Explore every episode of the podcast A Journey to Nature's Edge

Charles and his best friend Dana would spend hours on their family's small aluminum boat exploring the inlets and islands of Clayoquot Sound during their youth. 

In this episode, Charles narrates how they took the boat around Vargas Island on one occasion but encountered challenges returning to Tofino. Charles reflects on their parents' trust in them to handle the situation and the dangers of the sea.

Introducing A Journey To Nature’s Edge podcast.

To this day, the drive to Tofino has a wonderful sense of excitement to it. Especially the leg from Port Alberni to your destination at the Wickaninnish Inn, where the twisting roads and dense coastal rainforests ignite a feeling of adventure. When Charles was young, these trips only happened a few times a year, making the excitement of “getting on the road” a rare treat.

In this episode, Charles reflects on one exceptional trip driving from Tofino to Port Alberni with his dad. Although the road is now paved, the journey to Vancouver Island’s West Coast hasn’t lost an ounce of the wonder that made being on it so special decades ago. 

Long before Tofino became the vibrant destination we know it to be today, it was a remote fishing and logging village on the furthest edge of Vancouver Island’s wild west coast. In 1955, Charles’ parents, Lynn and Dr. Howard McDiarmid, arrived in Tofino as the town’s new nurse and doctor.

In this episode, Charles recounts the story of his parents’ meeting, and the events in their lives leading up to their arrival in Tofino. Much like today, the journey was an adventure in itself. At the time, the town could only be accessed by plane or boat, which in its own way helped Dr. McDiarmid make the decision to settle in Tofino!

In this episode, Charles recounts a particularly memorable family road trip over storied Sutton Pass. Nowadays, the drive on Highway 4 is a scenic adventure on your way to the coast; winding by the Kennedy River, over the mountain pass and through towering old-growth forests is a stunning journey. But when Charles was young, the road between Port Alberni to Tofino was a newly built forestry route, meaning it was unpaved and full of logging trucks!

Take a ride with Charles as he tells of the harrowing experience one could expect to have on your way to the iconic Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, just a few decades ago. You may even relish today’s drive a little more after.