Kin Beach 23-25 September

 Far too long since I'd been camping, very nearly a year.  I've had a bunch of work done on my camper, which took longer to complete than I'd expected, but I thought when it was finished, it was a good idea to take a short trip and see that everything worked properly.  It did.  In fact there's one 12 volt outlet that never did work before that works now.  Very useful, I can now run my fridge AND charge my phone simultaneously.

I'd camped at Kin Beach, near Comox, years ago when I was doing my school visiting travels, and liked it then.  It seemed even better this time.  

There was the best of autumn weather, dry, coolish, but  gloriously sunny.

The campground is hardly wilderness, but has good forest.  There was an eagle nest just above my site--not occupied this time of year, but there was a brood of eagles raised this past spring.  There are also apple trees throughout the campground.  A cottontail bunny was happily feeding on the windfalls near me.

The views from the beach are truly splendid.

I'd camped on the opposite side of the Strait, in Powell River, frequently but had never quite realised what a spectacular range of mountains lay to the east.

Kin Beach is quite near the Comox terminal for the Powell River-Comox ferry.  It now has an elegant First Nations design on its sides.

I made camp when I arrived on Thursday and then decided a walk along the beach was indicated.  Stupidly, I felt lazy and  didn't carry my camera.  It was incredibly birdy.  There must have been schools of fish in the Straits--there was a big flock of very noisy Bonaparte's gulls, a raft of scoters (I think surf and common--they were quite far offshore) and an assortment of loons and grebes.  I could easily have walked back to my camper and collected my camera but for some odd reason, I decided to see what the next day brought.  

I had a fine campfire and grilled a small steak.  I'd wondered whether perhaps camping wasn't as attractive an idea as it had been in past years, in view of my present living situation, with wonderful walks so nearby.  But by the time the evening had passed, I'd remembered why I enjoy camping so much.  It was so very relaxing.  

I slept well, and set out the next morning to see what the bird situation was.  In fact it wasn't as birdy as it had been on the previous day, but there was lots to see.

Again, there were flocks of Bonaparte's gulls, diving for small fish.

There were several kingfishers, all very noisy, and diving busily.

She does look pleased with her catch.

This is what is generally termed a "photo of record"--not a good photo but records a sighting of a bird:

I'm reasonably certain that it's a juvenile marbled murrelet--a first for me.  I think there were others on Thursday afternoon when I didn't have my camera.  Pfooey!

It was, in general, a fine day, followed by another good fire and lazy evening.  The weather looked as though it was going to deteriorate on Saturday, so I packed up and made my way back to Parksville.  I was right--it's been quite wet.

I have a reservation at a campground/resort up in Port McNeill for the coming days.  The weather looks as though it may continue to be wet, although strange to relate, the forecast for the north end of the Island is less bad than down here.  And there are supposed to be whales--orcas and humpbacks in good numbers.  I'll take a chance on the weather and see what I can see.