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Friday, August 18, 2006

The Tigh-Na-Mara Trek, August 2006. Parksville, B.C.









[ Full album of pictures ]


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August 13/06

What a day.
Big suggestion for anyone taking the B.C. Ferries to Vancouver Island: RESERVE! That's right, you can reserve your vehicle spot in advance to ensure boarding at your preferred time. The $15 is worth the 2+ hour waits, air-conditioned or not, it's still a long wait in the car line up for the ferry.

Where were we going? To Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville, located by the east oceanside on mid-Vancouver Island, British Columbia. But our day started with some frustration before we even got out of Vancouver. Our battery decided to short-circuit and die in front of the bank a few minutes drive from the house. So I got a boost from Dad who lived a few blocks away. Then straight to Canadian Tire to buy a new battery and have it installed - penalized more by the 1-hour required wait for good ol' Canadian Tire's mechanic to do their thing. So during that hour, which was already getting to lunchtime, we went to nearby Kingdom Restaurant on Kingsway and Gladstone St.

Let me tell you about this gem of a restaurant. And I know it when I eat at a classy Chinese restaurant. I've indulged my choppers at all types of Chinese restaurants in Vancouver as well as in the USA (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle). And you know what, the dim sum at this Kingdom Restaurant was suuuuper!

Firstly, the place looked very clean and new. The waiters and waitresses were well dressed in pressed white shirts. They were very attentive to the our needs - refreshing out pot of tea, replacing our used plates, spoons and even chopsticks with new ones, always checking back on us if we were wanting more types of dim sum food. They even took the time to "chase" me down after I had just about walked out after eating when I left my sunglasses at the table. And you know what, the price was great for value! Imagine $2.50 per dim sum serving!

Anyway, we got to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal in West Vancouver at about 1:45 pm, but the line up was very very long. We missed 2 ferries and finally go on board at 5:15 pm. Luckily we headed off to Horseshoe Bay Village for about an hour and a half during the wait for some ice-cream from Baskin Robbins and also a nice cool refreshing Matcha Chillo from Blenz. (It's green tea blended with some ice cream and ice).

During our wait prior to that, we had watched a DVD movie on my laptop in the van. I'll need to get myself a 100 Watt (minimum) inverter to power my laptop from the cigarette lighter socket. The one I had bought at Canadian Tire earlier in the day was only for 75 Watts. I found out only later that my laptop needs 90 Watt power. But it turns out that this 75 Watt inverter was good for plugging our cell phone charger into, and for $21 it was a good price, compared to the cellular phone-specific car charger that would be minimum $30.

Anyway, we got to the Nanaimo Ferry Terminal (Departure Bay) at around just past 7:00pm. We drove to Tigh-Na-Mara Resort around 30 minutes away, and here I am typing this at 10:30pm in our Studio Suite ("Jedidiah Suite"), a few minutes walk from the beach. We had a great home-cooked dinner whipped up by master chef (and wife) Vangie here with their kitchenette. It comes with stove-top, toaster, microwave, sink, fridge with mini-freezer, coffeepot and utensils, plates, etc. And also, okay, there's free wireless internet connection in the lounge...a sure plus for me. So what am I not too happy about right now? THERE IS NO AIR CONDITIONING IN ANY OF THE SUITES OR CONDOS AT TIGH-NA-MARA RESORT !! It has been a terribly hot summer, and yes, it has started to cool down to ~~25 degrees celsius during the day, but it's still warm by my standards , even by nightfall. Imagine a world-class resort that was featured on Kathy and Regis' show that does not have air-conditioning.... This is going to be my first night, but perhaps the previous events have marred my generally good nature. So we'll see about the rest of our stay here.

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August 15/06

FRUSTRATION!!!

That’s what I feel right now!!

I’ve just lost all the 2 pages of writing for yesterday’s blog of activities and my summary of “likes and dislikes” for the day. I don’t know… I swear I saved the file and replaced the old file. I’ve searched using the Windows file search command, for anything with “tigh-na-mara” in the body of the file. But nothing.

It was late yesterday that I finished writing. Maybe I was so tired that I somehow selected my new entry and deleted it before saving??? I also have another theory that maybe I wrote too much for Windows’ Notepad program to handle? I just don’t know.

But the quick summary for August 14 of our Tigh-Na-Mara vacation:
Early morning went to play and splash around with the kids in the pool. SO VERY COLD! The indoor pool water temperature is not right: unusually cold! We went to the beach at Tigh-Na-Mara. Low tide. Dug up 3 bucketfuls of clams. I also got 4 sand dollars, one of each of the children and the one on its way. Cody of Concierge here at the resort told me about red tide for the butter clams, but not manila clams. Tried the best we could to separate the two and eat only the manila clams. Decided later on it was too risky, so cooked a small batch and three the rest away. Played a little tennis at the one tennis court they have here. Did some grocery shopping at Thrifty Foods in Parksville. Bought ourselves a fleece pullover and a heavy windbreaker (jacket) in anticipation of the whale watching and tour with Jamie’s Whale Watching in Ucluelet. (He has has one branch in Tofino.)

Dislikes for August 14/06:

- there is no bathtub mat. The tub can be dangerously slippery when showering...
- long waiting for front desk to pick up their phone. I tried 3 times at different times during the day, but no one picked up, even after 20 rings
- cold pool water. I’ve spent time at other less-expensive resorts (and also at equivalent class-resorts), and their pool water temperature at Tigh-Na-Mara is much much cooler/almost colder.
- No posted speed limit. There are cabins and suites scattered throughout the resort, with narrow automobile “paths” throughout. Many children are riding their bikes on these same routes, and many are running around on these same routes, between cabins, the playgrounds, tennis court and beach. I saw at least 3 vehicles going at speeds that would have proved challenging to stop at if a child were to pop out in front of them say, 4 meters away. Heck, I saw a couple of the resort’s golf-carts being driven by their employees zipping around at a noticibly “fast” pace. At Beachwood Resort, which has a similar set up, they have a extremely strict rule to drive at 7 mph (or just under 10 km/hr). Why not the same at Tigh-Na-Mara?
- No bathrobes to be found in the suite.

Likes for August 14/06,
- Cody the Concierge Captain’s service. He took the time to run from the main office reception area to our suite at Jedediah Suite to give us a fishing/shellfish brochure to help us distinguish between bears.
- Housekeeping service did a wonderful job tidying up our suite.


August 15/06
We got up early at 4:30 in the morning for the 2 ½ hr drive to Ucluelet – for whale watching !!!
Jamie’s Whale Watching Adventures had a special on in Ucluelet, where for each paying adult, a child would be free, and any extra children would be ½ price. Their Tofino office didn’t have this special, so we opted for their Ucluelet location and then later on driving to Tofino to see the world famous big waves and sandy beaches.

The drive across Vancouver Island from the east coast to the west coast Ucluelet was an interesting one of sorts. The weather in Parskville at 5:30am was appearing to be clear. The sunrise looked promising. Then driving on the way to Port Alberni, the sun started to hide behind the clouds. We filled up at the Shell gas station in Parksville, and we were off on Highway 4 for the 85 km stretch to the Tofino / Ucluelet junction. Here’s where our ride took a turn for the slight worse. And I mean the pun. I didn’t expect the “Highway” to be full of twists and turns and hills and valleys. At times, the recommended speed limit was 40 km/hr, but I had to slow down to 30 km/hr with the family load behind me. Then the weather got eerie, as there were low thick clouds and fog settling down just above us. It was like a scene out of “Twin Peaks”, all we needed was the popular t.v. series’ theme song. We saw hardly other drivers, save for a few logging trucks that uncomfortably tailgated us until we pulled over to let them pass. Then my heart dropped an inch lower when a warning light came on 30 km into the drive. It was a yellow graphic icon on the dashboard, looking like an engine. I drove 30 more minutes to see if it would disappear. Thoughts raced through my head, as I was deciding whether to continue or drive back. Then I asked Vangie if we had any cellular signal. Nope, none. Maybe she has a sixth sense, or simply she just knows me so well… she looked over at me and then at the dashboard, and she asked what that yellow light was for. I didn’t want to worry Vangie and kids, so I casually asked Vangie to pull out the owner’s manual. I found a clearing on the road shoulder and looked it up. Vangie I think knew too not to panic everyone, so to her credit she stayed calm. She looked up the two pages that had the “Warning Lights” display and their meanings. There was no matching icon, and so I became more curious than concerned. Perhaps it was the wrong owner’s manual. Nope. Right one. Maybe the differences in U.S. or Canadian models. Nope, it explained both. So I looked at every page quickly scanning for the same dashboard picture of concern. Found it. I had to do with the engine emission… something about fuel not burning properly…perhaps loose gas cap, or different type of fuel. Ok, nothing about dangerous low oil level or the engine about to die. It did talk about getting service as soon as possible if the steady yellow light started to flash. Ok, I was a little more relieved to know that our situation was not that serious. Vangie and I told the kids that we would say a short prayer, and we did, for continued safe guidance throughout our trip.

Fast forward to reaching Ucluelet some 1 ½ hours later, albeit a heightened 1 ½ hours of careful, watchful and slower-than-usual driving. We let people pass us on the highway to let them go their merry usual way. We got to Ucluelet at around 8:30. It was just a bit chilly, and my toes were feeling slightly cold (more due to the weather than the driving, I think). I was wearing my open sandals without socks. We drove around looking for a store that would carry some socks. The Ucluelet Co-op store was closed still. We saw a store in a retail strip called “ Camper Jacks “ . It was a smaller store, with signs saying “auto parts” and outdoor supplies. It would prove to be a good pick, as they sold wooly socks. The older man at the cashier was very friendly, striking up a conversation about Ucluelet and the local happenings, such as the new Jack Nicklaus golf resort and the 1 million dollar plus homes being built, with their absentee owners. He let Vangie use the washroom (clean) as she was needing to go desperately after that long drive. I also ended up buying a 175 watt – continuous – inverter; I figured I needed it anyway for the laptop, and I wanted to give him more business for his hospitality. Very friendly man at Camper Jacks there.

About the whale watching… on the way out to the open ocean, first, we had a little verbal tour of some rocky islands where we saw two whales in all, humpbacks. We went out to the ocean about 30 minutes, and we reached an area by some small rocky islands. We saw the blow of spray from the whale’s blowhole, and we the kids gleed along with the rest of us as we saw the whale do its swoop and show its tail. This went out for about 40 minutes, with the whale surfacing 10 or so times. We also had a chance to see some sea lions at a place called “The Hollow”. They were all males, basking on the rocks. Big fellows they are. Really big.

Jamie’s Whale Watching here at Ucluelet had somewhat an older boat, reaching 10 knots speed. The ocean at first was calm, but when we went to see the sea lions, it got very choppy, with maybe 1 to 2 meter swells. Erica got seasick. She used the special “bag” that Jamie’s had provided. Her looking at the horizon made it better; it didn’t help if she wanted to put her head down. I was a bit amused as I remarked to myself about how she loved to go on the more daring adult twisting and dizzying round-and-round rides at the PNE, but she only got sick on a boat. And maybe filling herself up earlier with the salted chips didn’t help either. All in all, the 4-hour whale watching and sea lion tour experience was a good one. I can finally say that I went whale watching, after having lived in British Columbia for over 30 years. Mind you, I did see killer whales in a group in the sea while living in Ocean Falls.

Next, out to Tofino to see the big waves!! Not a bad drive. The weather had cleared up a lot compared to what it was earlier in the morning. A relaxing road cruise with the only dislike being the road construction that made us wait for 15 minutes. I saw the “Long Beach” exit way before (10 km?) reaching the town proper of Tofino, but we were hungry, so continued on to stop in the actual retail district. We ate at a restaurant called “The Schooner.” It’s set up to be a cross between fine dining and casual dining; to give you an example of pricing: a burger cost $13, or was it $15 ? I had the beef with scallops in asian sauce and basmati rice. It was okay…a little too much sauce for me though. Our waitress was kind enough to provide us with a map of Tofino and its beaches. She suggested going to Chesterman’s Beach instead of Long Beach. It was the closest beach with the biggest waves. Nevertheless, we got filled up with food at The Schooner Restaurant in Tofino.

We found Chesterman’s Beach but almost missed it because it was only an ordinary sized street sign that said Chesterman Beach road instead of the large “attraction” sign that one would expect. The parking lot is about a 50 yards from the turn off (we almost drove past it thinking that the parking lot for the beach was further down). It was a breathtaking sight to see, and also a audio spectacle. The ever constant waves slapping the sandy beach, whitecaps, a blue open ocean with no land in the distance to see, dozens of surfers bobbing up and down or sliding down crests.

The girls had fun building sand hills close the water and being “caught off guard” by the incoming remnants of the big waves. It was fun to see them running away and screaming with laughter as the water chased them. The sights and sounds of the water and sand reminded me very much of Santa Monica beach when we were there in March 2006. The only difference was the air temperature of course. The water here at Chesterman’s beach was warm, to my bit of surprise. We stayed here for about 45 minutes, taking plenty of pictures.

Then on the way back to the Ucluelet / Tofino junction, we did stop at Long Beach for about 15 minutes. The waves were just as big. There were plenty of washed up logs, and it was a longer stretch of sandy beach here than Chesterman’s Beach. Also, the parking at Long Beach was pay parking. It was free to park at Chesterman’s. I have a feeling our waitress at the Schooner Pub had let us in on a locals’ secret about Chesterman’s beach, now knowing about the small street sign that announced its presence just before.

So, off to the junction and then on to Port Alberni. The emissions warning light was still on, but I was more comfortable about it. The skies were clear. The sun was behind us as we headed from the west coast of Vancouver Island to the east coast. No more “eerie” feeling driving under a heavy cover of cloud and morning mist. It was bright, and the scenery was vibrant green all around. I felt more safe and confident with the road, now knowing what to expect with regards to the twists and turns. We had a break in Port Alberni at McDonalds with ice cream for everyone. I treated myself to some java.

We felt relief as we got into Parksville. Even Erica said out loud a sincere one-sentence thank-you prayer to God for our safe arrival. Before turning off from the Port Alberni Highway 4 onto the number 19 Island Highway, we stopped for a short while to see what this Parksville Community Festival was about, situated at the Coastal Credit Union. There were little shopping booths with merchants showing off their wares, mostly hand-made. There was some dancing presentations and of course food: candied apples, hot dogs, ice cream.

What we liked today, August 15, 2006 :
- Camper Jack’s in Ucluelet’s friendliness and helpfulness
- Getting to see real whales in their real native environment
- Tofino’s big waves and sandy beaches, ie Chesterman’s Beach and Long Beach
- Nice cozy community feeling of Parksville and Ucluelet

What we were not impressed with today:

- the lack of cautionary literature describing the type of narrow twisty road / “highway” #4 that exist between Port Alberni and Ucluelet / Tofino Junction. If I would have known, I would have given myself more driving leeway time.
- the tailgating logging truck drivers, especially with these types of roads. It can really make the average driver extremely nervous and prone to a nasty situation. And for those drivers of trucks without the heavy loads, what do you have to prove? Are you being revengeful for those times when you yourself were tailgated when you had a heavy load?
- Lack of warning by Jamie’s Whaling staff about the rough choppy ride to come. They at least could have given us tips on how to avoid sea-sickness, ie. constant watch on the horizon, versus feeling tired and closing your eyes and putting your head down.
- The possibility that the gas at Shell gas station on Highway 4 in Port Alberni was the culprit in causing my emissions light warning in my van to light up. I’ll be writing a letter to head office about this. It can’t be a coincidence.

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August 16, 2006 – Wednesday

We went to the Parksville Sandcastle Competition display at the Community Beach in Parksville. All of the sculptures were amazing. These were not just ordinary sandcastles. All sorts were crafted: King Kong, plumbers, dragons, “cougars”, the “fat lady”, fairy tale themes, and more. Outstanding!! I also liked reading the biographies of the sculptors; one was a dentist! The Parksville community beach was a nice sight: dark blue crispy ocean with whitecaps, and sandy too. They also have a huge children’s playground and water park, along with tennis courts and picnic areas. We also enjoyed watching the stunt bicycles and bmxers do their tricks at a bike bowl area there. Free parking too where we parked. We saw a neat tractor / contraption on wheels: called a “goose goo goner”. It picks up geese poop from the grass!! There were dozens of Canada geese walking around the grass.

After that we headed back and ate lunch at Tigh-Na-Mara. The kids went swimming. I found a tennis partner to play with. The children then participated with drop-in-activities club organized by the resort staff. They also went swimming – in the cold water at the swimming pool, still! I had to go back to the resort’s front desk and complain about this. The Concierge Captain (not Cody) said she had heard from a woman guest about this earlier. While I was in front of her, she spoke to maintenance guy over the phone. She said they will check into it today, and temperature should be about 80 to 84 degrees Farenheit. I told her I know the pool water was much much cooler than that, from my reference point that 72 degrees is room temperature. I told her that I had told administration /front desk staff about this two days ago, and still nothing was done about the temperature. She apologized (at least). Let’s see if they can finally do something about this.

They ( Tigh-Na-Mara ) had family movie night at 9 pm . It was outdoors with a big screen in front of the small grassy hill that led down to the gazebo on their waterfront embankment. It was an amazing set up , with the sun going down and its colours behind the gazebo overlooking the sea. We had to take a picture of this, but we only had our cellphone camera. Really cool set up they had here. We watched RV starring Robin Williams. Slow start, but it got funny. After the movie, we stayed a short while ourselves and we watched to stars on the clear night. I saw 2 shooting stars. Erin-Marie saw one, and Emerald caught one with her eyes. Amazing.

What we liked today, August 16, 2006:

- the sculptures at the Parksville Sandcastle Competition.
- the many things to play on at children’s playground and waterpark at the Parksville Community Beach
- the family movie night setup, outside at the gazebo overlooking high above the sea, especially with the sun setting.
- the housekeeping staff’s focus on cleanliness in our room.
- Erin-Marie's and Erica's fun time during drop-in-activities scheduled for the younger children of the resort. (There was face-painting, crafts, social games...). They said that Jessie and Kat (recreation staff) were very nice.

What our complaint is about today:

- the fact that Tigh-Na-Mara staff did not do anything about the cold pool water temperature for 2 days. I also didn’t like their problem in communicating this to the right people. Apparently, she said it was the first they’ve heard about this today. (Note to myself…next time, I’ll ask for their names and write it down ; I should have done this for the staff I talked to 2 days ago)
- I had to call the Grotto Spa several times to confirm our appointment for facials and spa, because the previous phone calls were not answered. Maybe they were too busy, but still, I didn’t even get to voicemail. It looks like this lack of attention to guest’s phone calls is a problem for all Tigh-Na-Mara people at the front desk (Resort Check In and The Grotto & Spa Check In)

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August 17, 2006

Time to go home. That is , after treating ourselves to the world famous "Grotto Spa" of Tigh-Na-Mara ! I went down at 10:30 am for an hour in their mineral bath. It contains minerals from a natural spring in Hungary. I saw a sign in their changeroom saying something that the health ministry in Hungary has claimed this particular spring as having medicinal properties. Anyway, Tigh-Na-Mara's Grotto Spa was, for lack of better words, "heavenly." There was nice relaxing background instrumental music playing, the sounds of the mineral water falls , the decor with the "cave" theme, the non-chlorine-smell pool with hide-away-corners and ledges to sit at... just absolutely wonderful. I was advised to try a hot-and-cold regime of 20 minutes in the mineral bath, then into their cold shower waterfall, and then into their jacuzzi. I did about 3 cycles of this, lasting about an hour. Brilliantly and robustly invigorating ! I know that there must have been some major detoxifying going on because I had to empty my bladder 4 times during that hour and 20 minutes ( and later detoxified also via that cleansing "movement" thrice within the same day). At that time in the morning, there were only maybe 4 other people in that mineral bath. By the way, the water bath area is spacious - I read that it's about 2,500 square feet in area! I also read that the spa is the largest of its kind in British Columbia, and one of the larges in Canada. Vangie had her treat at the Grotto Spa also with a facial full of herbals, as well as an arm and lower leg/foot massage. She commented on the ultra-relaxing ambience in the room: candles, warm towels, music...

Going back to Vancouver seemed much much easier than going to Parksville. We waited only 1 hour in the ferry line up. The traffic across Ironworks Memorial Bridge (aka Second Narrows Bridge) was light.

The Tigh-Na-Mara Trek has ended with some lasting memories.

Liked for August 17, 2006:

- Tigh-Na-Mara's Grotto Spa - the mineral bath, facials, all within a place just oozing with the focus to put you in total refreshing relaxation
- The Grotto had complimentary shaving stick, shaving cream, cotton swabs, comb, and antipirsperant for me to use .
- the pool heater was finally fixed, although it took 3 days of constant reminders (perhaps 5 reminders in all to 5 different staff)

Disliked:

- long line up to check-out. approx 15 minutes wait.
- hard to find a parking space at the Grotto Spa . There are only maybe 10 to 15 available? Tigh-Na-Mara management ought to either create more parking space, or have available to guests their multitude of golf carts (of which half are not used at one time by the staff, ie. housekeeping )
- I've only found out now, as I type this entry in Vancouver, that there is bike rentals available at Tigh-Na-Mara . I found out by reading the small print on their website. I wasn't made aware of this by other means nor media (ie. literature, large signs or postings) during our stay there.

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Okay, just to let you know, if you remember I wrote about my suspiscion about the quality of gast from the Shell gas station in Port Alberni being the culprit of my emissions warning light coming on in my 2001 Chevrolet Venture vehicle... Well, in Nanaimo, I put 2/3 tank of supreme gas in. Later, after arriving in Vancouver and driving around for about an hour, the emmissions light went off. So I think by this I can confidently say that the Shell gas station in Port Alberni has got dirty gas!

[ Full album pictures here ]



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Thanks to God for providing for us a safe trip where we got to enjoy each other. Thanks to God for giving us the blessings of abundance to fund our Tigh-Na-Mara / Ucluelet / Tofino vacation by way of the full time income stream from my Tahitian Noni International distribution business.