June 19, 2016

We have arrived in Campbell River BC and will be staying for 9 days at The Thunderbird RV Park, site # 44. We plan on exploring the Campbell river in our nu canoe, geocaching and visiting some beautiful wineries.  The above picture is our view out of our trailer window, very serene and beautiful here, with an abundance of wildlife. Stay with us as we will show some amazing country, on our Canadian adventure. The picture below is of a permanent resident named Larry. He waddles up from the estuary and visits the campers periodically, he is beautiful and quite friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 20,2016

Tonight is the climax of 2016s longest day. Because we are at the 50th parallel the daylight lasts longer here. We usually try to go to bed around 9 or 10. Well here at Campbell River it’s pretty much light at 10 and throwing us off our time clock. At 9 pm we will say lets go bike riding and then realize the time. The night of June 20th we sat in our lawn chairs and witnessed the sunset around 9:30 pm.

June 21,2016

We geocached from Campbell River to Comox today, stopping at two wineries. Check out my geocaching and wine touring for additional pictures.

June 22,2016

Today we headed to Campbell Lake and Lake Buttle to kayacik. Such beautiful country and  not one other person on either lake. The two lakes are separated  by narrows which a bridge passes over. The steep mountainous terrain reminded me a lot of Yosemite National Park, very breath taking. A great exploring and kayaking day.

June 23, 2016

Today we stayed in Campbell River exploring shops, geocaching and exploring the harbor. Oh and don’t forget, Jeff is still looking for the best fish and chips around town.

 

Starting on Saturday Campbell River is having a Dragon Boat Race and Festival, we watched them practice today, quite near our campsite, can’t wait for the real race.

June 24, 2016

Today we ventured down the sound, we were told a 5 day annual wood carving competition was beginning. The competition called “transformations on The Shore” began in 1995 by a resident of Campbell River named Max Chickite. As you approached the competition your senses come alive. Roaring chainsaws,grinders,the smell of cedar sawdust and the perception of the artist half finished masterpieces. Lions tigers and bears oh my! Okay we have a lion and bears, space aliens,mermaids, killer whales, manta rays and maybe the old man of the sea.The artist wear the logging safety gear especially dust mask and ear protection. You would have to be in good shape to carve for hours wielding chainsaws, grinders and tricky carving tools for hours on end. They stand on scaffolds reaching for the outer limits of their ability. How many hours they must spend from beginning to end is measured in days.

We met and talked to a woodcarver named Ron from Powell River. He made Liz a hatchet stuck in a piece of wood. He talked of how many years he has been carving, making his own carving knife blades from steel that he honed and shaped. The wood was a white cedar which does not grow in a lot of climates. He seemed so relaxed talking and carving and before you knew it there was an ax. I am going to obtain the right knife and try my hand at what looks easy but I know these guys have spent years honing their skills.Ron talked of life in Powell River, a town of 10,000 isolated on the BC mainland which you have to take 1 or 2 ferries to get there.A trip to Vancouver takes 5 hours.He liked the slow pace of life in Powell River and practicably the whole town works at the pulp mill. Well Ron I hope someday I can show my grandkids a hatchet.

June 25, 2016

Exciting day today, yes it is the  Dragon Boat Race competition happening right here in our estuary.

 

Campbell River’s Sixth Annual Dragon Boat Regatta – June 25th 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were walking towards the farmers market we  saw 2 Humpback whales, right off of the pier along the sound, what a thrill. Both whales would roll up, spew water and both stuck their tails in the air as they were diving . Just spectacular. The camera had just shut down so we missed the shot.

Off we go to the farmers market. Situated right along the sound in the parking lot of The Maritime Museum. We found lots of organic veggies, fresh peaches, raspberries and strawberries. How do you decide, well being a Gemini, I don’t, I get a little of it all, like a sample pack. Ha! On our wine tour on Thursday we tried to visit the  Blue Moon winery, but they were closed. Well guess who we ran into at the farmers market,  Blue Moon Winery, giving samples this day of their award winning Ciders. I really enjoyed the  Ravens Moon ragged ass road Cider, laced with bourbon. Good Stuff!!!

Next we were off to hike to the suspension bridge at Elk Falls. 

What a beautiful surprise, the trail to the falls were very well groomed and beautiful with all of the old growth cedar trees. Then you arrive at the suspension bridge and falls, just amazing and so fun to walk across the bridge looking way, way down at water and boulders. Yikes. A few people would not take the walk across, but not us, we bolted across like we were 20 years old again. Ok ,fine, back to reality.

The Power Company is Tunneling from the Lake to the power turbines. The tunnels will replace the 3 large pipes that you see in the photo. The pipe from many years ago is made of wood. The fear is that in an earthquake the old pipe wouldn’t stand up to well. I would say that their fears are well founded, scary,  very scary.

The grand finale of the day, kayaking the Campbell River estuary in the late afternoon 5 ish to be exact. The water was smooth as glass and the outside temp was 76, just a perfect evening. Larry the resident swan literally followed us around the estuary, I think he is very lonely or has become very attached to the lime green kayak. The yellow smiley flag is our neighbor Ray and Ann, fellow bloggers.

June 27, 2016

Today we stayed around the campsite and I am glad we did, the baby eagles decided to fly out of their nest and one baby landed right in front of our camp site. His mom then landed alongside of him and literally was teaching him how to drink water in the estuary. The low tide enabled him to have a little water to begin his lesson and after about a half an hour he got it and started drinking just like mom. It was so amazing to see the two communicate and life lessons being learned.

Later in the afternoon we had Ray, Anne and Angie over for a BBQ. Good times with new special friends. Ray is a fellow blogger and has a Youtube channel called “love your RV” and Ann has a photography blog called “Anne McKinnell Photography“. Oh and Angie is their very special beagle, who likes to sit in a red lawn chair and loves apple pie. The above picture next to Larry the swan is Ray and Ann’s flag on the back of their RV.

 

June 28, 2016

This is our last day in Campbell River. We have certainly enjoyed the area and the super friendly people. We are taking a shuttle boat to Quadra Island, just a 10 minute boat ride across the sound to April Point Lodge. Beautiful day today in the mid 70’s, the island was quaint with narrow winding roads and very little traffic. We enjoyed a gourmet lunch out on the outdoor patio looking out to sea, we even were visited by a very curious seal and numerous eagles fishing their hearts out..

This evening we had to say goodbye to Ray and Angie and hope to see them again in our travels. Next adventure we will taking the Ferry to VanCouver, BC.

GOOD BY CAMPBELL RIVER FROM-Just around the bend