ocean – Page 4 – OldPlaidCamper

Power trip

Scout and I have been visiting a new favourite place the past week or more. We’ve been there a few times over the last four or five years, but it had fallen off our radar, for no particular reason, until recently.

How to find this place? Well, wander down a rainforest road, and depending on the weather, feel uncomfortably warm in the sun (rare, but it happened last week), or turn up your collar to keep the rain from dripping in, or slip and slide on ice patches. Keep going. There are little detours along the way if Scout is your guide. She insists we explore each of the last pockets of snow, and we do have to stop at various tree stumps and earth patches, sniff with intent and leave our (her) scent. Eventually, by crossing over the road at the end of the drive, and taking the trailhead, you emerge out of the forest fringe and on to black rocks overlooking the ocean.

The stormier photographs included this week are from a visit we (I) hadn’t intended to make. It was blustery, with the icy rain more like pellets, stinging my delicate skin and having me thinking of taking a short cut home. Scout, however, was having none of it, and pulled me along, the sound of the roaring ocean through the trees appearing to get her attention even over the sound of the wind and rain and my gentle sobbing. We both knew she was in charge of this trip.

It was worth it! The waves were racing in, gathering themselves up in shades of green and grey before smashing onto the rocks. Our little viewing perch nestled in the higher black rocks was blasted by icy squalls, but we were safely above the pounding, yet close enough to feel the power. What a rush – a power trip! Thanks, Scout!

Let’s keep it short this week – wouldn’t want all this going to Scout’s head. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy New Year!

Another short post this week, as we’ve been busy in the best possible way.

We’ve enjoyed some quiet time, with sun, rain and a sprinkling of snow. Best of all, Junior was able to join us for a few days, and it made up for only seeing her a few hours the past couple of years.

We drank coffee, beer, more coffee and more beer, as well as wandering the local trails and drinking in the almost sunny sights.

It’s been a challenging couple of years for most of us on many fronts, and I’ll end this brief post by expressing the fervent hope that the coming year will be better and brighter than the past twelve months.

Thanks for reading, take care out there, and Happy New Year to you!

Seasonal norms?

We’ve had below seasonal temperatures for weeks and weeks, and above seasonal rainfall throughout the same period. Maybe when fall/winter is done and dusted, it’ll all average out and all be recorded as seasonal norms. In the meantime…

…it’s chilly! We went to Florencia Bay on Saturday, enjoying a favourite beach late afternoon on a falling tide. There were a few cars in the parking lot, and down on the beach there were a few hardy surfers braving the water. Cold, cold water. No thanks! The air temperature was a few degrees above freezing, just warm enough to sit on a log – with jackets – and enjoy a rare sighting of the sun.

Scout was delighted to be able to dig and dig, purposeful in the moment, fully attentive to the task, and then happy enough to abandon the excavations if there was an off chance of a crumb or two from one of us enjoying our coffee and cookies. Off chance of a crumb? No chance, but we always bring a milk bone or two. Scout also likes them.

Saturday was our sunny day, and Sunday was meant to be a snowy day, or snowy overnight into Monday morning at any rate. There were some disappointed students when the promised snow didn’t materialize. More rain though! We braved the elements and enjoyed the dry hour or two early afternoon along the coastal trails before the next band of cold rain appeared.

We consoled ourselves about no show snow with a bottle of Spinnakers Flanders Style Red Ale – it was a little too close to a sour to be a sure fire winner, but we did finish it to be certain our conclusions were sound.

Spinnakers slightly sour seasonal offering – now it’s open, we might as well finish it…

We might not be enjoying seasonal norms, but we’re enjoying where we are, and making the most of the season, whatever it looks like! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Storm’s a brewin’

I’ll stop writing about our forever storm season when we run out of forever, or storms, or both. (Huh? That last sentence doesn’t really hold up to rigorous scrutiny. Still, why pick on that sentence? There are many others, equally guilty…)

Failure to capture the full droplet photo

I’m exaggerating about forever storms – if you stick around to the end of this piece, you’ll see it’s not all storms and floods. Just mostly, or so it seems.

We went to clamber over some rocks and splash along the coastal trails last weekend. It hadn’t exactly stopped raining, but it felt like a lull, so off we went, in rain gear and high spirits. Well, most of us had rain gear and high spirits – one four legged friend has never liked to wear anything extra, rain or snow, and is understandably reluctant walking in very heavy rain, but after the first minute or so, switched from disbelief at going beyond the house boundaries to active enthusiasm.

“I think I see the next storm out there!”

It was good to stretch our legs, and inhale huge lungfuls of fresh sea air. Birds were buffeted by winds, but seemed to be enjoying it, and we had the trails to ourselves. Who would go out knowing a storm’s a brewin’? We would, knowing there’s a storm’s a brewin’ at home, a well earned reward and winter warmer. A new one from Ucluelet Brewing Company, and a real winner!

Very good, even if the thought of a latte stout is off putting.

After another week of rain and flooded roads – admittedly not as bad as last week on the roads – it was a relief to wake up yesterday to a chilly dawn, calm water, clear skies, and all followed by a day of wall to wall sunshine. The sun might be dropping early these days, but at least we got to see it on Thursday!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Before the storm

We have weather warnings as I write this, with heavy rain and wind speeds of 80 gusting to 100kmh predicted. That means trees will fall, and the power will likely go out. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, I thought I’d better write and schedule a post before losing power, and place candles, flashlights and my favourite power outage toque in accessible locations. Oh, forgetful me, and chocolate.

For this quick before the storm post, I decided to use a few photos taken over the last long weekend, when we went down to our not-really-a-secret-but-let’s-hope-no-one-else-is-there little beach just off the Wild Pacific trail. As in a previous post, this isn’t the real name, but I’m quite getting into making up names for places.

When we arrived, after a little clamber down from the trail made more exciting by Scout’s absolute determination to haul me over rocks and under logs, we found the beach was empty as hoped for. Not the warmest of days overall, but we sat out of the gusting wind and enjoyed the wave action. Not storm waves, but still pretty powerful at beach level.

If conditions allow, and it’s safe, I’ll head back to this little beach, or at least the trail above it, after the worst of the wind gusts, and see if I can catch a shot or two of big waves. I’ll wear my favourite after the storm toque, and take coffee – and chocolate.

Right, enough for now, time to put on that toque, have matches at the ready, and enjoy the show. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Salish sunrise

Last week, I jotted something about unpacking after our recent trip, and then getting around to sharing some of our adventures. I’ve decided to be nonlinear in the narrative, due to a blissed out attitude and an unshackling from convention, post vacation. Or laziness. Anyway, let’s start at the end…

Our departure from Salt Spring Island was an almost civilized affair, with the cabin we stayed in located a short jaunt from two ferry terminals. Arriving at the island at the Vesuvius terminal, we were only a kilometre from the cabin. Yup, that’s right, Vesuvius. Nope, no idea. Determinedly off grid, or at least unconnected (Salt Spring is not actually off grid) I was determinedly intellectually lacking in curiosity about the Vesuvius name. No research has erupted since the trip either…

Hold on, OldPlaidCamper – an almost civilized departure? What happened? Good question, and if I wasn’t relaxed after a short break away, why, I could go on a rant, asking who was the genius behind booking a ferry departing at 6:20am – yes, that’s right, 6am – requiring a wake up alarm of 5:00am – yes, you read that right, 5am. 5AM! On a vacation day. On an island with several ferries and multiple mid morning departure times. Anyway, I’m not one to rant or assign blame.

We arrived at Long Harbour in the dark, far too early, like an over-prepared and overly cautious senior traveller with anxiety issues about missing the ferry. Not that I recognize that description. We sat in the dark, enjoying watching the sky change from a deep blue-black to a less inky and dense shade, as the predawn hint of sunrise began to show. By the time the ferry boarded, there were streaks of pink and gold showing through the mist over the water.

I won’t write too much more here, as the photographs do a pretty good job. I will admit, as you likely suspected, it was me who booked the early morning departure. It was necessary (for reasons to be revealed in a later post) and not actually a wilful effort to get as little sleep as possible on a day off. Turned out a pretty good decision (writes Captain Hindsight) as the Salish sunrise was breathtakingly pretty.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Malcontent

A malcontent? Me? Never!

All is reasonably well, if you were wondering. We’re heading out and will be off the grid the next little while, so I’ve no reason for being a malcontent. I might not be able to get to WordPress, read my favourites, but will catch up upon our return. I’ll be hoppier, I mean, happier and refreshed no doubt. Buzzing, even.

Buzzing? The future has arrived. Bit late, but cool…

Buzzing? What was that sound up and down the bay the past few days? It was the coast guards in their retro-futurist hovercraft, doing some essential maintenance in and around the channel. Goodness, it was noisy when it was drifting past the office. I had to come outside, look for what I thought was a low flying helicopter, when it turned out to be a slow speeding hovercraft. Once it got past the restricted part of the channel, it revved up and took off at quite a pace. Fun toy. Oops, I mean fun essential work vessel.

Sunshine will be changing to rain by the time this is posted. Lots of rain, long overdue – I had to rescue our tomatoes before the storm. Two tomatoes last season, hard to top those numbers, but we’ve had a much better crop this year if you look at the photo. Almost a glut, I’d say.

Right, I’d better go pack, add the rain gear and, optimistic and hoppy as always, sunglasses. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Warm and fuzzy

Am I, though?

I do try to be, but as I’m not a morning person, it’s a challenge. I’m not an afternoon, evening or night person either. Might as well throw in I’m not always a people person – odd, for an educator? – and warm and fuzzy isn’t too accurate.

However, it isn’t always all about me – stamps foot, throws tantrum – I was referring to the weather earlier this week when we went down to the beach, and the fact that I should have cleaned the lens before taking any photographs. It was misty, but not that misty…

September already? Time has done what time does, stretching and shrinking, making me look back and think, gee, summer was really long this year, or, goodness, summer simply raced by! Either way, it is almost over, and we’re definitely leaning into a fall feel, with chilly and foggy mornings giving way to pleasantly warm but not hot afternoons.

On our beach evening, September 1st, we set off in sunshine, but by the time we arrived the fog had rolled onto the shore, and we wondered if we’d mistimed our visit, at least for sitting in some warmish sun? No no, not to worry, less than ten minutes passed, the fog drifted off and the sun reappeared. Hello fall. Goodbye summer. Hello fall. Oh, hello summer again, wait your turn, fall. Hmm. Was I really sitting on a log talking to the seasons? Warm and fuzzy? Or somewhat strange? Looks like I’m a season person.

Right, I’m off to clean the lens and talk to some clouds. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful (long) weekend!

Waves

It’s been pretty full on this week, busily wrapping up summer learning programs, then switching gears and attention to the swiftly approaching school start up. Why, the work is coming in waves…

Waves, you say? Oh look, below this paragraph is a clip of some waves! Yes, we see what you did there, PlaidCamper, well done. Thank you. The snippet of video was taken on our visit to South Beach a little while back. I’d tried and failed to capture the broad sweeping expanse in a photograph, the wonderful bowl of sand, ocean, sky, trees and distant mountains we could see from where we were sitting. I simply couldn’t capture it in a single snap, so shot the video instead.

Waves in sound and vision…

Having played it back a few times, I found I really liked how it captured the sound of the ocean, the steady roar of the sea. The waves were moderate, but the wind was quite calm – usually, all I hear when I take a video is the rustle or roar of the wind, and me clumsily clonking the microphone. On this clip the wave sounds are quite clear.

In other news, temperatures here took a tumble as the week went on, and we’ve even had some welcome rain, another sign the season is about to change. I’ve seen a couple of big bears along the grass verges the past few days. They look healthy and very intent on packing on some extra pounds before winter. I drove past a very impressive pile of purple bear scat yesterday, so the bears must be doing ok on the berry front. I decided against taking a picture. Or a video. I mean, as if I’d even think of doing that…

So there you are, a brief post this week including a brief clip of waves in sound and vision. And not including a photograph of purple bear poop. That could’ve been a good one. It was for the bear.

Thanks for reading and watching, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Shimmer and haze

We went to South Beach midweek, taking our trip late afternoon/early evening and aiming to avoid too many people and have some quiet moments.

It’s great when a plan works out! Only a handful of vehicles were in the parking lot, the sun was high enough to provide warmth, and the worst of the wildfire smoke had dissipated.

The beach was quiet, and we found a convenient log close to the forest fringe to settle down and watch the water. Shimmer on the water, a haze in the distance, fresh air and no chill to the light breeze – it was pretty much a perfect evening, and felt like a mini-vacation.

Summer seems to have raced by, and the hints of fall being not too far ahead are growing. Dry yellow leaves along pathways and verges, ripe salal and blackberries, and the shock of seeing the sun set long before 9pm – yikes, we’d best make the most of the fast fading warm days…

That’s some good advice about making the most of the remaining summer days – looks sunny and warm here the next couple of days, so off I go! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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