Day 3 - Whales, Ziplines, and Water - oh my!

This morning began with our Whale and Wildlife tour; we boarded a large boat and sailed out on the open ocean for hours in the hopes of spotting something cool!  Many of the Rangers chose to sit at the very front of the boat and enjoyed the rollercoaster ups and downs and occasional ocean spray.  Crystal braved the very front row and got quite soaked but had a fabulous view!

After quite a journey and only seeing some Common Murres (known as flying penguins - they're the second best diving bird and can dive up to 800 feet), the driver eventually found us some humpback whales!  We saw a number of whales and some great tail flukes.  Next we headed to Race Rocks to look for wildlife viewings and see the lighthouse there; there were a number of seabirds as well as two types of sea lions (California & Steller) as well as some seals as well.  Unfortunately, the sea otter (the lone one that lives in the area) was hiding today.  We were headed back to the Fisherman's Wharf area when our captain received notice of a couple of pods of orcas; although time was getting short, we made it to the two family pods are were able to observe them for quite some time.  They told us it was rare to see both humpbacks and orcas in the same tour as the two don't typically associate (hangout in the same areas).  It was a great trip despite the feelings of motion sickness in some.

Our exciting day continued with a drive to the Sooke area for Adrena LINE ziplining for some and a walk to see the beach and waterfalls at Sandcut Beach for others.  From what I can tell, the ziplining wasn't as scary as most of the Rangers anticipated.  The first couple of zips were ground level and then the remaining five were in the treetops!  Very cool!  Each zip, their guides suggested a different pose for them to attempt; seems like much fun was had by all; they rated it an 8 out of 10!

For those of us on the beach walk, we enjoyed the overgrown forest with multiple smiling faces in both trees and rocks.  The trip down was a decent downhill and we were nervous about having to return but we rocked the 101 large steps uphill on the way back up.  While on the beach, we enjoyed the many logs, circular rocks, and, of course, the small waterfalls cascading over the rocks onto the beach.  

We all joined back up together again and had supper at A&W in Sooke before visiting Potholes Regional Park.  We parked at the second parking lot and explored the trails to the viewpoint, the abandoned resort, and the water swimming hole.  Despite not having swimsuits with us, some braved the water and enjoyed it quite a lot!  It would be a fabulous place to hangout on a hot and sunny day!

We were back at Bowker Hall at a "decent" time tonight... snacks, first aid/medication, tidying up for tomorrow's departure, and writing the blog were all items on the agenda.  We also had a visit from the Chatham District Girl Guide Co-Commissioner (who'd stopped by and left us cookies as a treat on day 1).  She brought area badges for all of us!  Madeline's Nationally Sponsored Yukon Trip Guider lives just a few blocks from here so she stopped by to say hello and get a photo of the two of them.

It was a good day with many ups and downs (quite literally both on the boat and hiking trail!)  Tomorrow is already Day 4 and we're off to the hotel in Parksville; everybody is looking forward to a real bed, unlimited access to a shower, and more private toilet stalls!