do Tofino in a weekend— but stay longer if you can. By Alyssa Hirose / Photos by Chris Girard Saturday 4:00 a.m.: No Regrets Throwing packed bags and camera gear into our hatchback at 4 a.m. feels less like embark- ing on a romantic getaway and more like com- mitting a crime in the dark of night. But my partner Chris and I are dead-set on making the absolute most of our precious weekend. The goal is stormwatching—a popular draw to Tofino from November through February—but it's the first week of October, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for miserable weather. 8:45 a.m.: Happy Trails An hour west of Nanaimo, Chris wants to stop in MacMillan Provincial Park to take pic- tures of trees (he's brought a DSLR camera, a GoPro, a 360-degree camera, a drone and two film cameras on this trip—no shortage of enthusiasm here). We pull over in Cathedral Grove, home to enormous Douglas firs that are several centuries old. Chris is set on captur- ing the largest one, so we head down the route creatively named "Big Tree Trail" and meet the monster (nine metres in circumference) almost immediately. It's about the lowest commitment, highest reward pit stop I've ever made. 9:15 a.m.: Here Comes the Bun To further break up the drive (and to lessen our chances of killing each other in a hangry rage), we stop at Wildflower Bakeshop and Cafe. The Port Alberni bakery opened in 2020, and serves pastries and coffee as well as beer, wine and cocktails. Their weekend brunch doesn't start until 10 a.m.—a cold, hard truth that almost has me in tears—and the only non- sweet baked goods on offer are pizza (yes, we are somehow too early for brunch but right on time for pizza) and something called "breakfast buns." We get the latter, which turn out to be incredible. A warm, pillowy pastry topped with cheese, bacon, a crazy-good tomato-y jam and a sunny yellow egg is the perfect refuel. 11:30 a.m.: What's in Store We're finally realizing the benefits of our grossly early departure—we've arrived in Tofino, and it's not even noon. Time to responsi- bly contribute to the local economy (read: shop without consequence because we're on vaca- tion and money isn't real). We start in the Roy Henry Vickers Gallery, a stunning longhouse showcasing the Indigenous artist's original work. I'm amazed by the selection at Mermaid Tales Bookshop—despite the folksy name, the small space is stocked with new releases from local authors. Merge's clothing and home- wares are the stuff of Pinterest dreams (think W I C K M E AWAY Tofin o's W i c ka n i n n i s h I n n is a sto rm - watc h e r 's p a rad is e—it 's d e s i g n e d s o a ll ro o m s fac e o ut , w ith th e h a llway ru n n in g a l o n g th e b ac k , e n s u rin g th at n o u n it h a s th at d re ad e d p a rk in g - l ot v i ew. Fro m a ro o m at th e W i c k , it 's a s h o r t wa lk d ow n to C h e ste rm a n B e ac h . (B ut in m o re d riz zly m o nth s yo u c a n g et a j u st- a s - im m e rs ive exp e ri e n c e s im p ly g a zin g o ut yo u r w in - d ow.) wickinn.com B OY M E E T S WO O D Th e ta ll e st tre e in C ath e d ra l G rove m a ke s C h ris l o o k like a Le g o m a n .