After our wonderful massages this morning, we went into Tofino again. We parked the car and walked around the village checking out the various businesses, shops and restaurant menus. On our "discovery" stroll, we walked down to the wharf where we could see a large truck preparing for his load. There was a commercial boat that was being unloaded by a crane and we were curious to see what the cargo was. They were unloading large nets and dropping thousands of spiny, purple and red sea urchins into huge crates. We were even offered to take some for ourselves if we wanted them however we declined, but another native bystander happily accepted and he took three. The poor critters are the "donors" of a delicacy known as "ubi" served in sushi restaurants, basically their raw innards! These urchins were destined for Japan where they are in high demand and we were told they would be served in a restaurant there within 3 days. Both the native man and the fisherman assured us that the yellow "guts" were delicious and the fisherman even scooped out some from an urchin that had split open for us to taste. Again we declined however he didn't and as he licked his lips, he assured us that is was very tasty though he said it was an acquired taste. (Not one we are likely to acquire anytime soon!)

We wandered around the tiny market where vendors were selling freshly picked salad greens, beautiful, hand woven baskets made from sea-weed and handmade soap, among other locally produced products. From there we went to a local restaurant, The Loft, for a salad and some grilled halibut and fries. The food was most satisfying and we decided to head back to Bella Pacifica to sit on the beach and enjoy the sun. The population at the campground was changing and had become smaller as families were starting to head back home for school on Tuesday, so the beach was a little quieter... a nice change. Our afternoon was spent reading, people watching and enjoying the scenery and sunshine. There were people sunbathing, wake boarding and kite flying as well as several like us, just plain relaxing. Ahhhh, this IS a nice life!