Katrina and I were off on a last minute kayaking and camping trip near Telegraph Cove over the long weekend. Just what the Easter Bunny would have wanted!

TRAK hooked us up with loaner kayaks for the weekend which was awesome! We met up with Simon from TRAK in Nanaimo, jenga’d everything into my car, and headed up towards Telegraph Cove blasting some throwback emo tunes.

When we arrived at camp the sun was shining, it absolutely beautiful out! We set up camp and our kayaks, then had a picnic lunch before heading out on the water. The water was so unbelievably calm, it was such an enjoyable afternoon paddle. We got back to shore and cooked up an epic dinner of steak, mashed potatoes and salad – a classic camp meal. There was absolutely no wind that night and sat around the fire in just a light sweater.

The next morning we were up at 6:15 knowing there would be a short kayaking window before the winds really picked up. We did not want to change into damp wetsuits and booties in the cool morning temperature – it was only 4c! But we sucked it up and got moving. Once we were out on the water we were warm, especially with the spray skirts on. We were lucky enough to spot three orcas across the channel! We were so stoked!! It was just in time too as the winds and waves were picking up. We headed back to camp for round two of a picnic and a big fire to warm us up. That afternoon the clouds cleared and we basked in the sun reading and relaxing. We had another excellent dinner – sablefish, rice and bok choy. We had run out of wood in the afternoon and our kind camp neighbours had noticed and offered to chop us some wood. We had brought a propane firepit with us but we’ll always have a wood fire when given the chance. It was so nice of them and we had a roaring fire all afternoon and evening! It was chiller that night with the winds picking up but were warm enough at night.

It was our last morning so of course we got up early! We had our breakfast burritos on the water and once again were so lucky to have glass-like paddling conditions. The sun poked out and we had a really enjoyable paddle. The icing on the cake was a pod of 5 orcas that swam by! They were much closer than the pod we saw the previous day. The sound of their blows was just magical. It’s almost overwhelming the feeling of being with them on the water. We felt so lucky to have that experience once again and to share that experience together. After our paddle we packed up camp and the kayaks and made our way back to Nanaimo to catch the ferry back to Vancouver. It was a long trip, but definitely worth it. If only every weekend could be a three day weekend!!