Day 7: North Pender and Home, Sunny with wind. 17, 9 nautical miles (18kms)

Finally...A Shower!!!!

Sitting on the beach on our walking and rest day Rob suggested that we were close enough to get home in a day and wondered if I wanted to do so. I replied that I was enjoying the experience and would like to continue onwards. Rob seemed ok with this and actually pleased to stay out another day. We goofed of the remainder of the afternoon enjoying some stretching of tired limbs and joints...

 Shocking out the wild life...

Enjoying a few refreshments while reading a funny book...those aren't our tents.

Figuring out various features of Geoff's camera...still hydrating with something good...

And appreciating the local flowers...

It was clearly a rough, exhausting day sitting on the beach (Neil, we do have nice sandy beaches here too). The next morning (yesterday) we were up early and Rob checked out the weather which indicated that the evening and next day (today) was going to be wet and cold. We discussed matters and decided that arriving in the sun was ever so much better than packing up wet gear and paddling home in the cold rain. So we had an excellent breakfast, again, packed up, again and headed off into the sun. We had several crossings and with a bit of a chop I put my camera away to keep it safe from the salt water. A quick nature stop at Portland Island and then the last push back to Vancouver Island. 

We arrived in time for our pick-up and unloaded the kayaks, again, and moved all the gear up to the car as well as the kayaks for the last time. Rob used up the last of our water cleaning his feet...apparently an end of journey spiritual act:-)

And then for some reason he took exception to something I said!

We had a n excellent week. Rob put together a very well thought out plan for our journey. Excellent food, a great understanding of our route and possibilities along the way plus the patience to teach me, a relative newly, many of the finer points of kayaking. I feel like I've been on a week long comprehensive kayaking course. Thanks to Rob's knowledge and trip prep, it was an excellent experience. We also learned a little more about each other's personal quirks which will no doubt help with our upcoming Spanish Camino. We depart for Madrid two months today!!

Best part of the day...the shower when I arrived home!!! 

Ok, this blog now returns to all things walking!