Welcome to Part Three of this series about my recent visit to Bamfield, to stay at Outer Shores Lodge. You can find Part One here, and Part Two here.
While our days were spent in and on the water, the clear nights were for observing the skies while listening to Sara and Jon talk about the universe and point out what we were seeing. Fascinating stuff!
Another option for guests at Outer Shores was a tour of the local waters, hosted by Scott. I was lucky enough to get to experience 2 of these rides! During our tours, Scott shared his knowledge of the area including showing us ancient village sites, and of course the local flora and fauna. Including whales! Humpback whales were spotted on every boat ride!
Another activity I really enjoyed was exploring West Bamfield. Scott took me on a walk to Brady’s Beach the first day there and I enjoyed it so much I went back on my own later.
I also visited the West Coast Magic Park.
Including a phone of the wind. I had never heard of this before, but I can see how this would provide an outlet for people experiencing grief and loss.
And the tiniest artist’s studio I have ever seen.
I also enjoyed walks along the boardwalk along on the east side of West Bamfield, facing the inlet.
Whew! This post turned out to be quite a long one, and if you made it this far I hope you enjoyed the visual tour of West Bamfield and surrounding waters.
The previous Autumn, I had been told by someone I met on the trail that the Haslam Creek is part of the annual fall salmon run here on the island. I had found that hard to believe, standing in the inch of water that made up a large part of the creek that I visit on a daily basis. How could any salmon navigate these shallow waters to the spawning grounds that they were born in?
Cue the recent atmospheric river event that dumped tons of water on the island, and the flood of fresh water flowing in the mouths of these waterways also cueing the salmon waiting in the ocean bays to start heading “home”, to spawn and die.
Now our shallow little creek is running fast with feet of water – not inches, and previously dry ancillary streams are flowing again.
Bowser took off like a shot to investigate one of these little streams and I quickly found out why. I was astonished to see a dorsal fin and tail wiggling down this tiny flow (and so was Bowser!).
We followed the fish further up the stream so I could get a closer look:
Despite Bowser proving very adept at chasing and chewing and shaking the living daylights out of his toys, he doesn’t quite know what to do with a living creature. According to my experience with previous dogs, a dog needs to witness a kill in order to know “the next step”. Usually this is learned from their mother or other dogs. They have the instinct to chase but need to witness a kill in order to finish the job. At least that is how it’s worked with the other schnauzers I have had in my life. My Maxx did not know what to do with a groundhog until he saw my parents’ dog grab one and shake it to death. Then something clicked for him and no groundhogs were safe on our property after that! My Lucy never saw a kill and thus she never killed anything. Chased everything but never killed. Even when a squirrel (her nemesis!) fell out of a tree and landed right in front of her nose and just laid there, stunned.
Or maybe Bowser is just too well-fed 😉. Anyways, I’m happy to keep him ignorant of that final step in chasing down prey.
Shortly after arriving at Outer Shores Lodge, I asked Scott if there was an agenda or schedule that would be followed each day and he answered that each morning at breakfast he would come up with a list and time for activities based on the day’s weather, tides and people’s interests. We would be free to join in or do our own thing. A show of hands was needed for certain activities that were limited by gear availability or space and those were repeated throughout the day so all 13 of us could partake if we wanted (e.g. kayaking, boat outings). I really appreciated the easy-breezy and casual-ness of it all! It immediately relaxed me.
Each day went something like this:
6:30 am Cold breakfast (granola, yogurt, fruit bowl) was set out by the beverage station (always stocked with coffee, tea, cold beverages and 3 jars kept topped up with homemade cookies!).
8:30 am Hot breakfast is served.
Morning activities
12:00 pm Lunch is served.
Afternoon activities
At some point in the afternoon, delicious snacks (like Outer Shores Lodge’s flapjack bars!) magically appeared at the beverage station.
5:00 pm Appetizers were laid out. Did I mention the cold drinks at the beverage station included beers and coolers as well as soft/non-alcoholic drinks? Wine was also available upon request.
6:00 pm Dinner is served, with a choice of two wines. Usually accompanied by Scott entertaining us with some of his vast knowledge of the area and its history, plus some suggestions for our group as to how the following day could unfold, activity-wise.
Evening – various activities depending on weather, availability of people (e.g. outdoor talks on the night sky, musical entertainment or subject experts brought in, etc.).
Shore Walk – the first morning Scott took us on a low-tide walk right outside the lodge, showing us the natural wonders at our feet and explaining the tidal eco-system in funny and immediately graspable ways.
Kayaking – The Lodge has 6 kayaks for guest use. A guide must accompany you if you want to leave the inlet (insurance requirement); otherwise you can take them when you like and explore the inlet on your own.
Snorkelling – the Lodge provides a full range of gear for snorkelers who didn’t bring their own. All 13 of us geared up and went into the water at the same time – from the youngest among us up to the octogenarians!
As this post is getting a bit long, I will stop here. To be continued in the next: Night skies, boat tours, hiking etc.!
Last month, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my little place – my first (and hopefully not the last) formal-ish dinner since I moved to this property. I was a little worried about people’s comfort – squeezing 5 people around a small round table, but it all worked out.
Thanksgiving for my family is not about the fairy story of the Natives helping the invaderscolonizers white Europeans survive and sharing food with them and everyone co-existing happily ever after. I think that’s more of an American thing. I don’t know what the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are. Maybe we saw what our neighbours were doing and thought: Hey, an autumn feast is a great idea but let’s move it up so it’s not so close to Christmas, OK? I dunno. For us it’s a simple celebration of the season’s bounty and feeling thankful for all that we have – food on the table, a warm house, friends and family.
I had invited Donna and Richard to join Jemma, Kevin and I for dinner. Of course Bowser was there – and I had cooked the giblets from the turkey just for him!
But first, appetizers!
I’m so glad I invited Donna – not only because she is a great friend, but because she remembers to take photos!!! 🤣
Please check out Donna’s post here, where she blogs about another October celebration – Halloween!
And please feel free to join us, either in the Comments or by joining the Link Party, or both!
Photos taken the same weekend as last Sunday’s post.
The rain just kept on coming – non-stop for 3 days! We were lucky to not have to go anywhere and to not experience any flooding. Unfortunately, a lot of people on the mainland were flooded out by the atmospheric river.
But for us, it was a couch potato weekend, for sure. My daughter sent me these photos of their Sunday morning with Bowser.
Hopefully you have drier weather where you are and can get off the couch!
How indeed? Literally and figuratively. After all, I have never gone away on a experiential vacation like this alone before – I’ve always had a friend (or two) to join me. See here and here for my last one, with my friends Joanne and Judith.
It started with this book….no wait…it actually started waaaaay back in my ocean-deprived childhood in southern Ontario. When I would read picture books about exploring the tidal pools of the sea shore, and the gorgeous, strange (to me) sea life to be found in and around those waters. That led to me trying to replicate the experience in the many lakes and rivers in my home province. It wasn’t summer unless I was in the water somewhere, exploring the shoreline with my kiddie-version mask, snorkel and fins. Mom had presciently signed me (and later my sisters) into swim lessons as early as humanly possible, so she could rest easy while I disappeared into the water for hours on end, only to come back ashore when my stomach begged for food.
Now that I’ve gotten settled on Vancouver Island I’ve been thinking about how to explore the rich (and cold) ocean waters of my new home, safely and year-round. Snorkelling in Barbados is great fun, but what about the other 50-ish weeks of the year, hmmm?
As I was saying, earlier this year I came across this book one day at my local grocery store:
If you are at all interested in exploring the rich waters surrounding Vancouver Island without having to invest in uber-spendy scuba lessons and gear, this is THE BOOK you need. Sara covers gear, safety and destinations around the island in a way that is easy for even a relative beginner to this type of snorkelling like me to understand.
In the summer (I think), I came across a Facebook page in my online travels, called Snorkellers of BC and immediately signed up. I’d been living vicariously through enjoying seeing what people were posting about locations and their underwater finds. I’d done a few snorkels with the grandkids at local beaches and a river by this point, but none of the locations from the book as my garden chores (amongst other things) were keeping me ashore. Note to self: design Garden 2025 to be better able to withstand my absences!
Then I saw a fabulous post – loaded with stunning underwater pictures of marine life – from someone who was staying at a place called Outer Shores Lodge, in Bamfield. I googled Outer Shores Lodge so fast I didn’t even register that the poster was THE Sara Ellison until much, much later. And that is when I came across the description of the upcoming Stars and Sea Stars featured lodge stay, and I was hooked! Snorkelling AND learning about the night sky?!? Yes, please!
After a few email conversations with the lodge’s very personable owner and host, Scott Wallace, I was booked. And counting the days until my departure in early October. I had decided that this trip was going to be my 65th birthday gift to myself – after all, it is kind of a momentous birthday, isn’t it? 😉
The drive from Port Alberni to Bamfield was pretty spectacular, and I only came across a couple of other vehicles on my journey along this newly-paved logging access road. I felt like I had it almost entirely to myself. No cell service, and my GPS had no idea this road existed… but it was well-marked and the day was fine so I wasn’t worried. Only a short couple of weeks later during an atmospheric river event, 2 people lost their lives on this road when they were swept (in their vehicles) into the then-raging Sarita River – a sombre reminder to respect the weather because Mother Nature ultimately rules, especially on the remote areas of this land.
After a relaxing 90 minute drive (3 hrs in total from my house), I arrived in East Bamfield and brought my luggage and gear to the dock, as instructed. Here I met most of the other guests (aka my new best friends!) for this stay, as we awaited Scott’s arrival with the Zodiac, to take us to the lodge. You might notice in these posts that I tried to take pictures that didn’t include my fellow guests whenever possible as I didn’t want to encroach on anyone’s right to privacy or make people feel otherwise uncomfortable and I wanted to use the photos for my blog later, natch!
I was paired with a very lovely lady from Chemainus as my roomie for our stay. Our room was large and consisted of 2 parts. Upon entering the room, there were twin beds in a little nook directly across from our bathroom.
A step up from the sleeping nook led to this amazing area of our room!
I’ll end this post here. Stay tuned for the next one(s)! I promise they will be much less wordy and much more visual as I show you some of the wonders of the lodge and area.
Last weekend we experienced an atmospheric river. Did that stop us from heading out for walkies? Not on your nelly! Did we get drenched? Absolutely. Did we have fun? Absolutely. Did Bowser need to be wrapped up and snuggled, post-drenching? Absolutely!
Last weekend was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and it was a glorious weekend for walking along our usual routes. Many leaves had fallen due to recent wind and rain events, and our walks were a feast for the senses. The crunch of the leaves, the fresh smells of the earth and the vegetation, the feel of the sun warming up our bodies – it was everything to be expected from October walks in the woods.
I’m linking up this post with Dawn’s for her 2024 Walktober.
We hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are, and that you are able to enjoy being outside.
I was away last weekend, having a fabulous time in Bamfield (more about that to come on ye olde blogge!). While I was away, my daughter sent me this photo:
This photo perfectly captures the spirits of both my son-in-law and Bowsie, I think 😁.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend (if you’re Canadian), and a wonderful plain ol’ weekend if you’re not!