Stormy Seas

The days keep flying by at an unprecedented rate. As I look towards my last week and a bit here, I definitely have mixed emotions. One part of me feels like going home, while another already misses the adventures I have had in this corner of the world.

We’ve had some more beautiful sunset swims at the beach. It is always an adventure getting down to the water, as the side of the hill is so steep that a rope is needed to help everyone get down. I have done it without, but it takes a lot longer!

Down on the shore we swim and look at all the fish and seaweed beneath our feet. I have been told that there are crabs down on the beaches around here, but have yet to see one! In the sunset, our silhouettes make the perfect picture as we play frisbee and enjoy the evening.

The past few days have been windy and many of our boat trips out to the pilot whales were cancelled. On the first of these days, a couple of us headed up to the nearby Gampo Abbey. This Buddhist monastery has many quiet hikes and stunning views of the ocean. There is a beautiful tranquility to walking through their woods.

Our next adventure led us to hike a trail known as “Skyline”. We took the long way to get there, and bumped into a bull moose on the way. Even though I have seen many moose during my time here, this is the first one I have been able to snap a good photo of. The view from the end of the hike was phenomenal!

The last few evenings have been spent at my neighbor’s house, filled with good company, food, and fun. I’ve taken to playing the fiddle like a cello and have had a lot of fun jamming in the company of guitars, spoons, drums, mandolins, and other instruments.

After another full day of whales on the water, the wind picked up again giving me yet another day off. At this point I was beginning to feel like a landlubber. A bunch of us took this opportunity to go on a longer hike to Fishing Cove. It turned out to be a fantastic day. The trail meandered through the forest, following the river down to the sea. The rocks making up the beach were full of mica, so they glittered as the sun hit them. On the way back we even stopped at a beautiful waterfall pool in the river for a swim. After finishing the trip with ice cream, it was back home for a quite evening. Below is a photo of a mum and newborn pilot whale calf. The strips down its sides are fetal folds, which can take up to a year to fade away.

Today we were back out with the whales. It was such a joy to be out on the water! Even the pilot whales seemed relieved to be free of the crashing waves. Far across the horizon many different pods could be seen slowly travelling through the vast blue ocean.

Fair Winds!