Way behind! (July 3th-July 6th)

Looks like this is going to be another mammoth post. It would be much easier if I did it every day, but I rarely get a chance to sit down and write.

Here are some pictures that I forgot to upload in some previous posts:
This is one of many eagles that live near the house. When I first arrived it was breeding time for all the birds and deer that are so plentiful in Nanaimo. I like seeing all the nature going on in spite of human activity. The other day when I went down to the beach and subsequently lost all my pictures, I was walking along and I saw about eight eagles flying overhead. They were circling and I felt threatened, so I went back to the house. It also started to rain, so that was another good reason to leave.
This picture, along with several others that are to follow, is from when Barnabas and I went to Neck Point. It was a bit overcast that day but you can see how pretty it is.
I think Barnabas said this is a Douglass Fir. I thought of the character in those Highlights mystery things. His name is Douglass Fir and he was one of the suspects in the Canadian edition.
These are fishing huts along he coast of Neck Point. Barnabas told me that they were used by Japanese fishermen until the attack on Pearl Harbor, after which they were taken away and put into internment camps, just like in the US. I didn't know that Canada did the same thing. So sad
I like this picture. My uncle Barnabas is a great man in many ways
A lagoon at low tide in Neck Point. I have seen drastic differences in land from changing tides since arriving in Nanaimo. Probably because I am closer to the ocean here.
This is a protected species of tree that is indigenous to Vancouver Island. It is called a Gary Oak. That also happens to be the name of Professor Oak's son, Ash Ketchum's primary rival.
Canada day, Barnabas popping the champagne. Junko is on the left, Bobby is on the right.

Last time I posted I said we were going to Ucluelet (YOU-clue-let). We left on Friday and got there on Friday. The drive is three hours, but it was fun because Barnabas has a Jaguar and the road that goes to Ucluelet is super windy and the scenery is beautiful. I got some pictures from inside the car but they aren't the best, because the car was moving and there were trees and bushes alongside the road blocking the view.
Here are some to give you an idea of what it looks like
Along the way we stopped at a river. It was the product of a glacier in the mountains, so it was fresh, crisp, cool, and clean. The next few are from this river
Barnabas and Junko!My new sandals!
Very pure water. Yum
The guy in the middle that is jumping from rock to rock later dived into the river from the top of the big central rock. I have a video of it that I will try to upload, but in the past I've had trouble putting videos up here.

Yay it worked!
I also saw a raven for the first time. They are huge!
Back on the road again, I noticed some cool trees that looked like skeletons of trees. They were really tall and plentiful, but they had no leaves. They also had long points at the top that did not have any branches. For this reason I called them "narwhals of the forest". This isn't the best picture because the car was moving, but you can kind of see them on the left side.

Once we arrived in the Ucluelet/Tofino area, (Tofino is where we actually surfed, we just stayed in Ucuclet) we decided to check out one of the beaches (there are probably about seven). We had a walk about and I took pictures.
I found this funny because chien is also the word used to mean bitch. This sign can be read as "Keep your bitch on a leash"
It was a nice beach but the water was frigid
There were huge pieces of bull kelp strewn across the beach. I later found out how much I hate seaweed while surfing. In some place in the ocean I was up to my waist in seaweed and it dragged me back to shore. It also gets caught on the leg strap and makes it near impossible to ride a wave because it holds you back so effectively.
I caught me a marlin
Wolves and bears at the beach. Only on Vancouver Island

We went back to the car and drove to the hotel. Somewhere in this time frame I lost the FM transmitter that Simon gave me. Thankfully I have since bought a replacement that works very well.
There are about 10 people that actually live in Ucluelet, but it is a bit more populated during the summer when people come to surf. The hotel-ish place where we stayed was really nice. It was like an apartment. Evan and I shared one, while Junko, Barnabas and Bobby used another. One of the fun things about it was that we actually stayed in our own appartments. Instead of all hanging around in one place, it was like living in two dorms. Most of the days we were out surfing, but when we came home we went our seperate ways. Every one of us had a meal to cook, so we would take turns inviting the other appartment residents over. For example, I was in charge of Sunday night supper. I set the table, made the food, (sesame chicken caesar salad-it was delicious) and invited Junko, Barnabas and Bobby over to eat. The five of us had our meal, hung out for the night, and then they went back to their place to sleep. It was very fun.
Here are some pictures I took of our place when we arrived
My bedroom. Uber comfy bed
That is in my room! a big flat screen TV! I used it once
The view from my bedroom window. That is an outdoor bathtub on the deck
My personal bathroom. What decadence!
The main living space. The brightness of the outside light made my camera dim the scene. It was a brighter room than this shows.
The view from the deck. Very pretty. There were several bald eagles around, and I got to see one really close up with Barnabas' snazzy binoculars.
Junko says she can't swim, and she said she would do something swimming-related (I forget what) if she had Spiderman water wings. Bobby found some in the dollar store. They were the last pair left. Here is Junko blowing one up. I think this is from my supper night.
Time to leave. Bobby on the left, Barnabas on the right. I like this photo. I didn't get any surfing pictures, but various other people do, and I will get my hands on some. Surfing was really fun, and I was surprised at how quickly I picked it up. The first day we went out, we drove to the office of the surf school and we signed some papers, and then we were told to go ahead to the beach, Chesterman beach. Evan and I were signed up to take the class with two other people, and the other people hadn't arrived yet. We met the instructor, Mark, who I wish I got a picture of. He looked like Will Ferrell if he was a beach bum surfer dude. He had long curly hair, wore typical surfer clothes, and had white sunglasses on. We were sent off to Chesterman, and we assumed that we would find it easily, because all the other beaches were marked clearly, and Mark said it was five minutes away. about twenty minutes down the road, we called the school back and asked where it was. It turns out that Chesterman is the only beach that does not have a sign. Yipee. We drove back and eventually found it, but it was a pain in the buttocks. We got in our wetsuits, which was pretty challenging. Then we walked down with our boards and got set up on the beach. It was extremely foggy, and the fog didn't lift at all. Mark taught us the basics on the beach, and we were ready to head out into the freezing water. Mark is one of those guys who has catch phrases that he says all the time, and it just added to his amusing personality. I don't mean that he is witty or intentionally funny, but his mannerisms and catch phrases made me laugh inside. If you add the fact that he looks like a surfing Will Ferrell, you get a funny man. He was a great instructor, as he has a lot of experience. He told me he started surfing in 1992, and he has been all around the world in the pursuit of waves. He said that when he was in New Zealand he caught a 17 foot wave. He also wiped out in New Zealand so badly that the top half of his wetsuit got torn off his body.
We had 12 foot foamtop boards and by the end of the day I could catch most waves that came my way. It was cool.
The next day (Sunday) we rented equipment and got fiberglass boards, more by accident than anything. Fiberglass boards are more challenging to ride, but they provide for more maneuverability. That is why more experienced surfers go for fiberglass. The waves were bigger that day too, so it was hard to catch anything. I hadn't caught anything and I was about to leave, but after talking to Junko I went into a better wave area and caught two really good ones. After catching the first good one I got hit in the back of the head, which hurt a lot. Then I caught one more and left.
Surfing was oh so fun.

I am publishing this but it is still not up to date. I will keep making up for the two and a half weeks that I missed, but it'll take a few days.