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Here we are in ucluelet,
british columbia.

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[cheering & applauding]

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On the edge of
a continent,

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Vancouver island's
wild, wet coast.

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Ucluelet was an
industry town,

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Here where the dense
rainforest green

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Meets the white, grey,
salt sea spray.

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People had a little blue
around the collar,

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A little red around the neck.

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And if you wanted great surf
spots or nice gift shops,

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Well, you could do that 30
minutes up the road in tofino.

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The problem is people did.

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[laughing]

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And in the 80s and 90s,
people woke up to

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Critical conservation
concerns,

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And fishing and logging were
impacted severely.

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In fact, this was ground zero
for major logging protests.

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Protests that got
headlines around the world.

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And locally,
was so divisive,

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It nearly clear cut
the town in two.

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Suddenly, tourism seemed
like less of a nuisance and

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More like a lifeline.

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By then, everybody who comes
to this part of the world,

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Is not coming for here.
People are here, you know,

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"hey, check us out,
surf's up!"

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And they're like,
"yeah, up in tofino."

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[laughing]

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When you grow up in a
small town in newfoundland,

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You see that people have
a sense of humour

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About hard times.

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Check, check.

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I turned that into a
career and hit the road.

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Mr. Jonny harris!

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Now I'm on a mission to find
the funny in the places you'd

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Least expect it- canada's
struggling small towns.

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Towns that are against the
ropes, but hanging in there.

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Still laughing in the
face of adversity.

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This is ucluelet,
british columbia.

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♪

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[cheering & applauding]

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For decades, ucluelet was
a fishing and logging town,

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But since those
industries were decimated,

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Now relies more on tourism.

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The trouble is getting the
message out that

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You're open for business.

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Right now you guys are like,
"hey, come check us out!

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We're 'u-cool-it'."

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No, 'u...'
'u-cul-et'.

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No, 'u-ca-lay'...

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[laughing]

51
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'u-clue-let' is a bit
hard to pronounce.

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People do mess it up
a few times, right?

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But I think I got a way that
you can set people straight.

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Just tell them they
gotta have a clue.

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You can't go wrong
if you say "clue".

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What are you clueless?
Ucluelet.

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[laughing]

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♪

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To find out a bit more
about the logging,

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I talked to a lifelong local
from a long line of loggers,

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Shirley martin.

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[cheering & applauding]

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When I was a kid,
macmillan bloedel,

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Also known as mmb,
or mac-blo,

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Was kind of
the big employer in town.

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I grew up out at the
mmp logging camp,

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And it was kind of like
a family atmosphere.

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Shirley grew up
in a logging camp.

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She said it was great, it had
a real family atmosphere.

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She said it was fun for kids.

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Hard to keep a treehouse.

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[laughing]

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Sometimes her
and her friends,

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They'd see the logging
truck go by and then.

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"well, there goes
the neighbourhood."

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[laughing]

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My dad was a
commercial fisherman.

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As well as a logger.

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So, when I was
growing up,

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There was a lot
of fish around.

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From lucrative logging
to highly prized herring,

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You know, families
had food on the table.

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By the 80s, things started
to change with the fishing.

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There were licensing changes,
and government changes,

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And quota changes, and
it hit them really hard.

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And they- a lot of the
areas around ucluelet

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Got logged out.

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That sort of started
a contentious issue.

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A group- grassroots
enviro group- started up,

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And their mandate was
to protect the forests.

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And, there's
people that are

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Making a living
through forestry.

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So, it became gradually
more contentious.

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It all came to a head in '93
with the war in the woods.

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Thousands of people came
to protest the logging.

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Every day, people would
block the loggers

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From going to work.
And then, every day,

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They would be read an
injunction and arrested.

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12,000 protesters
showed up,

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A thousand of whom would
eventually be arrested.

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And shirley said this was
stressful for everybody.

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You know, it was between the
life of the forest or the...

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The livelihood of the locals.

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The kids were
actually forbidden to

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Talk about it in
the high school.

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It was so divisive that her
daughter was in high school,

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And they were forbidden
to bring it up.

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They'd get in
trouble if they did.

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Although for teenage boys
in high school,

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There's often trouble
when wood comes up,

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Especially if you're
wearing gym pants.

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[laughing]

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So then, what happened was
the logging company

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Pulled out, and that left it
100% under the first nations

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Because, of course,
this is their original land,

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And that what they feel about
it is very important with

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Their land claims
and their rights.

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By 1998, it was all over,
which essentially meant

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The end of logging
in this area.

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People are passionate
about forests and trees.

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People are passionate about
their environment, naturally.

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People also were passionate
about their livelihoods and

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Being able to stay in
the area they love.

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And it's a fine balance.

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The war in the woods was
a big deal at the time.

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In fact, shirley said...

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It was one of the
biggest civil,

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Act of civil
disobedience in canada.

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With 12,000 people,
1000 arrests,

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Nobody was,
was injured or killed.

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You know, it never
turned violent, luckily.

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Canadian civil disobedience
is, of course,

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Among the most civil of
all civil disobediences.

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[laughing]

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It was pretty sad,
there was a saying:

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"the last one to leave,
turn out the lights."

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Because we felt like everyone
was gonna have to leave.

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And of course,
20 years ago,

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Tourism wasn't doing
what it is now.

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Tofino got more
well-known earlier on,

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And went more for the
tourism aspect of it.

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Actually, at one time
we were described as

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Tofino's ugly stepsister.

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"tofino's ugly stepsister."

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[laughing]

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That is not a good analogy.

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Like, first of all, ugly?

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Look around here!
If anything,

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I would say ucluelet is tofino's
equally as attractive sister,

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But just way less
people have been.

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It's not a good analogy.
It's not a good analogy.

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♪

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Much of the tourism that
ucluelet gets today is thanks

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To the wild pacific trail,
which was the brainchild of

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One wild pacific male,
"oyster" jim martin.

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[cheering & applauding]

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Jim, of course got that
nickname, "oyster" jim,

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Because he fished
for oysters.

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If that's the case, call me,
"compliments harris".

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[laughing]

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Oh, you guys don't like
my jokes tonight, do you?

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-[laughing]
-oh, you do?

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Oh, what's your
favourite one?

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Oh, you like my
oyster puns, ah, shucks.

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[laughing]

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When I first came here,

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I wanted to catch salmon
off the rocks.

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So, I started exploring
the headlands

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For places where
I could fish.

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And the perspective from
the shore was just stunning.

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Something you can't
see from a boat or air.

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He said it was like
streaming postcards.

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And he thought,
you know,

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Somebody needs to
string these spots together.

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And I'm going, wow,

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It should be easy to put
a trail here and...

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Sure be easy to put
a trail there, and...

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And that idea, I just
couldn't get away from it.

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I went out and took pictures
of various locations,

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Made a 4x8 sheet of plywood
with a map hand drawn and

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Pictures at
different locations.

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I went to the co-op and
sit in the foyer there.

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And he said for years,
he'd set up in the parking lot

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Of the co-op, just to
get people's feedback,

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Introduce them to the idea,
getting funding in place,

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Which sounds
sort of crazy,

187
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But there was no
dragon's den back then.

188
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I suppose the parking lot
of the co-op is

189
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A good place as any.

190
00:08:14,595 --> 00:08:16,394
But it does sound
a little bit crazy.

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Like, could you imagine
if I traveled around

192
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Pinning up some sort
of big map,

193
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Spouting my wacky
ideas to people?

194
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[laughing]

195
00:08:28,942 --> 00:08:31,842
[cheering & applauding]

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Ucluelet doesn't have
the attractions

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That tofino side has.

198
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When you come to that
junction out there,

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Everybody was going right.

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Ucluelet was basically
a bedroom community,

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Without any assets.

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And when logging
and fishing tanked,

203
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It's time to
develop your asset.

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It was hard for jim,
dealing with landowners and

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The town council who
turned him down twice

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Before he finally
got approval.

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00:08:57,804 --> 00:09:00,372
And it was just
hard, dirty work.

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Spent a lot of time,
hands and knees

209
00:09:02,242 --> 00:09:03,908
Crawling through
surveying the ground.

210
00:09:03,910 --> 00:09:07,845
There were some areas
I didn't set foot on until

211
00:09:07,914 --> 00:09:11,716
I went in and chopped the
route out with a chainsaw.

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00:09:11,784 --> 00:09:14,318
And it just happened that
ucluelet had its share of

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Loggers and fishermen,
guys with strong backs and

214
00:09:18,325 --> 00:09:21,626
Even stronger work ethic,
without much work.

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00:09:21,628 --> 00:09:24,329
And I was able to
tap into that and,

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That helped me build this.

217
00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,668
♪

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00:09:29,670 --> 00:09:32,003
Since its completion,
people have been enjoying

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Hiking and in taking in the
unbelievable scenery,

220
00:09:35,608 --> 00:09:37,409
The lighthouse,
the landscape,

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00:09:37,411 --> 00:09:40,745
The wildlife you encounter
on the trails, incredible.

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00:09:40,814 --> 00:09:44,582
I had a lot of locals
come up to me and go,

223
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"I've lived here
my whole life and

224
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I never knew
this was here."

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He was like, "what do you
think I've been doing with

226
00:09:50,824 --> 00:09:54,158
The 4x8 piece of plywood up
at the co-op for 5 years!"

227
00:09:54,294 --> 00:09:55,594
[laughing]

228
00:10:00,333 --> 00:10:01,799
Nice to meet you.

229
00:10:01,868 --> 00:10:04,536
♪

230
00:10:04,604 --> 00:10:07,572
Another place that has put
ucluelet on the tourism map

231
00:10:07,641 --> 00:10:10,441
Is, of course,
the ucluelet aquarium.

232
00:10:10,577 --> 00:10:13,311
I had a talk on the dock
with brit buirs.

233
00:10:13,446 --> 00:10:17,315
[cheering & applauding]

234
00:10:17,317 --> 00:10:20,719
The ucluelet aquarium started
out as a little trailer on

235
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The boardwalk, and it
became so popular that

236
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We got to create this
permanent facility.

237
00:10:26,727 --> 00:10:30,395
And we now have
32 tanks that

238
00:10:30,397 --> 00:10:33,264
Hold animals for our season.

239
00:10:33,332 --> 00:10:37,502
And then, we get to release
them back into the ocean.

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The ucluelet aquarium
is canada's first

241
00:10:40,006 --> 00:10:42,273
Catch and
release aquarium.

242
00:10:42,275 --> 00:10:44,743
The marine life,
they're there for a short while.

243
00:10:44,745 --> 00:10:47,345
Hopefully, tourists will come,
spend some money,

244
00:10:47,347 --> 00:10:48,680
And then they'll
be released.

245
00:10:48,682 --> 00:10:50,348
A hostage taking,
if you will.

246
00:10:50,350 --> 00:10:52,417
[laughing]

247
00:10:52,419 --> 00:10:55,686
The term "catch and release"
has caused some confusion.

248
00:10:55,688 --> 00:10:58,623
Some people have
taken it quite literally.

249
00:10:58,692 --> 00:11:01,025
One family had come in
with their fishing rods

250
00:11:01,027 --> 00:11:04,829
Ready to catch a fish
and release it.

251
00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:06,164
[laughing]

252
00:11:06,232 --> 00:11:07,665
Yeah, this place is
catch and release,

253
00:11:07,734 --> 00:11:10,435
But you can expect
to do neither.

254
00:11:10,437 --> 00:11:12,637
She explained it to them-
they were left reeling.

255
00:11:12,706 --> 00:11:15,239
[audience]
[laughing & groaning]

256
00:11:15,375 --> 00:11:17,308
That's a groaner,
fair enough, yeah, yeah.

257
00:11:17,377 --> 00:11:20,911
[laughing]

258
00:11:20,981 --> 00:11:23,848
I got to see fish,
sea stars, urchins.

259
00:11:23,917 --> 00:11:26,250
These little thimble
jellyfish that look like

260
00:11:26,386 --> 00:11:29,654
They have little led lights
that flutter

261
00:11:29,722 --> 00:11:31,055
Up and down
their bodies.

262
00:11:31,057 --> 00:11:32,390
It was wild.

263
00:11:32,392 --> 00:11:34,058
We focus on invertebrates.

264
00:11:34,060 --> 00:11:36,594
They make up a huge
part of our coast,

265
00:11:36,730 --> 00:11:38,463
And they're underrated,

266
00:11:38,531 --> 00:11:41,399
And no one really gets to
learn about them.

267
00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:43,735
♪

268
00:11:43,737 --> 00:11:45,536
One of the big hits at
the aquarium is the

269
00:11:45,605 --> 00:11:47,538
Giant pacific octopus.

270
00:11:47,607 --> 00:11:50,007
The octopus can
get up to 40 feet.

271
00:11:50,076 --> 00:11:52,544
They only live a very
short time as well.

272
00:11:52,612 --> 00:11:54,946
They only live
around a year.

273
00:11:55,081 --> 00:11:58,415
So, that thing is going
to grow 40 feet long,

274
00:11:58,485 --> 00:11:59,617
Within a year.

275
00:11:59,619 --> 00:12:01,820
He's gonna outgrow
his tank in...

276
00:12:01,888 --> 00:12:03,621
I think like somebody
should go check.

277
00:12:03,757 --> 00:12:06,524
[laughing]

278
00:12:06,593 --> 00:12:08,626
♪

279
00:12:08,695 --> 00:12:12,363
Our season runs from March
'til the end of October.

280
00:12:12,432 --> 00:12:14,632
And then we do a
public release.

281
00:12:14,701 --> 00:12:17,635
It's low impact on
the marine life.

282
00:12:17,704 --> 00:12:19,370
They're returned
to the water.

283
00:12:19,438 --> 00:12:20,538
They probably
don't even know.

284
00:12:20,540 --> 00:12:21,606
"did that even just happen?"

285
00:12:21,608 --> 00:12:23,341
"I feel like I was
just in a tank."

286
00:12:23,343 --> 00:12:24,609
"there was people
looking at me."

287
00:12:24,744 --> 00:12:26,911
"but now I'm back here.
Did that even really-"

288
00:12:26,913 --> 00:12:28,780
Aliens do that to
me all the time.

289
00:12:28,782 --> 00:12:30,982
[laughing]

290
00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:33,317
And, at the aquarium, I don't
even think they get probed.

291
00:12:33,319 --> 00:12:35,720
[laughing]

292
00:12:35,789 --> 00:12:41,793
♪

293
00:12:41,861 --> 00:12:43,661
The logging days
are long gone,

294
00:12:43,663 --> 00:12:46,798
But you can still find wood
cutting and surfers aren't

295
00:12:46,866 --> 00:12:48,933
The only ones who are
carving things up.

296
00:12:49,002 --> 00:12:52,403
I went and I had a chat with
artist and owner of

297
00:12:52,405 --> 00:12:54,939
Cedar house gallery,
hjalmer wenstob.

298
00:12:54,941 --> 00:12:58,309
[cheering & applauding]

299
00:12:58,378 --> 00:13:01,478
Hjalmer told me he grew up
on the deer group islands.

300
00:13:01,548 --> 00:13:03,347
I was born in the deer group
with my grandparents,

301
00:13:03,416 --> 00:13:05,683
My mom and my aunt,
just the 5 of us.

302
00:13:05,685 --> 00:13:08,553
It was his grandparents,
his mom, his aunt, and him.

303
00:13:08,621 --> 00:13:10,087
He was the only child.

304
00:13:10,089 --> 00:13:12,356
He wasn't "an" only job,
but he was "the" only child.

305
00:13:12,358 --> 00:13:13,825
[laughing]

306
00:13:13,893 --> 00:13:15,393
In the summer,
we ran a fishing lodge.

307
00:13:15,461 --> 00:13:17,361
At the end of the year,
you'd save up all your tips.

308
00:13:17,363 --> 00:13:18,696
At the end of the summer,
he'd have, you know,

309
00:13:18,698 --> 00:13:21,666
80 bucks, all the money in
the world to a kid.

310
00:13:21,668 --> 00:13:22,900
And they'd get
on the boat,

311
00:13:22,903 --> 00:13:24,636
And they'd come
30 kilometres

312
00:13:24,704 --> 00:13:28,439
Across the sea to the
big city of ucluelet.

313
00:13:28,507 --> 00:13:30,441
[laughing]

314
00:13:30,510 --> 00:13:33,044
And he would arrive here,
and he would gaze at the

315
00:13:33,046 --> 00:13:37,248
Buildings that stood
two storeys high.

316
00:13:37,383 --> 00:13:39,416
And stare wondrously
at people

317
00:13:39,419 --> 00:13:41,319
He wasn't even related to.

318
00:13:41,387 --> 00:13:43,320
[laughing]

319
00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:44,388
And you'd walk up the hill
to the co-op and

320
00:13:44,390 --> 00:13:46,190
You'd buy some
lego or something.

321
00:13:46,259 --> 00:13:48,893
Go to, go to the
bowling alley.

322
00:13:48,895 --> 00:13:51,796
Groceries and bowling,
that's like big time.

323
00:13:51,864 --> 00:13:53,865
That's something you could
really brag about when you

324
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,935
Got back home, if there was
anybody else to brag to.

325
00:13:56,937 --> 00:13:59,003
[laughing]

326
00:13:59,071 --> 00:14:01,673
Eventually, he went off
to university in victoria.

327
00:14:01,675 --> 00:14:05,543
He was teaching visual arts
and indigenous studies there.

328
00:14:05,545 --> 00:14:07,145
Part of what brought
him back was

329
00:14:07,213 --> 00:14:09,280
He and his wife
had a daughter.

330
00:14:09,415 --> 00:14:10,547
When we had our little one,
it was like,

331
00:14:10,617 --> 00:14:11,916
"okay, now it's time
to come home."

332
00:14:11,918 --> 00:14:13,685
I wanted her to know
how I was raised.

333
00:14:13,687 --> 00:14:15,820
If she ever gets to the age
where she complains that

334
00:14:15,822 --> 00:14:17,688
Ucluelet is too small,
he can say,

335
00:14:17,757 --> 00:14:19,490
"oh, honey,
it's all relative.

336
00:14:19,558 --> 00:14:21,759
And where I grew up,
it was all relatives."

337
00:14:21,761 --> 00:14:23,427
[laughing]

338
00:14:23,563 --> 00:14:25,296
You can't just come
home and bum around.

339
00:14:25,365 --> 00:14:26,831
We had to, you know,
we wanted to do something.

340
00:14:26,833 --> 00:14:29,300
And this gallery
was up for sale.

341
00:14:29,302 --> 00:14:31,502
The other thing that brought
him back was the chance to

342
00:14:31,570 --> 00:14:34,639
Buy the gallery space
and open cedar house.

343
00:14:34,641 --> 00:14:36,908
He needed a bank loan
to buy the place,

344
00:14:36,910 --> 00:14:38,475
And he wasn't
having much luck.

345
00:14:38,478 --> 00:14:40,311
He got turned
down by two banks.

346
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:42,446
And eventually,
he approached an

347
00:14:42,448 --> 00:14:45,383
Indigenous bank and
they considered it.

348
00:14:45,451 --> 00:14:47,518
They said, "do you
have any assets?"

349
00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,520
So, I said, "well, I own
part of my truck."

350
00:14:49,522 --> 00:14:51,522
This old beat up,
little beat up truck.

351
00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:52,590
And they went,
"yeah, yeah, great.

352
00:14:52,725 --> 00:14:55,993
Okay, so do you have any
other assets to your name?"

353
00:14:56,129 --> 00:14:58,462
And I said, "well, I got
this totem pole that

354
00:14:58,464 --> 00:15:00,431
I've carved for the airport
in vancouver."

355
00:15:00,433 --> 00:15:02,600
And it was valued at,
I think, $70,000.

356
00:15:02,602 --> 00:15:05,803
He said he had a totem pole
that he carved, himself.

357
00:15:05,872 --> 00:15:08,405
And it was quite valuable and
actually was on display for

358
00:15:08,475 --> 00:15:11,276
Several years in
vancouver airport.

359
00:15:11,410 --> 00:15:12,944
And said, "we need to know
you're gonna be committed,

360
00:15:12,946 --> 00:15:15,479
We need to know you're gonna
be here for the long haul."

361
00:15:15,481 --> 00:15:17,548
And, said, "do you have
anything that'll prove that?"

362
00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:19,884
I said, "I got a master's
in visual art."

363
00:15:19,953 --> 00:15:21,953
And they went,
"good enough."

364
00:15:21,955 --> 00:15:24,621
What really swayed the bank
was the fact that

365
00:15:24,691 --> 00:15:28,292
He'd earned his master's
degree in visual arts,

366
00:15:28,361 --> 00:15:30,361
And that helped him
secure the loan.

367
00:15:30,430 --> 00:15:33,031
I was sort of surprised
to hear that because...

368
00:15:33,033 --> 00:15:35,233
After university,
I was trying to buy

369
00:15:35,235 --> 00:15:36,634
A used honda civic.

370
00:15:36,769 --> 00:15:38,836
And my arts degree
did not help me.

371
00:15:38,838 --> 00:15:40,771
[laughing]

372
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,307
The guy at the bank was like,
"you got a theatre degree?"

373
00:15:43,309 --> 00:15:46,510
Do you even have a
fixed address?"

374
00:15:46,512 --> 00:15:48,780
I was- [stammering]-

375
00:15:48,782 --> 00:15:50,848
"what do you think
the civic is for?"

376
00:15:50,850 --> 00:15:53,885
[laughing]

377
00:15:53,887 --> 00:15:55,519
♪ [indigenous singing]

378
00:15:55,521 --> 00:15:56,788
I really have a hard time
being called

379
00:15:56,856 --> 00:15:58,022
An indigenous artist.

380
00:15:58,024 --> 00:15:59,924
I can't represent
first nations art.

381
00:15:59,926 --> 00:16:02,626
There are so many different
art forms in there, right?

382
00:16:02,628 --> 00:16:03,761
Nuu-chah-nulth
have our own art.

383
00:16:03,829 --> 00:16:05,462
At the time we
opened the gallery,

384
00:16:05,532 --> 00:16:07,732
We weren't seeing those
artists being highlighted to

385
00:16:07,734 --> 00:16:10,334
The extent that I thought we
deserved to be highlighted.

386
00:16:10,336 --> 00:16:12,403
So, the majority of the art
in the gallery it's, 80%,

387
00:16:12,405 --> 00:16:14,339
90% of the work
is nuu-chah-nulth.

388
00:16:14,473 --> 00:16:17,341
One of the goals of
opening cedar house was the

389
00:16:17,410 --> 00:16:20,611
Opportunity to showcase not
just first nations artists,

390
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,914
But nuu-chah-nulth artists,
who are not always as well

391
00:16:23,917 --> 00:16:26,750
Represented as say,
haida artists or...

392
00:16:26,753 --> 00:16:28,819
Or coast salish artists.

393
00:16:28,888 --> 00:16:30,455
I didn't really want
to run a gallery.

394
00:16:30,523 --> 00:16:32,790
I wanted a studio, a place
where I get to come work.

395
00:16:32,859 --> 00:16:36,427
And, it became more of a
community space than anything.

396
00:16:36,496 --> 00:16:38,496
Cedar house now is
essentially a place where

397
00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:42,533
You can buy art, sell art,
watch art being made.

398
00:16:42,601 --> 00:16:45,837
In fact, I think I got a
good slogan

399
00:16:45,839 --> 00:16:47,438
That you can use, hjalmer:

400
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,575
"cedar house gallery
by hjalmer wenstob.

401
00:16:50,577 --> 00:16:52,844
Your wenstob shop for
nuu-chah-nulth art."

402
00:16:57,917 --> 00:17:05,255
♪

403
00:17:05,325 --> 00:17:08,259
Ha-ha!

404
00:17:08,261 --> 00:17:10,194
There's not as many
logs getting sent

405
00:17:10,196 --> 00:17:12,330
Down these waters now.
But not to worry,

406
00:17:12,398 --> 00:17:14,465
There are still plenty of
boards out there.

407
00:17:14,467 --> 00:17:16,267
I went and had a chat
with the owners of

408
00:17:16,402 --> 00:17:19,270
Relic surf shop,
mike and nicole bray.

409
00:17:19,405 --> 00:17:22,206
[cheering & applauding]

410
00:17:22,275 --> 00:17:27,211
Mike and nicole came here
20 years ago, from ontario.

411
00:17:27,279 --> 00:17:28,412
They were amazed
to find out

412
00:17:28,481 --> 00:17:30,748
There was this
surf scene here.

413
00:17:30,750 --> 00:17:33,283
I got into snowboarding, and
I was running a course and

414
00:17:33,285 --> 00:17:35,352
The guy told me that there
was surfing in canada.

415
00:17:35,421 --> 00:17:37,888
Immediately, I wanted to come
out here, I started surfing.

416
00:17:37,957 --> 00:17:39,824
We'd heard about tofino,
everybody hits the junction,

417
00:17:39,892 --> 00:17:40,825
And they go right.

418
00:17:40,827 --> 00:17:43,561
We made the left and
we went to ucluelet.

419
00:17:43,629 --> 00:17:46,230
We saw so much potential in
the town, and we were like,

420
00:17:46,232 --> 00:17:47,565
"this is, this is heaven."

421
00:17:47,633 --> 00:17:49,767
They got here, fell in
love with the place,

422
00:17:49,902 --> 00:17:50,901
And then thought,
you know,

423
00:17:50,970 --> 00:17:52,503
"how do we make
our lives here?"

424
00:17:52,572 --> 00:17:54,238
We started with
bringing people into town

425
00:17:54,307 --> 00:17:55,906
With our inn and
getting that whole

426
00:17:55,975 --> 00:17:57,108
Surf culture
happening there.

427
00:17:57,110 --> 00:17:59,643
And then, starting with the
surfing and the lessons.

428
00:17:59,779 --> 00:18:00,678
And then,
eventually, you know,

429
00:18:00,746 --> 00:18:01,712
Building it into the shop.

430
00:18:01,714 --> 00:18:04,482
This was a risky
proposition 20 years ago.

431
00:18:04,484 --> 00:18:07,451
The tourism was nowhere
near what it is today.

432
00:18:07,453 --> 00:18:10,321
In fact, several other surf
shops had tried to

433
00:18:10,323 --> 00:18:11,922
Open up and
failed, even,

434
00:18:11,991 --> 00:18:14,125
Even a surf shop couldn't
catch a break.

435
00:18:14,193 --> 00:18:16,727
[laughing]

436
00:18:16,795 --> 00:18:19,263
One thing that they
decided to do differently,

437
00:18:19,332 --> 00:18:20,831
It wasn't gonna
be seasonal.

438
00:18:20,967 --> 00:18:22,400
There was no one
operating in ucluelet

439
00:18:22,468 --> 00:18:23,801
Doing surfing year-round.

440
00:18:23,869 --> 00:18:25,870
So, we started adding
that into our business.

441
00:18:25,872 --> 00:18:29,407
Nobody surfed in the winter...

442
00:18:29,409 --> 00:18:31,008
Which, to me,
sounds reasonable.

443
00:18:31,010 --> 00:18:33,411
[laughing]

444
00:18:33,479 --> 00:18:35,546
They gave me a
big surfboard.

445
00:18:35,548 --> 00:18:37,281
Bigger boards are
better for beginners.

446
00:18:37,283 --> 00:18:38,883
And the bigger the
board, the better.

447
00:18:38,951 --> 00:18:39,951
When he told me that,
I thought, I'm gonna

448
00:18:39,953 --> 00:18:42,686
Go ask oyster jim for his
4x8 piece of plywood.

449
00:18:42,755 --> 00:18:44,855
[laughing]

450
00:18:44,857 --> 00:18:48,292
♪

451
00:18:48,294 --> 00:18:50,227
Did I get up?

452
00:18:50,230 --> 00:18:51,895
I wouldn't say
I didn't get up.

453
00:18:51,898 --> 00:18:54,265
[laughing]

454
00:18:54,333 --> 00:19:03,140
♪

455
00:19:03,209 --> 00:19:05,843
Like, at one point, I was
sort of in the stance,

456
00:19:05,845 --> 00:19:09,247
Feet planted on the board.

457
00:19:09,249 --> 00:19:12,250
I sort of gave myself like a
victorious fist pump because

458
00:19:12,252 --> 00:19:14,118
There was a gopro camera on
the front of the board and

459
00:19:14,187 --> 00:19:15,185
I figured from the
angle it's at,

460
00:19:15,255 --> 00:19:17,387
It can't tell that I'm
just about to eat it.

461
00:19:17,389 --> 00:19:18,923
[laughing]

462
00:19:18,925 --> 00:19:21,592
Maybe I didn't catch a wave,
but I did catch the bug.

463
00:19:21,594 --> 00:19:24,328
It was so fun, and I'm
determined now that I,

464
00:19:24,397 --> 00:19:26,330
I really want to
actually do it.

465
00:19:26,398 --> 00:19:28,532
I'm gonna be back, I don't
care what time of year.

466
00:19:28,534 --> 00:19:30,268
I don't care how cold it is.

467
00:19:30,270 --> 00:19:32,503
I'm coming back,
'cause I figure it's like

468
00:19:32,572 --> 00:19:34,605
Snowboarding, you just
fall and fall and fall.

469
00:19:34,674 --> 00:19:36,206
Then, you know,
your brain clicks,

470
00:19:36,276 --> 00:19:37,208
And you start to learn.

471
00:19:37,276 --> 00:19:38,209
It must be like
that with surfing.

472
00:19:38,277 --> 00:19:40,945
I just wasn't at it long enough.
You know, the...

473
00:19:40,947 --> 00:19:43,181
The penny hasn't
dropped yet.

474
00:19:43,249 --> 00:19:45,416
Neither have one of
my testicles. It's cold.

475
00:19:45,418 --> 00:19:47,551
[laughing]

476
00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:51,455
♪

477
00:19:51,457 --> 00:19:54,258
If there exists a place
anything quite like this,

478
00:19:54,394 --> 00:19:56,294
I hope someone
will let me know.

479
00:19:56,362 --> 00:19:59,163
Ucluelet's so gorgeous,
I could go on and on,

480
00:19:59,232 --> 00:20:02,366
But I don't want
to upset tofino.

481
00:20:02,368 --> 00:20:05,236
The cedar house rules with
wood carving and tools.

482
00:20:05,238 --> 00:20:09,406
An incredible totem pole that
I know has spent more time in

483
00:20:09,475 --> 00:20:13,577
The vancouver airport than a
layover flight from nanaimo.

484
00:20:13,579 --> 00:20:16,380
Bald eagles perch at
the tops of great spruce.

485
00:20:16,449 --> 00:20:18,716
In the sea,
sea lions are king.

486
00:20:18,784 --> 00:20:22,319
See jellyfish at night amidst
their disco dance light.

487
00:20:22,455 --> 00:20:24,855
I swear I didn't even
know that was a thing.

488
00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:27,958
Rent a board at relic's,
go give surfing a try.

489
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,794
Or hike a trail that's
both wild and at peace.

490
00:20:30,930 --> 00:20:33,597
If ucluelet's a sister,
she's a hell of a catch.

491
00:20:33,599 --> 00:20:35,532
And one you won't
want to release.

492
00:20:35,601 --> 00:20:36,700
Thanks for coming out,
everybody.

493
00:20:36,769 --> 00:20:38,468
You've been fantastic.

494
00:20:38,538 --> 00:20:39,870
[cheering & applauding]

495
00:20:39,938 --> 00:20:41,272
-Fantastic.
-It was awesome.

496
00:20:41,274 --> 00:20:42,873
It was so,
it was so good.

497
00:20:42,941 --> 00:20:47,611
♪

498
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,414
Johnny educated the
town about the town.

499
00:20:50,482 --> 00:20:55,619
♪

500
00:20:55,621 --> 00:20:57,755
He's good looking,
and he's funny,

501
00:20:57,823 --> 00:20:59,489
And he didn't let
us down at all.

502
00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:00,624
-No.
-He was great.

503
00:21:00,693 --> 00:21:02,360
They call this
the janet look.

504
00:21:02,428 --> 00:21:04,295
Miss jackson,
if you're nasty.

505
00:21:04,297 --> 00:21:07,631
♪

506
00:21:07,633 --> 00:21:09,433
Yeah, maybe I should
take surfing lessons.

507
00:21:09,502 --> 00:21:11,035
I'm only 70,
what the hell.

508
00:21:11,037 --> 00:21:15,539
♪

509
00:21:15,541 --> 00:21:17,007
Well, there's two people
now who have made an art,

510
00:21:17,009 --> 00:21:19,443
An art degree successful,
him and myself, so...

511
00:21:19,445 --> 00:21:20,877
You know, I feel like
I'm in good company.

512
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,012
[laughing]

513
00:21:22,014 --> 00:21:24,649
♪