Come on whales !

Our last day with the kayaks. We really wanted to see some wildlife up close. Not that we hadn't seen a lot already - but it was from a distance, so it would just be nice to get "close". And then again, not too close. Even in a double kayak, you don't have to be very far from shore to feel vulnerable.

Even on this fourth day in a row we enjoyed nice weather from the morning, and more important, calm seas so we could focus our energy on going forward and when we did have a break from paddling - focus on what's going on around us.

It wasn't long until we saw a few seals poking their head up the water, and then we could also see them being lazy on the rocks. Soaking in the sun and then paying a bit of attention to us. So we stayed a bit away from then and enjoyed them getting close to us. Lying in the kelp helped us to be steady in the water so we didn't have to worry about tide or currents. Just enjoy the seals.

We continued after a while an suddenly a seal lion jumped right in from of our kayak. Small surprise but we didn't flip the kayak. As with most of the days we headed for a place where our guide used to see whales in a particular time of the day which meant going through some really narrow and shallow waters. When we cleared one of these narrow inlets we surprised a group of sea lions who suddenly headed straight for us. Once again you feel a little small in a kayak when they head for you. But as soon as they got close they dived and disappeared.

We had lunch on a small island and kept looking for whales. Nothing to see. As we headed out on our last leg towards Telegraph Cove - and the end of the trip we passed through a small lagoon - and their they were. One, two, three fins breaking the surface and disappearing - and then re-appearing. We stayed there in the choppy water - the tide forcing lots of water into the lagoon, the whales going back and forth in front of the kayak, once in a while even making really big splashes with their impressive tail.

Heading back to Telegraph cove we enjoyed the last of the sunshine. Then we beached the kayaks, emptied our stuff, said good bye to Cole and Dick. A shower and then we were on our way South. First stop - a mini golf course we saw in Miracle Beach. We made it just in time before they closed and had a big ice cream before going out for a round of "dead-or-alive". It's not just about participating.

Mikkel won.

We headed further south and looked for a place to stay for the night. The first time in so many, many weeks without a place pre-booked. Eventually we found a motel at Qualicum beach, a place that served food after 9 PM (Not easy in Canada), headed to bed. Happy to have had such a great kayak trip.

Where's my contact lens?

Kayak group

After kayaking comes mini-golf

Heading for the ocean

We left our B&B early in the morning. The reason - we were going on a 4 day kayak trip. We got to the kayak place, got all the practical information and packed our stuff.

Then on to the two-person kayaks to go through the basics and at 10 we were on the water heading for the first camp on Hanson Island.

We kayaked for around 3 hours to get there, then unloaded the kayaks and had lunch. The camp was already set up so we only had to choose a tent and move into it.

After lunch we got back on the water and paddled around for another two hours looking for wild life. Lots of birds but the whales were far away. We headed back to camp and enjoyed the sunny evening sitting on the cliff and looking for whales. Humpbacks and Orcas going up and down the coast. Some far away others really close to the shore where we were sitting.

Very amazing evening. We could even hear the whales exhaling as the sun set and it got completely dark. Whales are heavy breathers. Looking forward to another day on the water tomorrow. And hopefully some whales.