A Canadian Adventure - Day 15

Thursday 17 August 2017

Sechelt by the Sea

After a very comfy night in the tent, my back played up for the rest of the day. I've no idea why. We didn't wake up until nearly 9 am, and that was after an early night.

'Pedals and Paddles' was our first port of call. 'Paddles' was Sue's choice, and as they had no single kayaks left I was commanded to accompany her in a double kayak. I went in the back this time (see our NZ blog from 2008 to see how I fared in the front of a kayak). That meant I could steer whilst Sue paddled. She likes paddling. Just as well. My back hurt and I recalled the NZ experience. At least this was only for two hours, as opposed to three days. We made it to a small bay for a rest and a banana, then back past some blooms (huge numbers) of jellyfish, and it was much to my relief when we managed to locate the 'Pedals and Paddles' depot. Everything looked a little different the wrong way round!

Back to camp to look for my missing wallet. It was found in the car, so we finished off our lunch provisions on the comfort and relief of our campsite picnic table.

The afternoon was spent wandering the footpaths at Hidden Grove. This area seems to be the local 'Hiking Trail' but it's really just a closely knit network of paths that have been created in an area where local opposition foiled the loggers. Pine Bluff viewpoint offered a vague sort of outlook (second picture) through the trees towards Vancouver Island, and 'The Lonely Giant' was a relatively big tree compared with others in the forest. There was also another 'lookout' from which you could see a nearby (tree coated!) hill. The bark had been stripped by some of the native Indians, in the past, from some of the trees for basket weaving and other uses. Also abundant in this area were the Arbutus trees with peeled back bark exposing the red trunks of these drought resistant specimens. After observing a woodpecker at close quarters and having walked nearly 5 km along these paths we called it a day and went back to camp.

From Bayside it turned out to be 1.8 km to the dinky but delightful Burnet Falls. Quite steep at the end. We dashed back for a cuppa and a shower before heading for the Fleshpots. 

The Lighthouse Pub provided excellent rehydration fluid and a tasty dinner on the patio with fine views up Sechelt Inlet under a clear blue sky.

About 4 km of kayaking, 5 km of walks, plus 3.6 km in 23.15 on the dash to Burnet Falls and back.