Woke up to another beautiful day. We were packed up and on the road by 9AM. Today we drive across Vancouver Island to Tofino where we pick up two rental kayaks and head out to Vargas Island.
On our way across the island we stopped to admire and take pictures of some huge trees. Incredible to think this is a second growth forest. As the road wound around and down to the west side of the island the weather seemed to close in a bit. Still sunny it was apparent we were not going to get one of those rare fog free days.
We found Tofino Sea Kayaking and checked in to make sure our rentals were waiting for us. After carrying down our two kayaks and the one we borrowed from friends, we unloaded our gear and began the hardest part of the day.
It's always chaos when you are packing kayaks. With 5 out of the 8 of us inexperienced it seemed to be just that much more chaotic. How are we ever going to get all those drybags into the kayaks? When the gear is piled up on shore it looks overwhelming. Knowing some tricks makes it a lot easier.
In the spirit of avoiding chaos at all costs I volunteered to go get food. Celia and I went off to get everyone their last disgusting greasy meal before heading out.
With neoprene on and our skirts cinched up tight we folded ourselves in to the kayaks and set off on a calm afternoon. Made it in the water by 1:30 which suited our tide table just fine.
Vargas Island is not far from Tofino. We picked it because of it's amazing beaches, natural beauty and the fact that it is on the wild side. (Next stop going west would be Korea). This meant amazing sea life and big ocean swells. The course we picked would take us through the channel between Tofino and Felice Island then to the north of Wickaninnish Island and west to Vargas
As we headed out to the island we could see the fog drifting in. We had been here before and decided to hit the first beach on Vargas for the night. Past that beach there are rocks that are easily avoided on a good day and easily hidden in a bad fog. We didn't want to take any chances with inexperienced campers... especially when they're family!!
The beach required us to surf land. Now any of you that kayak will know that is a pretty tricky maneuver. Shane and I landed first and guided the others in. We all did really well. Though a few kayaks got caught in the waves and started to 'turn' we were able to get them in safely. Joey and Todd had a problem at one point but, both of them being snow boarders, they instinctively shifted their weight and remained upright.
Whew.... first challenge over!!
We were elated to have landed on such a beautiful beach. It was foggy but not raining. This whole area is considered rain forest so the lack of rain was a surprise and most welcome. The tents got pitched... the kitchen spot picked out and the tree to hang our food chosen. The beach was wide, full of driftwood and soft sand as well as rocky spots where lots of sea life could be observed. In short it was perfect.
Life is good!!
Shane and I were on dinner for the first night so the steaks were brought out.... the mushrooms, onions and .... where is the salad?? Seems we forgot some of the food in the car. Woops. Upon further scrounging around we also found we were missing the garlic (yike!!). The good news is that the coffee and hot chocolate were not in that bag. I can survive just about anywhere with my coffee. We did have lots of vegetables and even dip so we did not go hungry. In fact our meals turned out to be quite gourmet ... and plentiful. You always have to pack extra in case weather kicks in and you find yourself stranded for a few more days. We did have fishing rods (and a crab trap) but as it turned out it was a good thing we didn't rely on them.
So that night we settled in to our new home full, fat and happily exhausted.
