But Carley and I had a pretty great quick camping trip last week! We packed up our camping gear into our landlord’s kayaks, strapped them to my truck, and off to Sidney Island. This was my first actual kayaking trip, and it was a huge success. The trip itself from our launch point in Sidney was only a few km’s, and didn’t take long at all. We pushed off and made our way over to the island at a nice slow pace and had a pleasant surprise visit from a pod of porpoise. They started off pretty far in the distance, but I guess were drawn by the curiosity of two big “fish” that were moving funny… and pretty slow. See porpoise that up close is definitely a great experience. They were curious enough to come within 15 feet of our kayaks! For the rest of our paddle over we had a seal who also took interest in us for a while and followed us, popping up here and there.
After we arrived at Sidney Island, we setup our camp, with a great view over the ocean, and went for a nice wander. We soon discovered there are miniature deer all over the island! As well as quite a bit of miniature poop… everywhere.
A few beers later it was getting dark, and we loaded back into our kayaks. We were looking for phosphorescence. It took some paddling around, but as we moved out into a sheltered lagoon, the pitch black water started to light up. Every stroke left a bright trail that would vanish shortly after. The phosphorescence was so intense, that even scooping water with your hand, turned your palm into a light show! We paddled around in the water for a while, watching streaks of light fly beneath us. The fish were swimming like mad, it was one of the most unreal things I have ever seen!
The next day we loaded back up and paddled all the way back to Sidney, again, bumping into the pod of porpoise! They weren’t as brave to come close this time, but they were swimming side by side with some young porpoise as well.
All in all, it was a great trip. Lots of great nature, no cell phones, no computers. Just good old fashioned fun.
Now it’s time to get back to beer!
