VA2007 - Day Trips - Tofino and The Cowichan

One meaning of "Cowichan" in the Coast Salish language is "the warm land" — and the name fits: residents enjoy the highest mean temperature in Canada. Over the past 20 years, an impressive mix of organic farmers, slow-food visionaries, microbrewers and estate vintners have gathered to take advantage of the region's rich soil. Their gourmet talents have spawned a thriving foodie culture. You can take a leisurely cycling tour of local wineries like Vigneti Zanatta, learn to forage and cook with wild mushrooms at the Aerie Resort's annual Great Fall Mushroom Hunt or sample Trappist-style artisan cheeses at Hilary's Cheeses (available at the Duncan Farmers' Market or right from the source at Cheese Pointe Farm).

Lush valleys like the Cowichan can lull one for days, but while you're on Vancouver Island you should buckle up for the three-hour drive to Tofino on the western coast. Rugged and wild ("storm watching" is a local pastime), Tofino is Canada's surfing capital and home to both the Tofino Food and Wine Festival and the elegant Wickaninnish Inn, aka "the Wick." Spend your day hiking the beach trails or trying to paddle your board past the breakers; at night rest your muscles and trade stories over roasted Clayoquot oysters and lemongrass halibut at the Wick's exceptional Pointe Restaurant. Ruggedness never tasted so good.

Getting there: For ferry information, contact BC Ferries at 888-223-3779.
CraigAir (877-886-3466) offers daily flights to Tofino for the winter storm-watching season, with frequency increasing in June.
Contact Tourism Vancouver Island (250-754-3500, vancouver island.travel) for more info.
Vigneti Zanatta, 5039 Marshall Rd., Duncan, 250-748-2338.
Cheese Pointe Farm, 1282 Cherry Point Rd., Cowichan Bay, 250-715-0563.
The Aerie Resort, Malahat, 800-518-1933.
The Wickaninnish Inn, Osprey Lane, Tofino, 800-333-4604.

Insider Secret

When touring by bike between cheese farms or serious cider sampling après-surf, consider a pair of alpaca fleece socks essential equipment. Hollow like a polar bear's and about a tenth as thick as a human's, alpaca hair woven into clothing creates a finished product that's as soft as cashmere and stronger and warmer than lamb's wool. Alpaca breeders Warren and Joan Sawyer already keep Victoria's bicycle-mounted police and the crew of a Bering Sea icebreaker in cosy feet. They also give tours of their alpaca farm, which is populated with hundreds of the cuddly camelids. Neel Creek Alpaca Ranch, 4275 Howie Rd., Duncan, 250-746-0708. — M.T.