On Sunday we drove down to Port Alberni. They had a salmon festival on which we didn’t really think was very entertaining. Big salmon cookout, weighing in the caught fish and karaoke.
Stayed at a lovely b & b called Cedar Woods in the town. Very knowledgeable hosts who suggested we visit a number of places. We are going to have to come back to Vancouver Island!!!
One place we did have time to visit was Stamp Falls Park. Beautiful waterfalls in a small canyon. Walk past the sign below the falls that reads “Do not go past this point” and you come to a fairly safe deep water hole. Jump in and you’re swimming with huge salmon for free! The river flow can be quite swift at times and the rocks slippery. The water was clear but the salmon were so fast they were difficult to photograph. It was fun just watching them leaping out of the water.
There are fish ladders installed to make it easier for the salmon to climb the falls and there were lots of salmon waiting their turn to make that journey.
Black bears are quite often seen at low tide near town but bears haven’t been accommodating on this trip so we didn’t see any!!

Yesterday we drove down to Victoria where we caught a whale watching cruise [Springtide tours]. Traveled just over an hour up past the San Juan Islands where we spotted a transient pod of Orca. There were 6 killer whales including a 2 day old calf. We stayed with them for about an hour before we had to head back to port via seabird and seal colonies. Very experienced crew and knowledgeable, not only of whales but the area as well. The bear watching out fit we went on could take a few pointers from them.

Must also mention a small town called Coombes. It is famous for a building that has a fantastic food market. But on the roof live goats. The roof is soil and grass with shelter for them. An unusual sight but very popular with the tourists, including these two!

Catching a ferry back to the USA this morning.

orca

Orca spy hopping

Shelley watching the salmon

Baby fish