Roughing it up in Ucluelet

When people go to the Pacific Rim National Park, they either stay in Tofino or Ucluelet. These towns are located on both ends of the national park, a left turn will take you to Ucluelet and a right turn will take you to Tofino. Tofino is the more popular of the two, it is more developed in terms of facilities and infrastructure for tourism and it also has the most number of residents. Sorry if I sound like I'm painting Ucluelet as a second best but no I'm not, I promise I'll make it up later.

Ucluelet is more where the overflow tourists of Tofino sleep. Maybe it's a place for people like me with less cash to burn or ok, let's say where people that are more adventurous in their taste for accommodation stay. I guess when you go there, you're not really going to stay in your hotel and sleep most of the time anyway. That means younger, adventurous indie types. It's where the hardcore surfers stay because it's a stone's throw away to where the real serious surfing is. Both sides of it plunge straight into the Pacific Ocean so I'm sure there's great kayaking whichever side you choose to go. And because both sides head straight into the water, I'm sure it wouldn't disappoint either if you're after monster waves crashing during the winter storms. I've never done whale watching yet, but I'm sure being where it's at, it must be a whale watcher's paradise as well. Now that's more like it, hey? My photo is kind of lame but just imagine this during the winter months with gigantic waves crashing.



We used Ucluelet as our base and rented a cottage at Reef Point Cottages. I would say it's like luxury camping, if there is such a thing. Our cabin was nice, really clean, it has a little kitchen and grill (yey!), full of Ikea stuff, but hey, I love Ikea and who's complaining especially for such a great price, and let's not forget it's camping right? So basically it's like having your own cozy little spot in the woods.



We made most of our dinners, like this strawberry and basil crostini.



It's basically chopped strawberries lightly macerated in balsamic vinegar, a pinch of brown sugar, salt and pepper and some chopped basil.



.... and this Tuscan grilled pork tenderloin marinated in balsamic vinegar, honey, rosemary and pepper flakes served with buttered corn on the cob and grilled peaches that were like peach chutney.



..... of course I'm a Pinay so I have to have my rice.



Then what else do you do when you have a have a grill? But of course.



I seasoned the steaks with crushed rock salt and black pepper then grilled it with the rosemary on both sides for more flavour.



Then I grilled more corn and some veggies to go with the steaks and tossed the veggies in this herb and olive oil bath.



Surely you have to have some booze with red meat...



Naturally when you're in a place surrounded by the ocean, you have to have fish. Sadly though, we didn't find a single good chunk of fish both in either Tofino or Ucluelet. It was really disappointing because we were hoping for a big hunk of salmon or halibut or something but nothing, the stores only have frozen stuff that time so tough luck for us I guess. We came at the wrong time, both were off season already. Thankfully there are other alternatives. We found a 3 lb. crab at Fishful Thinking, a real cool fish shack in Ucluelet.



This feisty little monster... was cooked in a light green coconut curry, Thai mussels marinieres-style.



He turned into our yummy dinner on the last night of our trip up island... and yes, I always have to have rice wherever I go, okay, maybe a little bit of booze too. When you're on a holiday, a little drop of booze doesn't hurt as long as you're not the one driving. If anything, it makes the meals a little more special.