The Wilderness Resort - Clayoquot Sound - West side of Vancouver Island

Well, what can we say but this was the best weeks holiday we have had - and we have had some good weeks! It was sold to me as: "The best holiday i have ever had!" and it certainly lived up to that billing. Quite simply everyone who likes any part of the outdoor life needs to go for a week at The Wilderness resort - and you will have one of the, if not the, best time of your life.

Yes we were lucky to have great weather on 6 of the 7 days, and to have a range of fun other guests with kids; but a written description does not really do it justice - but I will try with the help of a lot of pictures.

We left Vancouver by seaplane, which was a treat in itself. Flying across Vancouver island gave great views and showed it was only 285 miles long and about 50 miles wide - but with mountain ranges and quite inhospitable/wilderness/snow capped mountains in much of it. But we can understand why in the summer it is a great place to have a holiday.

We flew down the valley of the Clayoquot Sound to land next to the jetty at the resort to be met by the owner and the team, and ferried by horse and cart to the resorts cookhouse and buildings. We then had a long, extensive briefing from John (the owner) about the tents and what to do if bears attacked us and all the activities etc... the main mantra being - you plan day-by-day and you do what you want when you want - so if you want to get up late and then go fishing at 12 Noon after a late breakfast then that is what will happen! And most of the time it worked like that - which is very enjoyable for the guests and very difficult to organize fr the management. The resort has 30-45 people only in 20 or so tents with a cook house and games room. We live in tents with outdoor toilets and showers - but the tents overlook the Sound and have antiques in - so it is pretty luxurious camping!!

The list of activities is truly amazing. When I told my dad what we did, he asked where we had to go to do them and I said all from the resort - which is a good description of how brilliantly it all works.

We have seen 9 Orcas together and 4 Humpbacks breaching, numerous Porpoises, Sea Otters, Sea Lions, Starfish and bears climbing out of trees. We have shot clays, 22 rifles, archery, climbed rocks, zipwired down a mountain over the water (Dad and Meggie together!), ridden horses, played with the 13 onsite dogs, kayaked, fished and caught loads of Salmon - including a 27lb Spring Salmon (There are Spring, King, Chinook, Coho, Pink Salmon.....but apparently the Spring is the one to catch!!) Meggie has ridden and had a massage and her nails painted most days!! We have hiked "On the Wild side" through forests and beaches and found secret huts that fishermen use when there is a storm. We climbed mountains and swam in the mountain pools at the top next to the waterfalls. The boys paintballed only twice and we also skied, wakeboarded and ringo'ed (only once but the water was too flat not to!)......

Each activity was guided and the guides were all, without exception, excellent. They were fun, informative and added to each of our experiences. That is not easy to do time and time again. For John the owner to hire brilliant people shows a great management skill - but the staff really make the whole place work. Whether it was Cosy efficiently and charmingly arranging our day of activity for us, or the amazing enthusiasm for fishing that Chuck showed us (I have said to my sons that if you are as passionate as Chuck is about fishing in what you do - then I will know that they have found their right job in life!). But all the staff (of which there are over 30) were all superb and really added to everything we did - I guess the best bits were the whale watching experiences but all of the activities were enjoyable and well organized. And each of us had our best activities which were different. So there really is something for everyone - even a 3 & a half year old! We did not do all of the activities and we want to go back to finish off the list!

The food was also really, really good - Tim - the head chef - and his team in the kitchens and restaurant were all great fun and Tims evening meal negotiations with the kids as to what was on offer ensured they tried the largest range of food they have ever tried! And the wine selection was local and tasted good with the food.

So all-in-all an excellent place to go - we have tried to think of something The Wilderness Resort lacks and we have come up with: A tag-along for the mountain bikes for the kids; a new mono ski & adult wakeboard; and a new zipwire from the top of Penny Falls - down the valley to the camp - only a km or so at a cost of $1.2m !!!

So the summary really is that it does have everything you want to do, with all the right gear, with staff that really enhance the experience with a fun attitude - with great food - and in a fabulous wilderness location. That is the summary - you must go - and go for 7 days - it is not cheap but it is certainly great value for money!!

Our best bits: Ian - Seeing the 9 Orca whales together, catching a 27 lb fish and posing for a 45lb fish photo!

Sheena - Horse riding with Meggie, seeing 4 Humpies breaching (Humpback whales) and delicious food.

Sam - The fishing & climbing were wicked - especially as we caught 22 fish that day - and the Paintballing really topped it off.

Toby - Depsite not wanting to go - Whale watching was number 1 and then swimming in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall at the top of Penny falls. Paintballing was also a hit with me - I don't mean being hit by a bullet either - wow that hurt!

Megan - Horse riding and nail painting most days - and going down the zipwire (with Dad) and climbing the rockface on my own.

I don't apologise about the amount of photos here - trust me they are only a very small selection!

Then we left on a sea plane - All Ian was thinking was that the change to an RV from the wonderful Wilderness resort was going to be a much bigger change for the family than I had anticipated!!