Wickaninnish Inn

The Wickaninnish Inn is a hotel on a rocky promontory overlooking Clayoquot Sound and its islands. In Leon Anawak’s visit, its forest approach, driftwood-strewn beach, and restaurant windows offer a temporary retreat for work while keeping the ocean and the changing presence of whales in view.

Setting and Approach

The hotel lies a few kilometres outside town, reached by a well-maintained road through dense forest. Anawak leaves his vehicle in a small car park and continues on foot along a rising path. Enormous dead tree trunks lie rotting beside it; above them, pine branches carry ferns and moss, and the evening sun catches the trees as the sky begins to clear. Damp soil and dripping water mark the route, whose vivid signs of life contrast with the decaying timber.

The walk changes Anawak’s mood. After reaching the Inn, he heads down the zigzagging wooden steps toward the beach, where the clearing sky promises enough light for him to work outdoors before nightfall. The hotel is thus not merely a destination: its path and shoreline give him a brief interval away from town and a quiet place to concentrate.

Beach as a Place to Work

Anawak brings his notebook and laptop to the beach and settles on an upturned tree trunk. At low tide, evening sunlight falls across the driftwood-strewn shore, and the water appears silvery blue. He has barely begun working when another visitor comes down from the Inn and wanders along the water’s edge, gradually approaching his spot. His attempt to appear absorbed in his work is interrupted by the approaching footsteps and a greeting.

The beach’s openness makes the encounter difficult to avoid: the visitor’s unhurried path leads toward Anawak’s tree, turning his solitary work session into a conversation. The scene links the Inn’s secluded setting to the human exchanges that emerge there, without separating the characters from the landscape around them.

Restaurant and Ocean View

The restaurant occupies the front of the hotel’s rocky promontory and commands an expansive view of Clayoquot Sound, the islands, the bay, and the temperate rainforest behind it. Anawak and his companion sit at a window table that would be well placed for whale-watching, though there are no whales in sight. The view gives the restaurant a double character: it is a comfortable place to eat, but also a lookout onto the waters under discussion.

At the table, Anawak explains that transient and offshore orcas have not appeared, while resident orcas remain numerous. He adds that the residents do not favour the island’s western side, even as conditions in Johnstone Strait are becoming uncomfortable for them. The conversation places the Inn within the geography of his whale research: its outlook makes the absence of the expected whales visible, while the discussion traces their presence elsewhere.