Category: BC

British Columbia

Tofino cafes – a writer’s hangout

During my recent 2-week house-sit in Tofino, I set myself the goal to visit every coffee shop in town. I thought this would be a snap, because after seven years away I remembered only five. But people kept telling me about new ones that had opened, standalone or attached to new hotels or campgrounds. Early on, I was adding to my list faster than I could knock them off.

In the end there were fifteen on my list, an impressive (arguably ridiculous) number for a small town. I had to plan carefully to get to them all, balancing my folding bike use (for the more distant ones) with the storm that blew through mid-visit (for the in-town, walkable ones).

It was an over-caffeinated quest that barely wrapped up on my last day there. I think I got to them all (no guarantees). I’m not rating them, as they are each a unique experience and worth at least one visit. Also, I’m a coffee Neanderthal — I’ll drink pretty much anything, and the cost of a coffee is more table space rental than for a gourmet taste experience.

What I did note was their suitability for sitting for an hour or two and writing/emailing/browsing on my laptop. Some are set up for that, some not.

The ones I would (and did) return to are in bold below — my seal of approval for a good place to hang and work. Presented here in the order I got to them:

1. Driftwood (Wickaninnish Inn) — high-end but casual, great location at the end of Chesterman Beach, outside tables in good weather. Moderately busy, solid wifi for a limited hang.

2. Drift Mfg. Co. (Fourth & Campbell) — charming, quirky little hole-in-the-wall with good coffee and an eccentric motorcycle vibe. The tiny bar is more suited for people-watching than laptop use. Wifi, didn’t ask.

3. Tofino Sea Kayaking (Main St. near First) — a standard, back when I lived in Tuff City, and still terrific. The outside covered porch has the best view in town, with a half-dozen seats inside for the cold, rainy days. Bonus of good pastries. Wifi is solid. My only caveat is it’s tremendously popular, so the ethical laptop schmoozer can’t take up space when it’s crowded.

4. Common Loaf (First St. & Neill) — another old standby. Snacks galore, also a solid lunch spot. Any writer has to have a session upstairs in the turret. Good wifi, and it too can get busy.

5. Tofitian — once a fave of mine, for the coffee and the high-end pastries. Still great, with good wifi and a computer bar. Busy, but mostly for take-out. It closes at 3 PM.

6. Maq Cafe (corner Main and First) — a surprise. When I left Tofino, the Maq had been known as the “Devil Bar,” and had recently been shuttered. Hugely renovated since, the cafe is a fantastic hang spot with lots of table space and a great harbour view. Popular with locals. (Barista liked my hat!) Loud-ish music. Coffee and food service stops at noon.

7. Rhino (Campbell St.) — an iconic Tuff City cafe. Its highly visible location, along with trademark food and donuts, makes it tremendously busy most of the day. Loud, bassy music, solid wifi. Good for a quick bite (sit-in or take-away), but not generally for a laptop work session.

8. Tofino Coffee Roasting (corner Pac Rim Hwy & Gibson St.) — renowned for its coffee among local aficionados. Mostly a tiny take-away shop, though in good weather there is some seating outside.

9. Mizu Mizu (Mackenzie Beach Resort) — another new one to me, built (I hear) in the resort’s former swimming pool. Coffee, pastries, lots of table seating, solid wifi. I wasn’t the only hanger-out on a laptop.

10. Ahous (Main St. in The Shore building) — mostly a marine tourism outfit, but with a nice coffee corner. Fun staff and good wifi, not busy when I was there. Closed over the winter season.

11. Moss & Milk (Tsawalk RV Park) — an unexpected secret, with tables and an artisan coffee and food bar. Didn’t check the wifi but probably good. Coffee service closed at 3, but the building stayed open late. Probably quite busy when the RV park is full.

12. Beach Shack (Pacific Sands Resort) — the resort’s outdoor food and coffee bar, popular with guests, beach-walkers and locals. Limited tables, usable in good weather. Wifi is there but tricky to find.

13. Hotel Zed (Pac Rim Hwy) — another surprise, with a good hangout pit in the hotel lobby. It’s busy but interesting, which is a plus for me, with people and their pets (the hotel allows animal guests) wandering through. Coffee shop closes at noon.

14. Savary Island Pie Co. (near First St. wharf) — coffee and a selection of savoury and sweet pies, plus a nice view of the harbour and busy dock. No wifi, but lots of table space for non-connected work.

15. LoveCraft (corner Campbell and Second) — interesting little shop stuffed with local art and crafts. Good coffee (owner is an aficionado). No wifi or sit-down table space.

Hello, Gabe

Well, the die is cast: my “temporary” summer stay at my sweetie’s place on Gabriola Island (a 20-minute ferry ride from Nanaimo) has become my permanent residence, as of a couple of weeks ago, when i made the decision not to return to Tofino in September.

My reasons are many, but here’s the main one: After a year and a half doing the long-distance relationship, with Leah driving up to Tuff or me bussing down to Gabe every couple of weeks, it was time to get together and stay together. The regular change of scenery was stimulating, i’ll admit, but the travel was wearing. I don’t know how couples can do it long-term. Continue reading “Hello, Gabe”

Assault on Clayoquot salmon continues

Another approval, this one bravely issued the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving long weekend, brings closer the expansion of open net-cage salmon farming in Clayoquot Sound. Read the one-page “Reasons for Decision” — what a non-document! There’s so much wrong with this that i won’t go into it here (refer to Don Staniford’s blog and Alex Morton’s blog to get an earful of how insidious this corporate/government conspiracy really is). Continue reading “Assault on Clayoquot salmon continues”

No tankers wanted here, suh!

At the behest of the very effective Dogwood Institute, here’s my letter to the new Liberal party environment critic,Gerard Kennedy. Oil tankers in the Great Bear Rainforest region, and the attendant Enbridge pipeline, are such monumentally bad ideas that they take my breath away. If we put all that money and effort into sustainable energy strategies and technologies … we’d be there in 20 years. We’d never have another serious energy crisis, or climate crisis, or oil war. Europe is well on its way. I want us to be too.

Dear Mr. Kennedy (Kennedy.G@parl.gc.ca),

As you know, there’s a controversy going on in B.C. over the connected issues of oil tankers and the proposed Enbridge pipeline from the tar sands.

I am a resident of Tofino, in Clayoquot Sound. But i also consider myself a citizen of an ever-shrinking world, and i am doing what i can to make the world a better place for both our children and the larger ecosystems we all depend implicitly upon for our very lives. I am deeply concerned over how corporate needs — for raw materials, for weakened legislation, for unlimited profit — are trumping human needs in every sphere. Our present government understands nothing, it seems, but economic growth, and is content to lay waste to the earth in its bid for a “healthy” economy, no matter how unlivable that world is for people.

Your Liberal party is Canada’s best hope for widening this ruinously narrow vision of our future, and as Liberal Party of Canada Environment Critic you are well placed to have a positive influence over what transpires in coming years. We both know that allowing oil tankers to traverse Hecate Strait, Dixon Entrance, and Queen Charlotte Sound will over time guarantee that oil spills will happen.

Of even greater concern to me is that continuing to build oil infrastructure, especially around dirty tar sands oil, only makes our climate crisis worse, and at the same time distracts us from building a sustainable energy infrastructure. This path is pouring money down a rathole, and makes the consequences for our climate future even more dire than they will apparently be already. It is a grossly irresponsible choice for a government to make.

I urge you and the Liberal party to do what is right: please commit, loudly and publicly, to a legislated ban on oil tankers through Canada’s Pacific north coast. And time is of the essence — please do it before the end of the year.

Thank you for a principled, meaningful stand on environmental issues!

~greg blanchette, Tofino

Road’s End–Tales of Tofino

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while: my review of my friend Shirley’s new book. This is the dry, newspaper review; the Tofino Time one is more fun, but it ain’t on-line yet.

Road’s End, Tales of Tofino
— a review

by greg blanchette, Tofino

It has been her labour of both love and obsession for years, and now it’s finally out. Locals will recognize Tofino man-about-town Turtle smiling from the cover, as well as appearing in a couple of the stories within.

Many other locals, past and present, may see themselves in the pages of Road’s End—Tales of Tofino, a new book by Tofino’s own Shirley Langer.

It’s a fun read. Shirley’s got a knack for digging up good stories and telling them. It’s like a lazy walk around town, bumping into people on the sidewalk or eavesdropping on them in a coffee shop.

There are twenty tales in all, on a wide variety of subjects. Some are profiles, some are little adventures. There’s one about a dog and one about a chicken; also beachcombing, latkes, driveways and tsunamis. One is almost an investigative report on the problem of plastic trash in the ocean. Others smack of a sociology text on the town, in which the writer makes note of details that everyone knows but nobody notices. Continue reading “Road’s End–Tales of Tofino”