B.C. - continuation of previous post

 I had been doing so well, staying up to date on the blog. But now I am in Ucluelet with another day of photos, burning a hole in my SD card. So here's yesterdays catch up.

Last time we went to see the Sea Lions, most of them were out on some logs near the Hulks. This time they were closer in. I had seen a tug pulling a log boom earlier and I think that the logs they were on must have been moved.

 

The remaining logs had rows of Sea Lions. Using my binoculars I did a rough count of about 60 Sea Lions on the logs and the breakwall. The ones up and arching were the ones making the noise. I have read that they bark to establish their territory, claim their harem and identify their young.

I don't know how the Harbour Seals and Sea Gulls sleep through it.

Totally crashed out!

We sat there for quite a while just enjoying watching the movement and interactions.

We walked back along the trail. I sent Mike a photo of the shoreline campsite his family could have had if they didn't come in the summer.

I asked Rick to get his telephoto lens on to something I had seen in the water. He thought it was a Seal but I said no, I saw a different tail. River Otter!

We hurried out to the breakwall and the ramp to the fishing platform not wanting to miss them. We didn't need to hurry, they were there for a while, in fact we left before they did.

There were 2 adults and 4 young and we watched them laze,

wrestle, play,

fish,

eat, fight

and just be

incredibly cute and entertaining.

Female Harlequin Duck.

There is a lookout area close to the apartment and I stopped to take photos

of the totem poles there.

Wondering if someday I may paint them.

The ferry we will catch tomorrow, on a sea of silver.

 Then it was time to pack and get ready for an early start.

B.C. - Powell River, Sunshine Coast - Julie's, Willington Beach trail, Sea Lions and Otters.

 I just went through my pictures for today. After culling (out of focus, duplicates etc) there were still over 100 photos (OK, I'm a real sucker for Otters). So this post may be broken in to two, I'll see how it goes.

We woke to rain and fog. The proprietor of Salty's Lobster Shack (A while back in the blog) had recommended Nancy's bakery at Lund (well deserved!) and Julie's Airport Cafe. So we decided to try Julie's for breakfast. Turns out Salty's recommendations were better than his lobster rolls.

Julie's is next to the airport and the walls are covered in paintings, stencils, carvings and photos of aircraft.

 

The ceiling is hung with models

and there is airplane memorabilia everywhere,

including on the tables and

and at the check out.

The menu items have plane names.

 I had the Piper and Rick had the Pilot and neither of us could finish them.

 The forecast said that the rain would stop in the afternoon so I decided to do some painting in the morning. Unfortunately I discovered that the pad of paper that I had bought with me was not for watercolour paint.

I ended up doing a pen and ink sketch of the Harbour Seal at Lund.

 

As there was a container of pencil crayons on the coffee table,

I used them to add in a bit of colour.

Rick had bought a sketch pad with him so I started a watercolour on a sheet of paper from that.

By now it had stopped raining so we drove downtown, parked and walked into Willingdon Beach.

Truth and Reconciliation Day was 2 days ago

and the event had been marked here, 

and the orange shirts were still hung on the trees.

There were a couple of Harlequin Ducks in the water here. I don't think I have ever seen one of these in the wild before.

There is a camp site here, which we walked through and then set out, beside the shoreline, on the trail.

Flat and gravel, it was an easy walk though large trees,

moss and ferns

and a collection

of old

forestry equipment.

Each with an explanation

of how it had been utilized.

Douglas Squirrel, much smaller than the Ontario ones.

At this point we could have continued on the road (we came back that way) but instead

headed down to the beach.

Looking back towards Powell River

and on towards First Beach.

We could hear the barking of the Sea Lions clearly from here

and walking along the beach we could see that there were a lot of them

on the breakwall now.

The pictures of Sea Lions, Harbour Seals and River Otters will have to wait. We have to catch the early ferry to Vancouver Island tomorrow and I need to get packed tonight. So.....to be continued.