Hazel and Alex are visiting from the UK. My cousin Hazel was last here when she was fifteen. Our interests were pretty well aligned then. It seems they still are.

We began our adventures together with a kayak trip up the Sechelt Inlet, launching from Tuwanek.

Hazel and Tess mastering the high seas

Alex braving the ocean blue

Despite not much/any time spent in sea kayaks, these two seem to have spent enough time on the water that it came naturally.

Alex took a lead role in ensuring we had adequate fuel to keep us warm. He insisted on watching the camera instead of where he was swinging the ax. I’m sure I scolded him.

Next, Alex took care of slicing the peperoni for our pasta sauce. Hazel’s hand is visible in the bottom right. At first I think she just put her hands in there as a sign of trust but her technique also proved useful catching errant peperoni bits.

After our lovely meal we relaxed by the fire and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

We went to bed as relaxed as you could possibly imagine. While we slept, a light rain started. Also while we slept, a large chunk of bark sloughed off an overhead tree and fell the 20-30 m down to us. It hit my tent. We awoke rapidly and thought we might be dead already. The death screams woke everything, I’m sure. Both Hazel and Alex assumed it was a bear attack. Alex was concerned that he was not wearing anything in his sleeping bag and would therefore soon be running through the woods naked.

Eventually we got back to sleep.

Having suffered enough bear attacks for one night we set off back home.

Despite photo evidence seemingly to the contrary, it was not an uphill paddle.

I am thoroughly enjoying having these two here.

Back in Gibsons our gear managed to explode out everyplace. It is now dry enough for the adventures that start tomorrow!