Life's a Beach

We went for a picnic on the 4th of July beach where there were signs up that said no fireworks, no parties and no fires which we thought was funny considering it's namesake. It's no wonder no one uses these beaches; the water is soooo cold!

The beach was covered in driftwood which made a handy place to sit.

The works! You may think Sophie didn't manage this but she so did.

This is Sophie whale watching.

We thought about going kayaking while we were on San Juan Island but then we saw the waves!

When we ran out of logs for the fire that evening, Mum, Dad and Sophie went on a fir cone hunt. Whoops, didn't know how smokey fir cones could be. But so pretty though..

First Day of Summer!

Last night we had a camp fire at our tent.

Dad had bought giant marshmallows and some forks which we had fun toasting!

They were very messy.

Today we drove to the south end of the island to Camp America where we were told yesterday that the Orcas rest and start their day. Unfortunately we didn't get to see them there as they'd already started heading north but we saw lots of California Poppies.

Whale watching on the rocks or sea creature? Mum says Sophie looks like the mermaid that is by Medina river.

Cattle Point on the south end of the island. It's very beautiful there!

We went back to Lime Kiln State Park where we saw the orcas yesterday and waited for them to arrive. In the mean time we got to see some lovely porpoises and this Harbour Seal.

This is very Sarah's style of Stampin' Up!

Sophie walked to the lighthouse ahead of Mum so Mum took the opportunity to snap a picture of her in front of it. There was a lot of arm waving to try and get Sophie in view.

That seal is so lazy! Here he is sunning himself on the rocks where he spent a lot of his time.

We went back to Roche Harbour for an ice cream after a bit of whale watching. We looked around the gardens there and saw this beautiful butterfly fly past and land on a hanging basket. It's a good job Sophie hadn't seen it's sibling land on her back earlier in the day.

Lakedale and on to spot the Orca

Welcome to our resort home for the next few days.  This is the view over the lake from our canvas cabin towards the resort Lodge (from which this blog is currently being composed).

And this our resident lady of the house outside our cabin taking the rays before we start on our quest for the Killer Whales.  Talk about a relaxed way of life.  Mum and Soph prepare to leave the cabin for the day.

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First stop Roche Harbour - or is it Harbor?  Time to find an early morning coffee.

Still looking, but this seemed a lovely spot to rest awhile.

The Roche Harbor chapel in it's own special setting.

A visit to the local general store gave Dad a brilliant idea for a new Isle of Wight beer product.  This one will be called Kala Slobber - not sure if it will be a brown ale, but whatever it's colour it will slip down easily.  Wadda you mean.....yuk!

At last, our coffee treat.  Very nice they were too ( and the cinnamon donuts weren't bad either).

Homemade jewellery stands were of the order here - this lady made all her own glass beads.

An alpaca farm - for wool, not meat.  This little lady wanted to meet Dad but ended up actually wanting a drink.

And then reminded us again of Kala as she dribbled all over the place.

As we were in the shop full of fantastic alpaca wool products this "Bambi" alpaca was born.  At 15 minutes old it was just about able to find its feet.  It's Mum was wondering what the heck it was being a first timer.

Neither too sure about the other! Mum was keeping her fingers to herself just in case.

On our quest again we stopped at Snug Harbour and couldn't resist this snap of a blue heron.

Mum and Dad getting snug  in a rocking bench seat - no coffee though.

And here we are - first stop at the west coast park reknowned for orca sightings - and we get this showoff swimming by upsidedown and slapping it's tail on the water.  Talk about exciting.  We were told that as the boats were gathering offshore it was likely that the whales would be passing soon, and so as Mum and Dad tried to keep up with Sophie we all hurried down to the cliff side.  We saw some fins out to sea but were not quite prepared for the show just about to unfold right in front of us about 10 yards off the shore.

This is the lighthouse marking the edge of the coastline at this point around which the killer whales pass about 10 times a day.

Back to Friday Harbour for some shopping and up to Lakedale for some blogging.  A full and satisfactory day all round (and its not over yet with the prospect of a BBQ and some giant marshmallows they sell in the campsite shop).

Next Port of Call...

Before we headed out to San Juan Islands by ferry we had a day spare to mooch around Victoria and our part of Vancouver Island. This is a market in Victoria where they had a Sunday market.

Had to have a shave ice for old times sake but it was no Hawaiian one.

This is behind the scenes of the guy making it.

We think there's something wrong! She can't find a pulse. It's all that shave ice induced brain freeze.

While we enjoyed the shave ice, we sat by the fountain and listened to a Native Canadian Indian band.

The lady in full dress had some of the audience dancing.

At last our 6pm ferry to San Juan Island heading for Friday Harbour. This photo doesn't show how worried we were about how remote a place the ferry was headed.

Pretty sunset over the islands.

At last we see signs of life as we pull in to Friday Harbour.

Goldstream goldrush !!

Today was a close to home day with a visit to the Goldstream Provincial Park just down the road from our KOA site.  A quick trip in the car and we were met by a forest of giant redwood trees which were billed as old when Europe was coming out of the Middle Ages (and presumably before we had even thought of discovering Canada or America).  It appeared quite fitting that what is quite a large established replacement was growing out of one of the originals.

Moving on to the Nature Centre in the Park - our first glimpse of the hummingbirds.  Cheryl and Sophie were extremely patient to get this shot especially as other visitors were starting to arrive.  As at our campsite, there were special feeders for them which dispense nectar rather than peanuts.

Dad was meanwhile getting info about walking possibilities in the Park and we couldn't resist the opportunity of visiting their very own Niagara Falls (120 feet).  The setting was fantastic and it was odd that the water only went 20 yards or so past the falls and disappeared.

We left our own contribution to the rockpile - the top stone.

Mum and Soph watched from the top, little realising what was next in store for them.

We took a path up the mountain beside the waterfall called the Gold Miners Trail, and this proved to be almost straight up for several hundred feet.  We were able to stop at a bridge over Niagara Creek and take this picture before going on up, and up and up.

We had to stop!!

Eventually we got back to the car park after a tremendous walk and agreed that we might not do too many more backtrail walks given recent sightings of cougars and bears.  It was really lovely.

Sophie wanted another visit to Fisherman's Wharf, so it was off there for lunch and a gentle drive back to the campsite.  Tomorrow the San Juan Islands.