Our clothes situation was to be addressed. There was no avoiding it. It was an uttermost pressing matter. We were indeed at this moment in our trip where it was essential that we find a way of washing our clothes, and were facing the tough choice of either walking naked or give off a rather unpleasant smell.
So we directed ourselves (with the car, but I was better at the driving stuff by then) to the center of Ucluelet where was the only laundromat of the place.
Dear reader, I have seen laundromats in my time. I have been a student, and a young adult not able yet to afford the incredible luxury of a personal washing machine, and I have done my laundry more than once in dirty, shady places.
I had never before seen such a nasty, filthy, crappy one.
Quite a feat, I assure you!
I mean, it was even quite impressive. If there was an award for width of crust on an unsuspecting object, or stickiest fluff ball with living things in it glued to broken apparatus, this laundromat would have won them all with flying yellowing, stale colors.
I shuddered. The White Owl paled.
“I’ll take care of it, said I. You go to the grocery store, and I’ll take care of it.
-Are you sure?
-Go,” I said bravely, and I swear a swelling heroic music played in the background while I advanced in slow-motion into the disgusting place.
I’m not sure our clothes were cleaner afterwards, but at least they were moved around in water with detergent and they smelled better.
So much blue…
We spent the afternoon walking around the eccentrically named Amphitrite Point Lighthouse Park. Amphitrite is, in my opinion, a funny word (I am but a simple soul), and it is the name of the Goddess Queen of the Sea, Poseidon’s better half. I’m quite sure she’s not flattered by her name being associated with a stout, stodgy, square lighthouse, but the place itself is gorgeous, so maybe she doesn’t mind. Let’s just say it does not come as a surprise that there are so many storms right here.
At the annual meetings of the cruel World Lighthouses Society, they point at the poor Amphitrite Point lighthouse and laugh. “Look at him! It’s wider than he’s high!”
With humans for size…
The beautiful forest around the Lighthouse is full of Ents and other tree-based creatures. Moss gets quite creative sometimes!
Whaaaat?
And a last picture for luck…