In my PREVIOUS POST about Scotiabank’s Around the World With $20K Contest I shared with you the type of traveler that I am: the “Adven-tourist”. I’m one of four types of travellers that the Scotiabank Gold American Express card is designed for, and we’ve partnered with them on a series of sponsored posts to get you to determine your type and to encourage you to enter to win $20,000 to spend on whatever sort of dream vacation you wish to embark on.
Over the years the adventures I’ve taken have brought me to many an outdoor locale as I explore the best our province has to offer and share it all in our “Super, Neighbours” series. The most memorable trip I’ve taken so far was with Cleanline Sportfishing Tofino on their “Freshwater Fishing Experience", and it’s one I think back on often. Almost every day, as a matter of fact.
It was a day trip that begun in a 1955 de Havilland Beaver floatplane taking off from Tofino with the pilot, myself, photographer Jeremy Koreski and our professional guide, Blake Klopfenstein. We flew in to a Provincial park on the lake pictured above. It’s a lake that only a few people are granted permission to access by the local first nations and BC Parks. I’m not even allowed to tell you the name of it; all that go on the trip are sworn to secrecy, as they don’t allow anyone to fly into it!
The pilot dropped us off with all of the gear pictured below and bid us farewell as he gained speed along the lake, taking off over the trees, leaving us to drift down a river for 8 hours, fishing all along the way. In the photo below I’m fighting the first steelhead I’ve ever hooked into, and our guide Blake is instructing me on how to land it.
We spent time in the raft and a lot of time walking along the river in our chest waders, casting fly lines. I spent a lot of time looking up from the river, as well as down into it where the fish lay.
Towards the end of our trip, it started to snow. It was early spring and while we were dressed for cold weather, none of us expected it to look wintery at any point. I can still feel the wonder that this unexpected, silent dusting brought.
At around the 8-hour mark, our little raft was spit into the ocean by the river and we packed it all up and waited for the plane to come and pick us up and take us back to Tofino.
Getting on a fishing charter in BC can range in price anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, and that’s after you make your way to Tofino or wherever you’re launching from. The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card lets you earn points 4x faster at eligible gas stations, grocery stores and on dining and entertainment (and for all other retailers you still earn 1 point per $1), getting you closer to travel experiences like this one with every purchase you make.
Visit scotiabank.com/AroundtheWorld to learn more, to determine your traveller type, and to enter to win $20,000 to spend on travel.
For product details please visit: scotiabank.com/travelfreedom
[SPONSORED POST]
