Monday August 3rd
Another early start for a day of crippling outdoor fun! We arrived at Majestic Ocean Kayaking shortly after 8 to be kitted out with lifejackets, sexy splashskirts (think black rubber tyre crossed with dangling nappy and the constrictive properties of the Playtex 18 hour girdle) and meet our guides (beach-dude local Ben and Ozzie world-travelling Nerida) and fellow kayakers (5 others – 3 locals, 2 Torontans). We boarded the van - which looked pretty much like the Scooby Doo mobile except it had a trailer with 8 canoes swinging round at the back - and set off first on the highway and then for 25 minutes bouncing along a rough gravel track that sent clouds of dust to cover the surrounding forest a ghostly white. We reached Tonquart Beach and after a quick lesson in how to board a kayak (almost gynaecological in its inelegance) and which bit of the spray skirt to pull should we exit the vessel unexpectedly, we were off.
We had a fab day paddling in Barkley Sound, a large sea estuary dotted with islands. It was a little overcast but visibility was fine and we spotted 10” diameter starfish, oyster beds and shoals of fish swimming below; lots of bald eagle, including one juvenile close-up; various seals. We did a mix of paddling quietly along the shoreline and longer stretches across more open water (which I personally found completely knackering!). Our trip included a fab build-your-own bagel picnic lunch on David Island (complete with detailed instruction on peeing only in the intertidal zone) and the best cookie in the world before winding our way slowly back to Torquart Beach.
On the bounce back to town we all nodded off and when we arrived I found my hands and forearms to be on the verge of muscular breakdown! This all necessitated a hot bath, a piece of apple pie and a couple of hours on the sofa.
After this we popped into the village to book our next dose of adrenalin rush for tomorrow – incredibly and sadly the final day of our trip – and to go out for a great dinner of local seafood at the Driftwood Restaurant. In a one horse town like Ukee, there are nevertheless plenty of places to eat, but this one had a reservation list and queues like Madrid’s best. After reserving, strolling and returning we sat down to a steaming cup of fab chowder (including salmon, clams, cod, shrimp & scallops), an aromatic fish curry and a great seafood platter with coconut breaded king prawns, excellent crabcakes and a slab of salmon. We may well be back tomorrow!