After a great few days in Victoria we said goodbye to
Charles and Connie and caught the greyhound north to Campbell River. From there
we caught a ferry to Quadra Island where we met up with Matt and Amy. That night we met up with our guides for a
pre-trip meeting and got to know the other people who were doing the trip. First impression was that everyone seemed
really nice, and we all ended up getting on really well for the whole trip. Quite a random mix of occupations within the
group there was a plastic surgeon, pastor, furniture salesman, engineer,
accountant, pharmacist, as well as us (3 geos and a surveyor).
The first day of the trip we took the ferry across to Cortes
Island, from there we loaded up and launched the kayaks from the eastern side
of the island. The first day was the
hardest of the whole trip, the wind was quite strong and the water choppy which
made for difficult paddling. At the end
of the day we arrived at the Curmes Islands, which was to be our base for the
next 3 nights. The Curmes Islands are a
few small islands in the middle of desolation sound. At low tide you can walk
between the islands. The difference
between low and high tide in the area is about 10-12 feet. On the first night when we arrived the water
was near the high tide mark, so we didn’t have to move the boats far. The next morning we were quite surprised how
far the water had dropped and it was a long walk over rocks and oyster shells
to put the boats in the water.
On the second day we paddled around some of the islands in
the sound. We saw quite a few seals and bald eagles, as well as lots of bright
purple starfish and funky orange and purple sea cucumbers. We stopped at a rope
swing at one of the islands, the boys had fun jumping off a cliff, swinging out
and diving in the water. On the third
day we did some more paddling then went swimming in Unwin lake. The water was surprisingly warm, even for
someone used to Perth beaches. There
were heaps of logs in the lake, everyone had fun trying balance on the logs and
push people off. Matt and Chris mastered
the art of paddling around on a log....it took a lot of concentration and
balance. On the fourth day we packed up
camp, did some more paddling and swimming, then moved to the Martin
Islands. On the whole the weather for
the trip was very good, warm, calm, and sunny at times. By the time we arrived at the Martin Islands
it was very warm and sunny....so more swimming.
Chris and Matt spent a good half an hour trying to dislodge a log so they
could do more log paddling....their new favourite game. The fifth day saw us paddling back to Cortes
Island and then taking the ferry back to Quadra Island.
We had a really awesome time, the guides were great, our
group got on great and had a lot of laughs, the food was good (the chocolate
fondue was a hit), and weather couldn’t have been much better.
