The wind started picking up as we headed back to Grace Harbour, hinting at what would soon be arriving. But we had plenty of time before the real blow was due. The water was no longer a mirror, but the view was still glorious.
I love seeing all of the the migratory birds, and there are plenty about as the cold months approach. I took a snap of these ones, and it was only afterwards when I checked my pics that I saw a seal had photo bombed my shot!
There were also flocks of geese flying South across the sky.
As you come into the harbour there are some lovely, as well as interesting houses. I am not sure if this one was a lodge or private house, but it had this interesting structure that looked like a barrel, near the water. I thought it might be a smoke house to smoke salmon. Dean thought it may be a sauna. We are probably both wrong! There are no houses in the harbour proper, as it is a designated park.
We both liked the house on the left. It was either still being built or being renovated.
I was drawn to this odd house. I loved the round window placed asymmetrically at the top but I wasn’t so sure of the weirdly sloping roof. Looked lovely in its location, but very unprotected from approaching storms.
And this house/tent next to the barrel, we weren’t certain what it was. Perhaps the bridal suite? Glamping? Who knows.
In the picture below, you can see the last house on the right as you head into the anchorage, and where the park begins. They sure don’t seem to be concerned about forest fires like we are.
Dean decided to stern tie to the shore again. First because of the predicted strong winds. But we were in a sheltered anchorage and hoped for little wind, so it was also just for the practice, as it isn’t something we do very often. All around the bay rings with a chain have been attached to the rocks to facilitate stern ties to help cope with the large numbers of boats here during summer.
We had gone our separate ways for a few days, while still being in the same vicinity, but with the strong winds we were expecting, we had planned to meet Orpao here in this safe haven.
We all went for another walk back to the lake in the hope of spotting the beavers closer up, or perhaps some other new animal. The track in was still quite as lovely, unchanged from the day before.
Except for a few extra tiny toadstools, smaller than my nail, that had popped up in the fairy garden….
The lake looked beautiful under the blue sky and there was not a murmur of movement anywhere, indicating any furry animals were swimming about.
There was a toadstool lying on the ground that hadn’t been there 2 days ago. What type of animal would have been chewing on what looked like a highly poisonous toadstool? But clearly something had been munching on it.
I was trying to catch a photo of the woodpeckers that had started up again when Dean called me and said he had spotted movement in the waters right next to where we had been standing. And what emerged, but a beaver!!
Looking like a giant rat, we could now see a path where it slid across an embankment from a dammed off pool, into the lake. If you look closely you will be able to see its big fat paddle tail. Dean went exploring and discovered a whole beavers lodge. There were tunnels and pathways and dams.
Beavers usually mate for life, and their baby or “kit” stays for up to 2 years. Although they are sociable and live in colonies, they are territorial and will protect their home from beavers of other colonies. They are herbivores, and in particular a lignivore, meaning they live primarily on wood and bark.
Pleased we had now solved the mystery of the furry swimming animal we made our way back to the boat. This little frog/toad jumped across my path. We could hear them croaking all over the place but it was the only one we actually spotted.
When we got back, I decided to go for a paddle. I spotted this rope hanging, probably a favourite anchoring point of a regular. You can spot a yellow square on the rock on the right hand side of the picture. This is one of the anchoring points.
Close up of the anchoring point.
A splash in front of me alerted me to a Great Blue Heron emerging from the water. It kindly posed so I could take some pictures. These are of one of the more common herons around here.
I took this photo of me with the lowering sky. I was still quite warm and happy here, but by the time I finished my paddle, my hands were so frozen I could barely straighten them out from the shape of holding the paddle. The cold can be quite deceptive.
RTP looked lovely in the calm water. It’s hard to believe but the wind was howling not far away while we were tucked safely away here. A wonderful things about cruising here, is that there are so many places to dodge the weather. You can see the yellow buoy in the water behind us, marking our stern line to the shore.
Run to Paradise 