Tofino
Tofino is a village on the west coast of Vancouver Iceland in British Columbia, Canada, in the municipality of Alberni - Clayoquot Regional District.
Tofino was named after the Spanish cartographer, mathematician and naval officer Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel ( 1732-1795 ). The village lies on the edge of Esowista Peninsula and thus belongs to the area of Clayoquot Sound. Tofino and nearby Ucluelet are the Pacific Rim National Park closest places.
History
The first recorded contact between the resident First Nation from the tribe of Hesquiaht and Europeans was part of an expedition by the Spanish captain Juan José Pérez Hernández ( also known as Juan Pérez ) in 1774.
This first contact, then followed in 1778, the next contact of the local First Nation with Europeans, the English explorer James Cook on his third Pacific voyage along the coast of Vancouver Island.
During the expedition in 1792, by the Spanish naval officers Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, and Antonio Valdez y Fernández Bazán, to explore the island first name Tofino was used in the reports and maps. Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel was the cartographer of the expedition.
The church today Tofino developed starting around 1890. Previously, a nearby settlement on Iceland Stubbs the main settlement of the European fur trappers and fur traders in the region. From 1909 attracted increasing European settlers and farmers, mainly Norwegian, English and Scottish descent, in the emerging church. On 1 February 1909, the municipality then received a post office.
The granting of local self-government for the municipality on February 5, 1932 ( incorporated as the Village Municipality ).
Demography
The census in 2011 showed a population of 1,876 inhabitants for the Distrikgemeinde. The population of the settlement has thereby increased since the census of 2006 by 13.4 %, while the population in the province of British Columbia at the same time grew by 7.0%.
The population swells in the summer to ten times and it came in the last years repeatedly to shortages in the supply of drinking water. The drinking water shortage in the summer of 2006 led to drastic restrictions for tourists, which led to plans for the reconstruction of the water supply.
Traffic
Tofino is connected since 1959 on a road link, Highway 4, about Parksville to Nanaimo on the east coast of the island. Buses from Nanaimo and the capital of British Columbia Victoria Tofino go on a regular basis and supply the place about even with mail and newspapers. The mainland, the area around Vancouver, with ferries, over Nanaimo and or the space to Seattle by ferry on Victoria and achieve.
About 11 kilometers south-east of the village there is the Tofino / Long Beach Airport. In the harbor of Tofino, protected by offshore islands, is the water aerodrome the community.
Economy
The average income (median income ) of the population in 2005 was at C $ 22 696, well below the average income of the entire province of British Columbia from C $ 24 867.
The economic center of gravity results from the tourism, thereby from the respective fluctuations.
Tourism
In the summer, Tofino is a magnet for surfers, hikers, campers and " Whale Watcher ". Also " Bear -watching " and trips to the Hot Spring Cove offered.
Worth mentioning for whale watchers is the annual Whale Festival in early March. In this festival, the arrival of gray whales is celebrated, which make a stop in Tofino on their way from Mexico to Alaska. This festival is the introduction of the whale-watching season in Tofino, as some of the gray whales remain the whole year round in Tofino. Tofino is one of the best place for whale watching, as the season for whales from mid-February extends to the end of November. The season is thus one of the longest of all Vancouver Iceland.
Trivia
Tofino serves as a popular filming location for music videos and movies. So several films in various places in the city were turned in recent years. Among musicians / bands and films:
- The Planet Smashers, a band of third - wave ska from Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Gob, a Canadian pop punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, turned her music video " No Regrets " at Long Beach.
- Alaska - The trace of the Polar Bear (1996 )
- The Big Year (which was filmed in 2010, not yet published ) - A comedy film was shot in May 2010 in Tofino. Actors Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin.