Vancouver Island the South

Ancient Temperate Rain Forest enroute to Tofino

Megan and Boys taking in a single tree

Leaving the west we returned to southern Vancouver Island, specifically the British Columbian capital city, Victoria. We had booked to stay at a nearby Provincial Park, Goldstream, some twenty kilometres out of the central city. The park lies – to quote the website – “amid the splendour of an old-growth temperate rain forest.” And the park is quite stunning, well set up and was useful as a base to explore the greater city.

Before arriving we visited an area of very large and ancient trees - a popular spot for a quick stroll between the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island.

On our first morning  in Southern Vancouver Island we again drove to the coast closest to the city for a picnic breakfast; specifically Clover Point. It’s a small low headland surrounded by a small wave cut platform with rock pools to explore. And it has, as all of the coast near Victoria, great views to the Olympic Peninsular in Washington, USA. 

View from Clover Point

Great Great Blue Heron

The headland is surrounded by flocks of birds, mostly gulls and starlings however there are others as well. Perhaps surprisingly there was a single Brandt on the rocks. Best of from the kids’ point of view was the sight of a family of river Otters moving around through the kelp and in and around the rocks. I was very pleased to get a lifer in the form of a Heerman’s Gull. 

Heerman's Gull - darker birder dead centre

LIFER!!

The rock pools invited exploration and many other families ere enthusiastically exploring the crabs, anemones and seastars etc among the rocks and weeds. 

Brandt

Coastline View

While we were exploring the rocks we met a Canadian guy, Bobby who was very enthusiastically pointing out birds and naming creatures to a group of three kids. WE got talking and it turned out he was running a business – for friends and friends of friends – guiding boys for holiday adventures with natural history being a clear focus. ‘Wild Child’ was his business name and a good name it was too. His enthusiasm was definitely infectious and before long Matthew, who was about the same age as the other ‘Wild Child’ nature explorers, had successfully lobbied to join them for a day. We were thirty dollars lighter [cheaper than day care] and we were congratulating Matthew for his bravery when we realized that we had just passed our son to a stranger whose surname we did not even know. “She’ll be right”, I thought – “If you can’t trust a naturalist, who can you trust, right?”

"Wild Child" Naturalist and Enthusiast par excellence - Bobby!

We arranged to meet them at four o’clock in the pm after they took a full day walk down the Victoria coast line before walking down the pier. The walk, if you did it at a fast paced walk would take about an hour and a half however they did it about six. The “Wild Child” time being taken by exploring rock pools and sea life, birds, stories and signs of previous indigenous occupation, making shelters from the ubiquitous drift wood, playing catch with football and playing sundry games.

Rock Pools at Clover Point

We arrived at the pier at four and there was no sign of them. Ten minutes later and after several searching sweeps with the binoculars there was still no sign of them. Megan felt sick and said so. I felt confused but said that they must be behind the lighthouse far out onto the pier. Two minutes later, to our relief, they appeared, Bobby confirming his presence by loud cries of ‘Awesome’ as he was still [amazingly] excitedly pointing out schools of fish, large bright purple sea stars. On the way out to meet them on the pier there was a large flock of some fifty Black Turnstones – a group I unforgivingly forgot to photo. Of course Bobby had noticed them and indicated that they too were awesome. I can honestly say that I was sorry I was a little older than eight or nine as I would have loved to join Bobby on one of his Wild Child tours. Needless to say Matthew had had a great time and was particularly proud of his six hour hike!

While Matthew was engaged we decided to entertain Tom with a visit to the Art Gallery. And it too was time well spent. Especially interesting for me was the Emily Carr exhibit, a painter who had a particular style and had focused on natural elements of BC and had some interesting work documenting the buildings and totems of the indigenous coastal people. There was also a gallery that featured many of the works of William Kurelek. “William Kurelek (1927-1977) and his art have meant many different things to many people. The Alberta-born, Manitoba-raised artist was a painter of innocence and fun, his scenes reminiscences of a simpler and timeless past.He was also a chronicler of the experiences of various cultural groups in Canada, devoting entire series to Ukrainian, Jewish, Polish, Irish, French Canadian, and Inuit peoples.” All in all it was an interesting morning and I enjoyed it more than I [an art cretin] initially thought.

We also visited a famous or at least well known Café in central Victoria that Megan had received a Cook Book from; Rebar. It was a good if mildly expensive lunch. And not long after it was time to pick up Matt.

Back at the campsite it was movie night – “A Shark’s Tale” with chips and soft drinks. After the show we met another Australian teacher exchange family from Armidale, NSW, who had been making Calgary home. They too were very enthusiastic about their experience, if not the cost. They had four kids which has all too obvious implications for transport and accommodation. They seemed like nice folks and we sought them out for a quick chat before we left the park for Vancouver.