Arrived in Tofino last night for a few days of boppity-boo at the town’s annual food and wine festival. After a contemplative and wave-soundtracked walk along Chesterman Beach (our minds spent tracing the shoreline edge of the world), we cooled our woah dude philosophical jets and settled in at The Wick for a winemaker’s dinner with Pam and Mick Luckhurst of Oliver’s Road 13. Great food from chefs Nick Nutting and John Waller, the duo at the kitchen helm. I hadn’t eaten here in over a year. It was a superb re-introduction with rhubard-tinged local rockfish ceviche flavoured with orange leading into four other courses, my favourite of the lot being a simple, elegant chicken breast sauced with a wild mushroom and bacon “chasseur” (paired with the 2007 Jackpot Pinot Noir). From beginning to end it was a magnificent supper, made even better by a late night without the blink of a cursor or the bleep of a cell phone.

Weather surprisingly cool and overcast this morning, but not dampening our enthusiasm for a day that has us grazing and sipping in the Botanical Gardens for much of it. I think I’m beginning to fathom the attraction of holidays…