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!
Crappy night sky photo taken with my phone, to give you an idea…Using the Stellarium app on my phone, and pointing it at the sky to show me what stars I was looking at.
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!
Scott took us to see “Moan-ah”, the whistle buoy we can hear (faintly) from the Lodge. Fun! Love his sense of humour.
We spent a lot of time observing the hundreds (if not thousands!) of sea lions hanging out on the rocks and cavorting in the water.
Pardon the blips in the video. I was trying to zoom in closer. Listen to Scott sharing his knowledge of these massive creatures.Scott took us through stunning rock formations.For my 2nd tour, the sun was out! An example of the stunning views.Scott, Jon and I were talking about kayaking through this natural hole in the rocks. They were only joking though, right? Right??? 😬 I mean, there were some serious waves happening!View from the other side of the hole.
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.
Brady’s Beach is well-signed and easy to find.Sea stacks on Brady’s BeachHeron and gull on sea stacks.I was obsessed with capturing the heron.Heron preening feathers, on the rock.While I was exploring the beach, a group of my fellow Lodge guests came kayaking by.
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 spotted beautiful fungi on my walks.
I also enjoyed walks along the boardwalk along on the east side of West Bamfield, facing the inlet.
Always a good idea to be reminded of the neighbours. Every type of neighbour!West Bamfield quirk and humour.In one little garden was this sign. I wonder if the cougars and bears had any part to play in the length of these cat’s lives. This is just one example of the multiple signs along the boardwalk, detailing the history of West Bamfield.
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!).
Bowser is intrigued and surprised by the “thing” he saw moving in the water.
We followed the fish further up the stream so I could get a closer look:
Once again, Bowser is startled and jumps when the fish takes off.
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.).
Some people started their day at the property’s natural cold plunge pool (bottom left corner), followed by a visit to the Lodge’s steam shower or hot tub.
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.
We saw so many beautiful sea stars on this walk, as well as many crustaceans and other sea life.
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.
The Lodge supplies its guests with 12 foot Delta kayaks, for our kayaking pleasure!Some of my group getting ready to leave the inlet and go exploring. We saw a mama black bear and 2 cubs when we visited a salt marsh! I didn’t take any more photos as I’d forgotten my waterproof phone case for this trip and was getting a bit nervous I could drop/lose my phone.
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!
Here is a photo of (almost) all of us, ready to explore the underwater world just a few steps away. Sara Ellison is in the front wearing the red weight belt (her husband Jon Willis – fellow astrophysicist and snorkeler – is behind her). Photo by Scott Wallace
Here’s some underwater footage I shot with my GoPro. There was a bit of wave action pushing me around!
Still smiling at this point – started to feel queasy from all the wave action shortly thereafter so I headed to the nearby kelp forest, where it was a bit calmer (next video).
Some video of the crabs hanging out in the kelp.
Lucky me! Sara Ellison photobombed my video. Maureen Scott took this gorgeous photo of a nudibranch. Note to self: need better camera and free-diving gear!!!
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.
The table set-up.
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!
Bowser: Did someone say cheese? Photo by DonnaClose-up of appetizer tray I put together.
I’m so glad I invited Donna – not only because she is a great friend, but because she remembers to take photos!!! 🤣
And she brought her fabulous homemade cranberry sauce (pictured above with the gravy and the cut up turkey). I couldn’t steal find the recipe on her blog so you’ll have to ask her for it, if interested! Photo by DonnaThe sides: Mashed potatoes made by Jemma and Kevin, stuffing flavoured with sage and onions from my garden, squash from my garden, and green and yellow pole beans from my garden. Celebrating the harvest in a very personal way! Photo by DonnaI didn’t make a trifle this time, but I did make a loaf of our favourite rustic bread. Two desserts also graced the table: a gluten-free pumpkin pie (and the best I’ve ever tasted!) from Wild Poppy Bakery in Ladysmith, and gluten-free Oreo cheesecake bites (made by me from a recipe in Costco magazine – basically the same as Donna’s recipe here). Photo by DonnaAnd here’s proof we all fit around the table. Photo by Donna
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.
Lounging on the couch, slowly coming to life on this rainy morning.Mommy is amusing herself by styling Bowser’s hair.Bowser does not look very amused.Going down for another nap is his defence maneuver, I guess! 🤣
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:
Can you hear the choir of angels singing? I can.
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.
View of the Alberni Inlet from the Bamfield Road.
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!
Bamfield Map, at the dock. The lodge is located at the the tip and left side of Aguilar Point.Captain Scott pointing out West Bamfield as we head to the West Bamfield dock and then the short walk to Outer Shores Lodge.My first view of my home for the next 4 nights.
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.
Dark and cozy sleeping nook. The beds and bedding were top quality.Well-appointed with heavenly-smelling soap, shampoo and conditioner from Saltspring Island Soap Company. Plenty of hot water too!
A step up from the sleeping nook led to this amazing area of our room!
My roomie decided she wanted to sleep in one of the bunks (Can you blame her? They are magical!), and I decided to take over the twin bed area.This was the view from 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!
Bowser loves to be rubbed down after a wet walk – he actually runs towards the towel I have hung up in my entryway for this purpose – and then he loves to be wrapped up in a soft blankie and cuddled on the couch. Our little Obi-Wan Dogobi.Trapped by The Force…er…Bowser’s superpower of cuteness! Luckily I can still work my phone’s camera with my non-dominant hand. Even Jedi knights need to recharge. It wasn’t long before I joined Bowser in a post-rainy walk snoozefest😉.
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.
Bowser surveying his kingdom.Meanwhile, I was looking for and found lots of these beauties!My favourite, scruffy little beauty.Bowser across from the roots of the Magic Tree.Happy dog, happy life…especially in October.
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:
The Green Man and His Green Dog
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!
