Paddling Around

Up early again today so that we could drive Brad to Cox Bay for day two of surfing and so that we could drive to Middle Beach for paddle surfing lessons!

We met our instructor, Skola from France, and got into our wetsuits before getting a lesson about safety on our paddle boards. Now Evan and I have been paddle boarding before, but this was paddle surfing, which as we would come to understand is pretty different than just leisurely paddling around a calm lake in Manitoba.

Evan and got on to our boards and Skola showed us basic strokes and how to do 360 turns and how to fall off our boards. Then, out of nowhere, a seal popped his head up about 5 feet from our boards! Even Skola was surprised! After our visitor left, we started out for the open water. The waves kept lolling around us and keeping our balance was challenging! Evan fell in in about the first 15 minutes, but started to get his footing after that.

Skola had us paddling around rocks and into coves as the tide was out. We even portaged across a sand bar while the tide was out so that we could get to another area. The wind was calm, so we were able to paddle out quite far. At one point, Skola pointed out three whale watching boats that had stopped and he casually turned and said, “We should watch out for whales.” Yikes! Luckily, we didn’t see any whales while on our boards, but we did see lots of starfish and even a fish that jumped out of the water by Evan’s board!

With a few minutes left in our lesson, Skola showed Evan how to do crazy surf moves on the paddle board. Lots of people go out into the surf with their paddle boards here. Evan was actually quite adept to doing these quick moves!

We got out of gear and went to pick up Brad, who had been promoted the green waves on his second day of surfing!

We decided to grab a picnic style lunch from Summit Bread Co. and Picnic, which sells cheeses, meats, and other delicious picnic style foods. We went back home with our haul and enjoyed our fresh breads and charcuterie.

Feeling exhausted, we decided to have a quick nap before heading out to hike a few small paths. We found ourselves in the rainforest again, but without the rain this time. Seeing the old growth was very cool, but I was less excited about seeing a huge banana slug (named for its size and colour).

After our hiking, we went back to town and went to Tofino Brewing to enjoy a flight. I got to have their kelp porter, which is indeed made with kelp.Read more