Day 4 - Kayaking Trip, part 1

Warning: this is probably going to be a long entry. Grab a cup of tea and sit down. 

Our alarm went off at 7am, however I had been awake for at least half an hour and despite having a lovely double bed all to myself I didn't sleep well; it's always the way, you know you have to get up for a day of kayaking and wildlife hunting and you just can't sleep! When we looked out of the window we couldn't see to the end of the cove, there was a thick fog, we hoped it would burn off as we were looking forward to the views of Johnstone Strait which includes lots of mountains and islands dotted around. We got up, finished packing our bags for the trip and headed out to the Seahorse Cafe where I got a yummy breakfast burrito and nat got some toast with ham and eggs. It was a hearty breakfast which we hoped would give us the energy we needed for the morning ahead. 

We made our way across to North Island Kayak and met our guide Ashleigh briefly, she said hello, told us we'd be needing better shoes to get in and out of the kayaks on the beaches and went to get us some, they were kind of diving/wetsuit shoes, they were the comfiest things I've ever worn, I'm considering giving up trainers and wearing only them from now on.

After a few minutes the other members of our trip arrived; first up was Scott and Julie, a couple from Calgary, then Jean and Julie from Montreal who spoke French Canadian as their first language (so read their names with a French accent please...Shjon and Shjulie). Both couples were a bit older than us, but still seemed really nice, phew! 

Ashleigh came back and got us into our kayaking gear which consisted of a massive waterproof coat, a kayak skirt and a life jacket, which obviously we all looked super cool in. We had a short training talk where she showed us how to get in and out of the kayak without breaking it and how to  load all of our stuff into it, I was surprised how much you can fit into one boat, we had all of our stuff, a couple of big water bags and a load of dinner time pots, pans and utensils.

Once we were loaded up we got in, launched ourselves and paddled our way out of the cove. We saw a bunch of lovely houses with lovely views and thought how nice it would be to live here. The fog was still pretty bad at this point but it was definitely brightening up and we could see across the Strait. It was pretty atmospheric.

The water was very calm and inky black. We paddled around quite close to the coast for a bit, we saw a big starfish (or Sea Star as they’re called here), a few birds which looked like some type of hawk flying around and lots of little fish jumping out of the sea which turned out to be salmon fry, when they get bigger they attract the Orca’s to the area.

We made it to a little beach and got out of our kayaks, everyone managed not to fall out into the water, phew. Ashleigh took us up to a viewpoint, pointing out along the way a little shed which was an outdoor composing toilet with no door on it - why would you want a door when it was set in such a nice location? The rules we learnt that would be in place for the rest of the trip was that a yellow bag containing loo roll and hand sanitiser would be left outside the toilet and if the bag was gone, someone was in the loo. It worked pretty well, no one invaded anyone’s privacy for the full two days. We had a cereal bar, enjoyed the look out for a few minutes, Ashleigh explained that as the fog had lifted and we could see across Johnston Strait we would be crossing over and using one of the campsites set up on Hanson Island. I was pretty excited about this because during my research the website said all of the campsites were on Vancouver Island coastline and I’d been sad! Thinking about it now, I’m not sure I’d have been able to tell where I was so it wouldn’t have mattered. 

We got back into our kayaks, paddled to the point that we were going to cross over, Ashleigh told us that we needed to stick together during the crossing so that big boats could see us and that we would need to take off any jackets we didn’t want on now as it was really important that we paddle the whole time, we couldn’t stop until we reached the other side. The sun wasn’t really out yet, and it didn’t look that far so we kept on what we were already wearing, Nat in her waterproof, me in my fleece and waterproof jacket, both of us with the life jacket on top of them. We started paddling. We paddled some more. The sun started to come out. We carried on paddling. It started to get pretty warm. We paddled some more. Why wasn’t the island getting any closer?! It took us 45 minutes to cross the straight; by the time we got there the fog had cleared, the sun was beating down, my arms were like jelly and I was a sweaty mess.

We congratulated ourselves, stripped down to our vests and paddled our way along the beautiful Hanson Island coastline, I joked about how when I’m back at work and feeling depressed, I would think of this day and feel like crying. I’m sure I’ll still feel like that, but then I’ll look back on it with such fond memories that I know it will make me smile. 





We passed our campsite (noooooo, my arms were so tired), Natalie saw a deer on a beach, we saw some porpoises and quickly found our lunch spot. Ashleigh tied up the kayaks, we took the food bags up and she laid on a lovely buffet across some rocks. We were expecting a squished sandwich and a bag of crisps but there was a greek salad with feta, pitta bread, humous, tzaziki, carrots, posh lime crisps and some orange slices and Oreos for pudding. It was amazing, sitting on a washed up tree trunk, looking out across the Strait, watching for wildlife. 



We spotted our first Bald Eagle, which was very exciting. We’d see loads more on the trip, it never got boring. While we were eating, Scott spotted some wildlife action in the distance which turned out to be a humped back whale. At first, we could just hear and see the blow, but we got a few glimpses of it coming out of the water and once or twice we saw its tail. Even though it was in the distance, it was pretty cool and we all enjoyed it for a while. 

After lunch Ashleigh wanted to check out an area a bit further down near Black Fish Sound, she’d heard it was a pretty cool spot but had never gone there before. We moseyed on down and made our way around a little island. The fog was really moving down Black Fish Sound and visibility was fairly poor. We stayed close to the island and made our way around and then headed back along Hanson Island towards camp; it didn’t take long but I really had no energy left in my weedy little arms so I was glad when we finally made it, unpacked our kayaks and carried them up to rest on some logs for the night. 

The camp was brilliant, as soon as I saw the kitchen and dining area I felt like I was in an episode of LOST so I was very happy. Ashleigh took us around the camp to show us where all of the tents were located, Natalie bagsied the best tent over looking the sea, I politely said someone else could have it if they wanted and that we could flip a coin but our camp friends let us have it, saying that we’d come the furthest so we deserved it. I felt bad but didn’t protest too much! We had another open toilet, this time up a few steps so you had an amazing view of the sea while you did your business. I’m not sure I’ll ever have a toilet with a better view.

We quickly took our stuff up to our tent and made our way to a hangout area and continued to watch the whales in the distance while Ashleigh started to prepare dinner. It was really lovely; we had a great view and we were having such a laugh with Scott, Julie, Shjon and Shjulie. I’ve been going on about all of the great views and wildlife for the majority of this post, but actually the thing that made this trip so great for me, was the fact that everyone was so nice. We hit it off straight away, there was banter from the beginning with things like Scott saying “watch out, the Brits are getting aggressive” when we nearly floated into them and it was so interesting to sit and talk to them about their lives and all of the places they’d travelled to before (which was a lot). They were all really really lovely people, I think Shjulie is one of the nicest and happiest people I’ve ever met, I loved her. I might even go to Montreal just so I can visit her - she invited us to stay, I wouldn’t just be turning up like a weirdo. Ashleigh appeared with a plate of cheese, fruit and crackers as a starter for our meal, she joined in on the conversation and we watched the wildlife a little bit longer. It was so perfect, I can’t really put it into words.

The sun started to go down so we moved to the other side of the camp, Natalie balanced some rocks which was pretty impressive, while Ashleigh made the next dinner course; this is the other thing that made the experience so amazing, despite all of us offering to help, Ashleigh was having none of it - we were on holiday and we should be relaxing. I mean, fair enough we’d paid a decent amount for this trip but all in all, it was such brilliant value for money, Ashleigh was the best guide I think we could’ve asked for and it was really nice that she cooked such good food and gave us a great experience without it feeling like she was just doing it because she was getting paid to do it. 

Dinner was an amazing salmon, rice and vegetables dish, it was so yummy and again, so much better than you expect to get on a camping trip. We continued to sit and chat, we heard stories of Ashleigh’s travels, including a trip around Europe where she and her fiancé decided to spontaneously bike through a bunch of Eastern European countries because it was cheaper than getting the train, this ended in the fiancee becoming the ex, he moaned too much! 

We finished the night with a nice cup of hot chocolate, perfect as the temperature had dropped a fair bit, thankfully we’d both packed a wooly hat. One by one, we headed into our tents, knackered from such a hard but fun day, ready for an early start the next day.