Protection Island and Kittens

(Keith) So this will be a two part blog as we both got onto island time and became really, really lazy.

Aug 4th. Well I guess I turned 43 today and we started the day out with a quick quick coffee and packing up the trailer as we figured that we would hit the coffee shop that we had seen just outside Powell River. Leah made the coffee that morning and due to the finer grind done by Starbucks it was high test, you could stand a spoon up in there. We quickly packed up, hitched up the trailer and hit the road.

Stopping at the coffee shop I parked the trailer right along the side of the building. Some old timers told me that was a very bad idea as no one can back up a cage now a days. Sure enough they were right when a f-150 almost hit a post backing up around where my bike was parked. We both had a latte and a egg thing and chatted with the group of old timers and then headed into the ferry terminal.

We arrived early for the ferry and the nice thing about having the camping gear is that we were able to set up our camping chairs and chill out for an hour prior to the ferry arriving. This was one of the new ferries in the fleet for BC ferries so I was looking forward to seeing what they had in place.

When we went to load I have to say this was the most unorganized things I’ve ever seen with BC ferries. The first guy pointed me to the right then the girl had no idea where to place me as she backed a car up that had previously been parked. She then told me to park in lane 2 and separated Leah and I. Not to mention lane 2 had a pretty heavy decline where they parked me. With the trailer in tow I was kinda worried that it would push my bike. Thank goodness the two wheel chocks helped and I had no issues getting into Comox.

We got into Comox and immediately headed to Land and Sea Brewing for a beer and a bit to eat. The beers were pretty good and so was the food after that we headed to RAD brewing. They just opened a week prior from a previously closed brewery. It had a great atmosphere and the beer was really good.

As we were getting a little late we headed down to Nanaimo to meet up with Summer on Protection island via highway 19 vs 19a the scenic highway.

We quickly made it into Nanaimo and parked in the marina parkade that gives you access to Protection island. Summer made us a little paranoid and for good reasons. It seems theft is pretty high in the area so we removed anything not bolted or held down. This included the cooler and the solar generator and case. After striping the bikes and heading to the dock Steve picked us up in Bill’s boat and we headed over to the island.

As it was my birthday Bill had planned a BBQ and we made it just in time for Bill to start to grill. He made some great burgers and Summer even made me a cake. After a few beers we headed back to Summers to finish off the evening. Overall it was a incredible day. Also did I mention Kittens, more to come of that.

Aug 5th. The day started out with Summer cooking us this great breakfast with some of her home grown eggs. After which we decided to head to the beach for a swim on. I was not feeling the swimming thing and enjoyed just sitting on the rocks talking with Summer and Steve. Leah on the other hand was super excited to float in the ocean.

After our swim we went to the local protection island pub the Dingy Dock pub for a bit to eat in preparation for a private concert being held on a resident of Protections property by Clanna Morna. They are a Celtic 3 piece that really blew me away. One of the members was one of Steves old band mates.

After the Band finished their sets they headed back with us to Summer’s as they had told them they would put them up for the night. We sat around and drank some beers as Leah and I decided to snuggle the kittens that Summer was fostering. Oh yeah the kittens, so when we were on island a few weeks prior we found out that Summer has been fostering kittens for some time and she was set to get a new batch in time for this visit. These kittens were apparently feral and needed some attention but I found they were super friendly but skiddish so you really had to pet them to keep them from jumping away. OMG this was one of the best things ever though, snuggling 5 week old kittens!