Camping Trip Part One : Vancouver Island
This morning we woke up and headed to the UBC cafeteria for the last time. We enjoyed a few of our favourite breakfast foods before heading back to pack up all of our belongings. Our friends Damaris and Leo left today so we said our goodbyes to them before lunch as they flew back to Mexico. They shall be missed! Then we continued to pack and prepare all our things for 5 days of camping! We loaded up the bus and headed to the Vancouver ferry terminal to set sail for Victoria. On board, we sampled some food and beverage items and savoured looking at the sights out on the water. After docking in Victoria, we had a one hour drive to our campsite at Gold stream campground. Students learned quickly how to set up tents, camp stoves, and how to be bear safe. After a yummy supper, we played a few camp games like badminton and volleyball. We were quick to bed so we would be well-rested for the next day.
On our second day we took the bus into Victoria. We shopped until we dropped! Students enjoyed looking through the eclectic shops downtown as well as the more modern shopping mall. Next, we headed to the bay to hop on board our whale watching excursion. We saw three hump back whales while out on the water. The weather was gorgeous! We shopped a little bit longer in the city before making our way back to the campsite. Students were exhausted yet satisfied from a day well-spent.
Our third day was spent caving! Students packed up their bags for the day and we piled onto the bus. We travelled to Horne Lake to explore the caves. It was quite the sight! For most of us, we got to experience absolute darkness for the first time. Students who were feeling brave also tried the “cheese grater” which was a very tight crevice-like part of the cave that we had to squeeze through. After a fun day exploring we headed back to our campsite to a fully prepared supper of ribs and roast beef! Delicious! We said our goodnights and we went to bed swiftly.
On our fourth day new adventures awaited as we moved to our new campsite at French Beach. We stopped along the way at a very unique swimming spot called the Potholes. It had excellent swimming areas and very fun spots to safely jump into the water. We had a lovely picnic lunch and explored the nooks and crannies all around us. Then we headed back on the road to our campsite. After another bear safety talk, we unloaded our camping supplies and setup our tents. We headed straight to the beach to explore our new surroundings. The unique part about this beach was the crackling sound it made every time the waves went out from the intense force of the water on the curved rocks. We ate supper and then headed to bed because Adam told us we had a 6AM wake up call tomorrow morning.
At 6AM, Adam gently woke each tent group up by using his soft singing voice. We each had a quick bowl of cereal and a yogurt tube and then hit the road. The journey was long and winding but the destination was so worth the drive. The tide pools are small holes that have been carved out over time. When the tide goes out, all sorts of fun sea critters are left in them for us to clearly see. We saw a variety of starfish, anemones, clams, muscles, seaweed, barnacles, and small fish. The students had a blast! We took lots of cool pictures out on the rocks and on the hike in the woods. Finally, we headed back to camp for lunch and then spent the rest of the day on the beach making sand castles, swimming, playing volleyball, and chatting. Overall it was a wonderful camping adventure students will not forget!
