I woke up at 2am, desperate for a wee but hoping I could get back to sleep without going as there were many things to be worried about - too far to the left and I could fall into the sea, the walk to the toilet was down some steps which were basically made from tree roots so that was quite dangerous, but more than that, I didn’t want to have an encounter with a bear or cougar by myself. Thankfully, while I was trying to get up the guts to go, Natalie woke up and asked if I was going so we went together! We saw a mouse. Not quite as dangerous as expected, but still it would have been scary by yourself. It was also quite eerie knowing that we were the only people for miles around… and that we were on an island.
Bladders emptied, we went back to the tent and had a surprisingly good night’s sleep, even I woke up feeling pretty refreshed. It seems six hours of kayaking will knock you right out. I was expecting to have the post-camping tiredness I usually have and I wasn’t looking forward to another day of kayaking if I felt like that, so I was pretty happy to be feeling better.
Breakfast was served at 7:30, another delicious treat by Ashleigh; this time we had wraps, scrambled eggs, cooked peppers and pan fried potatoes - the perfect start to the day. Over breakfast we discussed how well we’d all slept and who had needed the loo in the night - it seems me and Nat were the only one’s who’d bothered to trek all the way to the toilet, everyone else had been happy to find a spot outside their tents.
After breakfast we packed up, cleaned out our tents and got back back onto the water. We were really sad to leave the camp, knowing we were heading back to the mainland where we’d have to say goodbye to everyone.
The fog was even worse than yesterday, with thick low cloud meaning we could only see a couple of hundred metres in front of us, we wouldn’t be able to cross the Strait until it cleared so we stuck to the coast until it cleared, which it did and we were treated to another day of spectacular views.
We made our way along Hanson Island towards the smaller Weynton Island, which was apparently better for wildlife sightings. This area had some strong currents that were quite difficult to paddle in, especially after all yesterday but we made it to an area where we spotted a bunch of Sea Lions, some who were sunbathing on a nearby rock and a few that were swimming around. They kept disappearing and popping back up, playing in the thick kelp seaweed, which was also very useful to help anchor our kayaks in place while we watched them. We sat there for a good thirty minutes, hoping that they would come a little bit closer but they were being pretty shy. Eventually we set off to find today’s lunch spot, as soon as we started to paddle away a couple of seals followed us but when we stopped they swam off again, little sods!
We found another lovely area, this time directly opposite Telegraph Cove where we would be heading to, the lunch was similar to yesterday’s but a vegetable cous cous replaced the Greek salad and we had big cookies instead of Oreos. Yummy. We spent another lovely hour or so chatting away and then got into our kayaks one last time.
There was another long slog across Johnston Strait, just like yesterday we had to stick together and keep paddling until we got to the other side. It took us an hour of non-stop hard paddling to get across, I’d learnt my lesson from yesterday and had removed my jacket so this time I was a bit less sweaty by the end but no less tired, it was bloody hard work. Just as we got to the other side a dolphin swam right in front of us, it was so cool.
We paddled our way back to the dock, just before we got back Ashleigh stopped us to instruct us on what to do when we got back and thanked us for a really good trip, she’d really enjoyed it and we’d been a really lovely group to go out with because we’d all got on so well. I’m sure she would say something like that anyway, but I really did get the feeling that she had enjoyed the trip as much as we had, she seemed genuinely surprised and grateful whenever we’d offered to help which makes me wonder if we weren’t a typical group. I like to think we are the best group she’s ever had. We took a couple of last photos, landed at the dock, unloaded the kayaks and helped take everything up to the hut. When we said our goodbyes to Ashleigh she thanked us all again saying she’d needed a trip like this. See, I told you we were her favourites.
We were initially planning to leave straight away as we had a hotel booked in Parksville which was going to be a four hour drive but we decided to go for a drink with everyone as we just didn’t want to say goodbye yet. We sat out on the deck of The Old Saltery Pub and continued to chat about all sorts of stuff while we swapped e-mail addresses to share photos and videos. Julie told us to get in touch when we got to Calgary. Shjulie told us to look her up if we ever make it to Calgary, we told them to come and see us if they were ever in Nottingham, which we didn’t think was likely, but now they knew there was Robin Hood and Batman’s house, there was a couple of reasons other than us to come over.
We said goodbye and left with slightly heavy hearts but with a smile on our faces thinking about all the amazing things we’d seen and the laughs we’d had. Feeling euphoric, we decided to take the roof off the Jeep and we drove the first hour of the journey with the wind in our hair and sun on our faces. (Natalie: I felt so carefree and happy).
We drove down to Parksville, which felt like the longest drive in the world. We finally made it to the Pacific Shores Resort at 10, just as the security guy was closing the door to reception, eek! We got our room, which turned out to be a whole massive apartment; I had to check how much we’d paid because I was worried all of a sudden, but it was a bargain at £75 - it would have been a fab base for a couple of days! We both grabbed a quick shower to wash off all of the camping scum then headed straight to bed. What a fantastic couple of days that I’ll never forget. Best holiday ever!
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