Campbell River 2022
Norine is always really good at surprising me for my birthday, apparently I had mentioned several times that I would like to get a nice wooden surfboard for my 57 Chevy. She found a guy on ETSY (Waterman Surfboards) that makes custom wooden surfboards, and she had him make me one for my car.
Only problem was, we would have to drive up to Campbell River on Vancouver Island to get it.
August 29
We ended up reserving a ferry that goes from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo, because the shorter route from Horseshoe Bay was fully booked. A nice sunny day to wander around the deck of the boat and enjoy the views.
Our first stop was to pick up the Surfboard from the guy that made them in his workshop, we got a tour of his shop, and got to see a bunch of the other types of boards that he makes. Mine was a traditional Hawaiian Alaia board, based on the original surfboards of Hawaii. They are distinct from modern surfboards in that they have no fins, and instead rely on the sharpness of the edges to hold the board in the face of the wave.It only seems correct that a 1957 Chevy sports a historic board like this.
After picking up the board, we checked into our beachfront hotel, and explored the area a little.
Being on the coast it only made sense to have a Seafood dinner, and since the place that was recommended to us wouldn't accept any more guests because they were short staffed, we ended up at the tasty, but very noisy, Riptide restaurant.
August 30
Wanting to take full advantage of being in Campbell River, we booked a Bute Inlet boat tour. It would take us up the inside passage, and across to the mainland side and up the Bute Inlet for a combination Whale Watching and Grizzly Bear tour.
We got on our boat with about 12 other people and headed out to the Inside passage (the straight that runs between Vancouver Island and the Mainland of British Columbia) aka The Salish Sea.
It didn't take long and we were seeing our first group of Humpback Whales.
Not long after that and we were seeing more whales.
From there we started traveling up the Bute Inlet. Such a beautiful part of the world.
It's a bit of a trek up the Inlet to get there, but eventually we arrive at Homathko Camp, the home of the Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours. Situated at the end of the inlet on a large natural Estuary, which Grizzly Bears like. We are given a nice lunch and snacks, an opportunity to peruse their small museum and use the washrooms before we are loaded on a bus for the first of our stops.
The First viewing point is a large tree hide, with a lot of chain link protecting the entrance. You have a great view over the estuary and immediately we are seeing Grizzlies.
Three Grizzlies are down closer to the inlet, and a mom with 3 cubs is over by the river. Sorry they aren't the best pictures, but we were a bit of a distance away and I didn't bring my tri-pod.
We were given a bunch of time to observe them feeding and hunting for grubs/salmon/whatever they could find.
The second hide we went to had nice views of the river,but no bears were spotted here.
The next spotting area was not in a hide, but just standing behind a rock-pile next to a river.
As we are looking down the river, we spot a large grizzly making his way down the middle looking for salmon.
Before he gets too close to where we are, he turns off an cuts into the trees, and a few minutes later things started getting much more exciting. We spot a bear start coming out of the trees in the direction we saw the last bear go, thinking he was making his way back.
Turns out it's a different bear, and she's a momma grizz with 2 cubs, and she's walking right down the edge of the river bank we are standing on.
At this point our guide quietly says to us, "If everyone could slowly get down off the rocks and step back, she's going to take her cubs along the river". We got off the rocks, and she passed within 6 feet of us.
The cubs weren't quite as keen on walking past us humans, and were making all kinds of growls, huffs and squeals at their mama.
But slowly they just walked on by after giving us all a few good looks, and continued up the river. Although the cubs kept looking back making sure we weren't following them.
We took one last look at the river, and headed to the last hide.
We watched some of the spawning salmon, and a cute little deer cross the river. Just before we left, we could see another bear cross the river much further up and disappear into the woods.
Our First Nations guide
All the guides and our captain were quite amazed at the number of Grizzlies we ended up seeing. A pretty great day of bear watching, but now it was time to get back on the boat, and return to Campbell River.
We took a different route back, and as the tide was changing we passed through Seymour Narrows. This meant passing through some strong riptides and whirlpools. It was pretty exciting as the boat was constantly changing direction and drifting sideways at times.
The waves are not from the boat, they are the tide change through the channel.
Pretty amazing day, unforgettable experience being so close to Grizzly Bears in the wild.
August 31
We packed up the next morning, had a delicious breakfast before leaving at a cute old style diner that was recommended to us. The Ideal Cafe has been there since the 40's.
Then it was back on the BC Ferries for our ride home. What an amazing short getaway in our own backyard.
And oh yeah... The car looks pretty good with the new board.
