Thursday, September 25, 2008

The one in which I befriend marine life

Before we begin...

I know my posts located on other sites have been getting less love lately, but I feel compelled to tell you that my all-time favourite post is published over on Lauren's wonderful Testament series today. (just one click away... seriously!)

***

To continue on the warm and fuzzy theme...

By Friday afternoon, I have convinced myself that my chosen profession is rife with pompous jackasses, after a rather unfortunate professional workshop-- although, granted, the day was nearly made worth it, not due to exciting new information on the latest version of the IQ test, but rather as a result of large platters of free cheese.

Still, when I see the Duke waiting at a bench outside the venue, I sprint across the walkway in sheer excitement... for all I know is that he is picking me up to drive somewhere mysterious for our anniversary, and that he had forced me to pack and/or point out clothing for nearly every plausible occasion so as not to clue me in on our intended destination.

He leads me to a beige rented Corolla, stocked with all the trip necessities, including suitably convoluted Google Map directions and five cent candies. The map only leads us on the first half of the trip, to the ferry terminal. We manage to be one of the first cars on the ferry and are located at the very front, so, instead of joining the masses upstairs amongst screaming children and overpriced chicken fingers, we remain in the car, listening to the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, and watching the lights of the port slowly approaching.

As our tires rolled from the ferry dock to the road, and we struggled with nonsensical directions, I gradually became aware of our destination-- a small, rugged community on the opposite side of the island, known for its forests, surfing beaches, and wildlife.

The road there is one of the crazier highways I've been on-- full of twists and turns, fringed by enormous trees. As we edge closer to our destination, the fog grows so thick that we have to forego headlights and inch along. One of the first things we see once the mist cleared were signs warning us of the possibility of tsunamis. Welcome to the open ocean.

We pull into our hotel around midnight, the air thick as we stepped out of the car. As we open the glass door in our room, we can hear the ocean below, though the fog prevents us from seeing it. We walk towards the water, the orange glow of a beach fire glowing in the distance. It is almost eerie how far we walk, with the blurry view of the waves still crashing distances away.

Shockingly, the Duke, the king of lazy mornings, suggests that we set the alarm the next morning to make the most of the day. I have my morning coffee looking onto the misty ocean. Breakfast is Eggs Benny with delicious local ingredients, like smoked salmon and dungeness crab.

We then take a walk along the ocean shore. It is funny how the lack of sunlight, something I would find depressing in the city, somehow adds to the mystique of the area.


The shores are oddly smooth, so smooth than the sheen of a millimitre of icy water acts like a mirror.



We drive the five minutes to town, which is more aptly described as a village, free of traffic lights. Wandering around it does not take long.

The fog is starting to peel away, so we decide to book a late afternoon whale watching trip. We are lucky to only have to share our yellow ship, the Miss B Haven, with two other people, and our captain, Tim Tom, who has an natural ease on the ocean. We skim across the water at first, wind whipping through our air, sailing by green islands and rocks piercing the water. Gradually, we start hopping over waves.

We near two other paused boats. Between them is a school of sided dolphins, frolicking in the waves. As the boats slowly skip along the ocean, the dolphins leap about in their wake.

TimTom, a grin on his face, simply states "Pretty cool, eh?"
The dolphins gradually bore of us, and scamper away.

It is, however, only about ten minutes later than we see the next fellow on our list... a grey whale.

We first detect him by the spray of his blow hole. He swoops up and down multiple times. Another one joins him, surprising us by his rapid surfacing mere feet away from us. Tim Tom tells us that, were they to use their blow hole too nearby, we would be greeted by a tremendous stench.

It is hard not to be overwhelmed by something so monumental and exotic.

Next, it is the island of stellar sealions. They are the true stinkers, massively lolling about on the rocks, roaring at us passerbys. 

 Seals great us as we float by, bobbing in the current. We drift by a rocky island rife with seabirds, and a family of otters cavorts amongst the seaweed, their heads barely distinguishable.


And, as a final farewell, we catch site of a juvenile humpback whale. He moves quicker than the grey whales, swimming through the water at speeds that seem impossible for a creature so gigantic. But, just before he disappears from sight, he dives below the water with his tail reaching towards the sky.

As we make our way back to the harbour, the rocking of the ship nearly lulls me to sleep.

The evening was capped off by an amazing meal, and drinking red wine out on the beach.
(Oh, and maybe watching E! True Hollywood's story on the New Kids on the Block. Shut up.)

The next morning, we check out of the hotel set ourselves off to exploring the nearby national park, stopping every few kilometers to see a new sight.

There were boardwalks running through the temperate rainforest...




Yet, somehow, a few minutes down the road, the landscape of a bog felt like nearly another planet, with broccoli like trees with pallid grey limbs spurting from the spongy moss.



Soon afterwards, to finish where we started, an open beach.


After that, it was back on the open road, with stopovers at random small town restaurants and to ogle more looming trees, pulling back into our apartment at midnight to alarm clocks and a backlog of emails. Still, it is the escapes like this that make that day-to-day tedium so much more bearable.

And me? I'm still in awe that someone likes me so much to plan something like this. And I'm one hell of a lucky girl.

35 comments:

B said...

that sounds like it was a remarkable trip

Anonymous said...

Oh! that looks so amazing!

dmb5_libra said...

amazing!!! you had me at dungeness crab.

and honestly, cheese makes everything better. i'm telling ya!

Anonymous said...

Awesome. So jealous. :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful way to celebrate your anniversary. Congratulations! Looks like, you've got yourself a catch in that there Duke. ;)

EF said...

have i somehow missed the spot wher you identify where you went? perhaps i have been trying to hard to fix the US economy and let that minor point get past me, but i'd love to know where you were...so much of the trip reminds me of Tofino, Van.Island, BC.

Brooke Hughes said...

wow, beautiful Pix!!!

Matt said...

Pretty pictures...

it was perfect I am actually listening to pink floyds dark side of the moon right now as I was reading this.

weird.

Salt City Mistress said...

Umm...do you rent the Duke out at all? I need somebody to plan that weekend for me! Seriously, beautiful pictures and a wonderful verbal portrait to go with them.

Chris Benjamin said...

wow, you sure are, what a great anniversary! i'm calling the duke for tips next year.

this also makes me miss the west coast.

Crushed said...

OT, but I'm guessing that footage comes from your phone and you've clearly uploaded it on to blogger...

How do you do that?

S'Mat said...

righteous! took a romantic trip to the same locale 3 years ago. the entire event, from the ride to the tide, was just a fantasy. didn't see half the wildlife you did, but had a good wildnightlife (naked hottubbing!)
happy anni to you both, gives love-singed grouches like me hope.

Bayjb said...

Your trip sounds amazing and your pictures are so gorgeous!

Sassy said...

Beautiful. The pictures make me miss home. :-)

Mrs4444 said...

Fantastic; wish I had been there. Whale watching is on my bucket list :)

Anonymous said...

Is it wrong that the entire time I read this, I kept hoping "proposal?" Sorry, Duke.

It looks lovely though.

Tonya said...

the duke wins massive points!!!

Anonymous said...

What a trip! And what a man! You're one lucky Princess.

distractedspunk - I was right there with you. I think blogland is just so full of weddings that I expect them at every turn...

K.Pete said...

your pictures are so beautiful!!! It sounds like you had an amazing time!! yay! :)

Anonymous said...

What amazing pictures!! I am so glad you had a great time - you deserved it and he get's total points!!

P said...

Your pics are fab!

eric1313 said...

The world through your lens is a fine place, and worth fighting for, to paraphrase Hemingway.

And who wouldn't want to be your friend?

Anyway, I looked all over the other site and couldn't find your post! Give us a direct link!

And I hope you aren't still upset about comments made stoopidly on the last post...

Take care!

eric1313 said...

I'd go so far as to say that anyone who doesn't want to be your friend is all wet...

er...

hmmm...

OK, stoopid joke... my bad, you.

Princess Pointful said...

It does appear as though the piece isn't up yet... I'll post when it does appear!!

eric1313 said...

::bashful demeanor::

ummm... I knew that you weren't mad... ummm... yeah.

Anywho... as for 2 poems in a row, I'm turning the corner fast! watch me go!

And yes, I need to direct my paranoia elsewhere...

Here's an interesting thought on that subject that I've often wondered but never discussed. Since you no more about this stuff than do I, here goes: is paranoia an over development of the human survival instinct? Actually, to take that one step further, is insanity all together a product of our advanced brains? I would imagine that the instance of insanity in animals is FAR less than with people.

Psychology is a *very* interesting subject, I often read and think about it. Just a random wondering.

Crashdummie said...

yes, u are a lucky gal and the Duke sounds awesom, but u know what, u totally deserv it gurl!

Glad that u enjoyed the trip and thanx for sharing it. Dolphinsm seals, whale, rainforest, water, fog, mystique... wow.. it had it all! _:D

KA said...

You are one lucky girl, but you do deserve it hon!

Jocelyn said...

Every photo you've posted here is so full of energy and texture. WHAT a place!

Oh, and the conference with pompous professionals? Good job finding value in the free cheese.

You are so much my gal.

Yoda said...

Awww, such a heart melty post :-)

Sheila said...

Wow, it looks and sounds so wonderful! I am a little jealous!

eric1313 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eric1313 said...

Yep, I still never sleep.

eric1313 said...

Hey hey. Just reciprocated by ridding the response on this one, to you reesponse, to my response...

This has more convolutions than a satanic pretzle.

Anyway, the other night I also deleted the "other one", just in case. Didn't know if I should, but didn't want to chance it either.

For a self proclaimed nerd, you are the coolest, you know.

Peace out, young lady!

SMARTBuddy said...

Wow. THats one heck of a weekend. Loved the dolphins vid - they are chief swimmers

Anonymous said...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous!