Leaving Sointula, Cambell River and Quadra Island

 Last post of the trip.  We were worried yesterday with the storm and the ferry cancellation so we decided to leave Malcolm Island/Sointula on the first ferry at 7:55.  We just loaded the car in front of the cafe and waited in line.  Easy Peasy. 

We had planned to visit Telegraph Cove which is very close to Port McNeill which you remember is where the ferry leaves/arrives.  But somehow, as per our modus operandi, we missed the turn and didn't notice until way too late.  No coffee!!!  

We drove to Sayward instead.  I thought Woss was bad, Sayward is almost worse.  Woss at least has never had asperations.  Sayward is the Norma Desmond of villages.  It has seen better days and now it is just sad.  We drove all the way into the 'village' and followed the 'to village centre' signs.  And then we passed the village centre and said 'did we miss a turn?'  So we went to the dock and took a couple of pictures, turned around and looked for downtown again.  Nope, still no 'village centre'.  No grocery store, no liquour store, no nothing.  No cute houses, not little village vibe, no open  coffee shops.   There is a working harbour though so if we had been on a boat, I suppose it would be less desolate.  

Not even a coffee to be had in Sayward, we just decided to head straight to Campbell River.  The drive down was so gorgeous with the fall colours and the morning mist.  No pictures but trust me, I would recommend this drive in autumn!  

Late breakfast/early lunch in CR.  Then we went over to Elk Falls.  I have been to Campbell River so many times I never crossed to the other side of the highway to Elk Falls.  It is only a couple of kms up the road! Well, it would have only been a couple of kms if we hadn't missed the gigantic parking lot and trail entrance. Instead we drove past, somehow ended up crossing an active hydro dam/power plant and still didn't realize we has missed our target so drove several more kms in the wrong direction.  I am sensing a wee hole in our route planning.  That hole is the planning.   

Anyway, we found where we wanted to be.  We are pretty tired so we just did the short jaunt to the suspension bridge.  Lovely place, especially with the turning leaves.  I want to go back and do some of the longer trails but I will wait until my hiking shoes dry out before I try another trek called 'forest trail'! 

There are two tiny mushrooms in there, in case 
you are looking for the fun in fungi!

One more thrift store in CR (more yarn!) and we caught the 3:30 ferry over to Quadra Island.  Mom made us a moose roast, poured some wine and we played a game or four of Rummi-cubes to close out our trip. Oh yea, one more thing. As we were sitting at the table before dinner, some orcas swam by out front of the house so in the end, we got our bear and our orca! Goals met.  

Here's a few last pictures which may or may not be new.  

Sointula Day Three - Kavena Rd and Blackout!

 The power went out this morning just before 9am.  We were just heading down to breakfast.  Thank the muffin god they had finished the baking!  But the coffee wasn’t on yet. So we brought down our Bodum because they have a gas powered stove top so they could boil some water and fry us up some breakfast.  The café was closed but as Airbnb guests, we still get fed.  Which was confusing to the general public who could see us in there and would knock at the door – go away, we are special, we would shout at them (in reality, we would quietly look guilty and sip our coffee and take another bite of our scones).   The cook also loaded us up with extra baking for tomorrow. 

The first ferry of the day (7:55) made it out but that was it.  Now we are a bit worried that we won’t be able to leave in the morning.  No power means no Wi-Fi for now.  But our host let me know she is going to turn on the generator soon for the fridges and she will hook the router to it so we can check weather/ferry status (and post this!)

It was very windy in the night starting around 1:30am.  The wind howled and the little house rattled.  It was a noisy night.  But it wasn’t raining.  We were going to take a walk along Kaleva Road Walkway to watch the stormy seas.  But just as we finished breakfast, the sideways rain started. 

We tried to wait it out but that got boring so we decided to drive along Kaleva Road instead.  We pulled over a few times but, man, it was raining to beat the band!  My poor camera. Most of my photos have water spots and/or foggy lens.    But the rough seas and the swooping birds were fun to watch. 

We drove to the end of the paved road and turned around.  I stopped at the graveyard. Val refused to get out of the car (probably wisely, it was very wet at that point).  But I braved the howling wind and took a few photos.  The village brochure says the history of the island can be found on the markers in the graveyard and I can see that is true.  Lots of Finnish names (I assume). 

The guy from the heritage farm? 

We headed in the other direction to the other end of the paved roads.  I love the little clapboard houses.  Some of them are in rough shape and some are beautifully restored. 

Past the harbour again and back home.  We moved the car to the ferry lineup.  If there is no other ferry today, the first one tomorrow is going to be BUSY!.  We were going to take the second ferry (11am-ish) but now we are just eager to get off the island as soon as possible tomorrow.  The ferry line up is very casual here.  You just park on the right side of 1^st Street.  If you aren’t in your car when the line moves, it is assumed you are just parked and everyone goes around you.  So, if there is a ferry later today, we are still good.  And Coho-Joe is so close to the ferry, we are just parked right out front.  We will be within the first 10 cars on.  Win-win (if there is a ferry). 

I have been knitting.  Val has been hibernating.  Our host has just arrived.  She is so sweet.  She turned on the generator and boiled us some water in thermos and is heating up some soup.  More muffins on offer.  She is also going to bring us more blankets because it sounds like the power is out until the hydro guys can come over on the first ferry (fingers crossed) in the morning. 

She just looks dead.  

Knitting by the window, the only source of light

Playing with my pebbles from yesterday.

I am using the last of my battery to post this while I have internet!  The soup is delicious!  And our host added a grilled ham and cheese on the side.  And told us if we are stuck here, we can stay for free.  But the ferry is expected to be running tomorrow. 

 

 

Sointula day two

 Sitting in our little apartment, drinking boozy hot chocolate, wearing pajama pants because all of my pants are soaked.  It was a wet day.  

We got up for our free breakfast in the cafe downstairs.  I wore slippers.  Sointula is that kind of place.  There was a guy there who had an antique toaster. He told us all about his toaster. For our entire breakfast.  He was harmless.  And after three days of nothing but Joanne, Val was probably glad for the reprieve!  

Today was supposed to be nice, especially in the morning.  Getting wetter as the day progressed and then tomorrow is forecast to be stormy (lots of rain and wind).  So, our one real goal on the island was to go to Bere Point Park.  This is a pebbly beach where Northern Resident Orcas come close to shore to rub their bellies.  We knew it was a long short (spoiler alert, no whales in this post) but we thought we would give it go.  Much like the marsh where we saw the bear and kept saying 'even without the bear, this is beautiful', even without any whales, Bere Point is beautiful. But it was raining to beat the band and the Beautiful Bay Trail was MUDDY!   

If you liked the mushrooms, prepare yourself for the rocks!

Muddy! 

Beautiful Bay Trail sign has seen some stuff

The pebbles are so smooth and round. I may have a pocket full to bring home.  

Then we came home for some lunch.  Everything was soaked!  My phone, my camera, my bag, my clothes, my body, everything!  Changed pants, tops, bag, etc and off we went to the next hike, the Matejo Farm Heritage Trail.  

Where our morning hike was amazing, our afternoon hike was less so.  Not that it was bad, it just was more forest walk.  At least it wasn't raining anymore but the trail was just as muddy.  

If you thought you were getting out of here with no mushrooms, 
you were mistaken! 

Serious Hansel & Gretel vibe

This is Matejo Heritage Farm.  Basically a salal field. 
Like I said, not worth the hike.

I hiked that trail like a duck with hip displacia trying to walk on the sides of the path.  That and the pebble beach walk has done me in for the day.  

Dinner is cooking and Val is watching a mother deer and her fawn out the window.  

Here are some photos from the rest of the day toddling in the village. 

Coho-Joe Café