For Dad's Birthday this year I got him a day trip out on the water with a guide that would take us adults up and down the gulf islands in the Strait of Georgia. We wanted to learn more about what is in our own backyard and the beautiful islands that we look at every day. It was time to be a tourist in our own city!
The only day we could carve out (between your boys' regular activities) happened to be on a Sunday, Father's Day this year. We set of early in the morning at the Brechin Boat launch with our friendly guide. We headed out Departure Bay and took in Mudge Island from the boat traveling along Dodd Narrows when I spotted something in the distance. Turns out it was a whole lot of something and we were about to experience one of the most breathtaking encounters of our lives! Right in front of us were a pod of Orcas breaching and hurtling right towards us. We counted 8 or 9 in all including a huge bull with an odd dorsal fin. The group came towards us very quickly and there was nowhere for us to go even if we wanted to. They came right at us until they were feet away from us and then dove under or swam beside our boat. They were so close to us we could see them just under the water and when they breached we could hear the noises of their spouts right beside us so clearly. Aaron said he felt a spray!
It was truly remarkable and a once in a lifetime experience.
Our tour guide could not believe our luck, he said he'd never seen anything like it.
And that's how our day started!
After we collected ourselves and stopped shaking with excitement we continued south along the Strait of Georgia. We saw Valdez, Galiano and Thetis Islands up close. And then made our way to Salt Spring Island for lunch. We had such a fun meal there, eating oysters and drinking beer in the sun. One of my favourite experiences from the recent past :)
On our way back to the Nanaimo area we stopped at an oyster be to pick up some oysters for dinner.
We also picked up some crabs from traps we left in Departure Bay earlier. You boys were very curious about these!
What a nice welcome for a deserving Dad! You and Lia worked on this sign very hard!
Happy Father's Day Dad!
No comments:
Post a Comment