Port Hardy

“It’s the rainiest spot in Canada,” wrote one of my cousins on Facebook. His brother was stationed up in this neck of the woods during the early phase of his military service. Looking at the average rainfall numbers, he is probably right. It rained all day yesterday making my purchase of a raincoat a solid investment. 

We tried a few walks in the morning, one along the Quatse River and the other down Story’s Beach.  Both were rather wet, uneventful and cold. The only interesting moment was on the forest walk when we bumped into a fishing net repair and manufacturing company. The smell emanating from the vast piles of old netting was putrid beyond measure. 

Our AirBnB suite had a nice little induction stove which allowed us to warm up some vegetable soup for lunch. We napped, read, and quietly listened to the rain fall. I went out twice during the afternoon, once to get a few groceries, and another time to go back to the main beach to see if the bald eagles were still hanging around.

I saw one on the top of the tallest tree on the south side of the beach and two more on the north side. I also saw the blue heron again fishing out on the rocks. While low tide was still a few hours off in the distance, the tide was out even further than it had been the day before. It’s interesting how one beach can be so different from another. The one in town has a tremendous amount of clam shells and sea glass. Story’s Beach had lots of crab shells.

Our Island adventure takes us down to the Comox-Courtney area for next four days. We will likely take a day trip to visit Cathedral Grove and a few other interesting spots in that area. Someone mentioned a candy shop in Coombs. I’d also like to retrace my steps and see if I can recall any of downtown Parksville. It has been over 30 years since I worked there. I am sure that much has changed.