I grew up in Toronto. My dream of being able to learn how to surf dated back to “Blue Crush” and “Soul Surfer” – but the closest thing I had to it near home was braving the Great Lakes during winter in the middle of a windstorm. No thanks. Besides, the California coastline and beaches of Hawaii seemed much more appealing at the time.

Fast forward to my mid-twenties. After 6 years of travelling the world, I found myself in my new home on the west coast of Canada. It was 2013 when I learned there was a small little town (known as the surf capital of Canada) that existed on Vancouver Island called Tofino.

The ferry ride and drive over from Vancouver left me with wide, starry eyes. Up until that point, I had never really experienced western Canada and let me tell you, I was seriously scratching my head wondering why I had spent so many years exploring every country except for my own. Turns out that my dream of getting to try surfing was a lot closer to home than I had originally thought.

Four days came and went way too quickly – and while it didn’t look like I had it in me to be a pro surfer, I had one of the best weekends of my life. As a travel and lifestyle photographer, I really wanted to use my page to responsibly spread the word about fellow Canadians getting to
experience places like this in their own backyard – so I created my guide to a weekend in Tofino.

That first trip to Tofino was almost 6 years ago. Since then, I’ve had countless visits but never had the chance to make it out for Queen Of The Peak. This year, I’ll be changing that. The event is a Women’s Surf Championships that was created in 2009 by Surf Sister and Shelter Restaurant. Its main focus is to celebrate and showcase the amazing surf talent here on the west coast of Vancouver Island. And guess what?

The competitors are. all. women.

Can I get a round of applause?! The event takes place from October 4-6th and has something for everyone going on in town. I can’t wait to get out and cheer on these women. But here’s the real question:

Who’s with me?

-Ally

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This blog is in paid partnership with Tourism Tofino. Ally will be in Tofino for Queen of The Peak 2019 covering the event on her social channels.