North Island: kayaking, orcas, and grizzlies

Epic camp meals, campfires, and kayaking with orcas, dahl’s porpoise, and dolphins.

Day 1

Megan and I returned to the North Island in search of orcas! We had beautiful weather on our ferry and drive up, and snagged a sweet campsite on the water. Melisa joined us shortly after we arrived and we cooked up an amazing steak dinner while keeping our eyes peeled on the water. As we sat around the campfire we could hear whales blowing on the water. It was absolutely magical to fall asleep to the sound of whales and we hoped it would a sign of the weekend ahead.

Day 2

We woke up to a classic foggy morning and had a beach fire while we enjoyed our coffees. Megan and I did a little paddle, hoping we’d see something after all of last night’s activity but no such luck.

In the afternoon, Melisa headed out and the rest of the gang arrived. We kicked off the weekend with freshly shucked oysters from Fanny Bay – honestly, the most amazing oysters I’ve ever had. We then set up the remaining TRAK kayaks and got out for a stunning sunset paddle. Sadly, no luck with whale sightings but a beautiful evening sunset on the water.

We finished our day with an epic camp meal – ribs, coleslaw, salad, homemade cheddar bay biscuits, and mashed potatoes. Chef Roberto knocked it outta the park! We had so many leftover we had to offer some ribs to our camp neighbours!

Day 3

Another morning, another coffee by the fire on the beach, binocs in hand. Before breakfast, we did our classic morning routine of hot face towels. It is one of my favourite camping hacks – highly recommend!

We had a bougie breakfast of smoked salmon, eggs, and microgreens. As we were eating, Anth and Ali’s dog Bodie, suddenly started barking aggressively. We all turned around to see three GRIZZLY BEARS about 150m away from us on the beach. It was a momma bear and two cubs, and they were absolutely massive. The cubs were bigger than an adult black bear and the momma bear was jacked!! Thankfully, Bodie scared them off – her barking startled them and they retreated into the forest. It all happened so fast. We could not believe we saw some of the very few grizzlies on the island! It turned out they were the “famous” mom and cubs from the news as they may be some of the first born grizzlies on the island. We felt incredibly lucky to have this rare encounter (and not die in the process).

We laughed so hard when we noticed we got a bear cub in the background of our breakfast photos. Just a casual grizzly in the background as we ate our smoked salmon! No big deal!

After breakfast the fog cleared and we had a stunning, flat day on the water. We paddled for 4 hours and had a brief encounter with a pod of Dahl’s porpoise but still no orcas. For lunch – epic snacks and nachos, and relaxing on the beach.

After a sunset photoshoot, we made a beautiful dinner of sablefish with a goat cheese salad. We bbq’d the fish and had dinner on the beach with apparently no regard for our grizzly friends.

Day 4

We woke up early to sit with our binoculars and enjoy our morning coffee. When I say we, I really mean me, with the crew slowly joining me, but I don’t mind being up early for orca watch duty! No one wanted to admit it but we were feeling a bit deflated about the lack of whales. While the grizzly experience was amazing, I was starting to worry we wouldn’t see any orcas and my time with Megan was running out as she was heading back to Australia in only a few weeks.

The morning started off hopeful with several dolphins spotted from shore. We had a slow morning, and cooked up a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. After breakie we got on the water for a paddle and soon saw a blow in the distance. One blow turned into many blows as we were suddenly approached by a pod of resident orcas – at least 2 males in the middle of the channel and 4 smaller orcas coming up along the shore. We rafted up together to enjoy the moment and let them pass by. Megan immediately started crying and I was overjoyed to finally share this experience together! Watching and listening to orcas while quietly floating in a kayak is beyond a magical feeling.

That magic turned to shock and for some of us, fear, when one orca made a sudden turn and headed straight at us! It popped up within a few feet before it went on its side and swam UNDERNEATH our kayaks! It skimmed the surface and we saw its whole body – we made eye contact!!!! If we had put our hand in the water we could have touched it, it was that close. We were screaming with excitement. Megan and Ali were absolutely sobbing – like Kim Kardashian ugly crying, while I think my mind and heart tried to process what had just happened. Something I had only dreamed of had actually come true. It was by far, one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

As we calmed down from the incredible high, we started to paddle on before we heard the sound of a blow. Two more pods of orcas swam by, with one even doing a spy hop for us which was SO cool. We saw about 20 orcas and more dolphins and Dahl’s porpoise – the marine life was giving us the show of a lifetime. We could not get over how lucky we were to have that experience together.

We had a relaxing afternoon and then finished our day at a waterfall for a swim. For dinner – bougie grilled cheese (gruyere, jalapeno gouda, aged cheddar) and tomato soup. And of course, non-stop replaying of the day’s events while sitting around the fire.

Day 5

Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye and pack up camp. Us girls went out for one last paddle before we had to make our way back to reality. No marine activity spotted, but it was all good as we were still riding high from yesterday.

Turns out our luck wasn’t over yet as we spotted countless humpbacks from the ferry including a humpback breach!

Words and photos can’t even begin to describe this weekend. I will never forget it and feel so incredibly lucky and thankful to have experienced it with Megan and the friends I love!!!