Tofino

I'm in Tofino, enjoying a stormy Pacific coast weather and the beautiful scenery and oceanic smells such as clean, fresh breeze mixed with whales' spray, giant Humboldt squid and seal carcasses washed ashore and the fumes of smoked salmon.

But aside from the pristine water and salty sea spray, fog horns sounding in the background 24 hours a day, there is also some amazing local food to explore that is inspiring and sensational like a perfume, to be found at the Pointe restaurant of Wikanninish Inn. For example - endive and seasonal fruit and berry salad with cubes of lavender-buttermilk pannacotta, or desserts such as chocolate-basil cake, olive oil cake with poached plum, plum sorbet and chocolate, and a ritualistic sequence of iced coconut souffle, parsnip sorbet and a shot of Earl Gray soda. Quite unbelievable really.

Will be back into the faster paced civilization away from the whales on Wednesday.