Taking a trip to the ‘Island’ is essentially a rite of passage for most Vancouverites.

And, if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that few weeks ago, I took a trip to Ucluelet on Vancouver Island. Feeling probably the coldest I’ve felt since arriving in Vancouver, we set off over Lionsgate Bridge and on to the adventure, hoping for a weekend of stormwatching.

To get across to the island, you need to catch a ferry from either the port of Tsawassen or Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, of which we chose the latter. I’m glad we did as the first snow on the mountains looked magical.

Within two hours, we were stocked up on tea and had arrived at Nanaimo on the Island. I couldn’t believe it – despite Vancouver being cold, the Island had a thick layer of snow in some places! Our first port of call was the aptly named ‘Goats on the Roof’ – a gorgeous shop and cafe stocked with treats from all across the world. Sadly, due to the time of year, there weren’t any goats to be seen!

Despite being the furthest west in Canada I have ever been, I couldn’t believe the hefty stock of British goods! I’ve never found caramel digestives anywhere in the city, so they were a welcome sight…

We slid around over snow to reach the car before completing the rest of the drive over to Ucluelet, on the far west of the Island. Gorgeous wintery views greeted us on the way.

After some slightly scary hairpin bends and incredible views far across the Pacific, we arrived at the beautiful Black Rock Oceanfront Resort.

Ensuring we’d make the most of the beautiful balcony views, we hopped out to explore outdoors, hoping for a dip in the hot tub on the way back.

Certainly worth a visit if you’re staying in or around Ucluelet or Tofino is the Wild Pacific Trail. Vancouver Island is renowned as being one of the best places in the world to go whale watching, so we were a little surprised to hear a loud echoing noise coming from the ocean. Turns out, it’s an old buoy from over fifty years’ ago that still continues to make a noise as it bobs in the sea – it was almost eerie in the cold November sunset.

A pretty glorious start to our visit to Vancouver Island. Check back for everything else we explored on our trip…