Sproat Lake – June 15-17, 2015
It’s warm and we didn’t come here for a long time – so time to do some more exploring around Paul Alberni and enjoy some swimming in the lake – at least that was the plan….

 
 Shopping on route or not!
We decided we have some yummy German Bratwurst for camping and so we will stop at Hiller’s the German Butcher (from Stuttgart)... opps closed on Monday And we deserve some nice desert so let’s stop at the Mountain Bakery – opps closed on Monday too….
 

 No more wilderness camping at Sproat Lake
We were astonished… but the campground doesn’t look like a Provincial Park anymore… nice wooden fences between the campsites, which are all in a row… and brand new bathrooms – and let’s not forget the showers, even they are at the picnic sites and not on the campground.
But we got a nice site on the end… so we have no neighbours looking in on us.


Paul needs a newspaper
And we haven’t got a newspaper… so back in the truck and off we go to get a newspaper (and some chocolate donuts) for tonight…
 

 Finally it’s beach time AND kayak time
We park the motorhome close to the picnic site at the boat launch site so we have everything close by: that means lawn chairs come out… and after getting Paul in camping mood with a coffee… the kayak comes out and off we go… out in the water and paddling around Sproat lake… until Paul says: turnaround time… coffee time…

After coffee in the kayak we go again and Gine drops Paul off at another beach and paddles around some more… which leaves us enough time for a swim in the warm lake, until it’s time to paddle back… and after we had a shower the kayak is dry and ready to pack away.

 
 Stockbrot over the fire
First we had to get some sticks and then it’s time to get the dough ready – one thing we discovered is: not to make it with olive oil, the dough is too brittle and difficult to get on the stick… but it is so yummy with butter and cheese and the 2^nd go (when Gine’s nearly falls in the fire – no clue how it comes that Paul’s is so perfect) we have it with peanut butter and jam… even yummier

 
 Let’s check out the lake in the evening
After all that eating a short walk down to the lake is in order… with Paul quick deciding that is enough walking

 
 Relaxing on a warm evening
It’s perfect warm for sitting outside and reading… so we stay there until we are nearly falling asleep we barely could have a desert!!! And then all windows are open because it is so warm inside…


 Breakfast with sunshine
Waking up and having a coffee with chasing the sun spots around the campsite… until it’s time for Canadian breakfast in the sun.

 
Shopping time
If we want more than salad for supper, then we need to go shopping – so Google Map told us about the Hungarian Butcher in the old Port Alberni Post office and see there some great smokies await us… already here we had to check the bakery for some more goodies … and it’s time to head back

 
 Beach time
Today we parked on the other parking spot and went down to the nice beach… reading a book … soaking up the sun… dipping in the water… swimming in the water…. Relaxing… Gine exploring the shoreline…. Having a too hot… not too sunny… but perfect with sun and a fresh breeze and warm weather...


 The Petroglyphs
Not Paul but Gine went to see the prehistoric petroglyphs again: with some ancient sea monsters? A killer whale or the one which is part wale and part wolf???

 
 Cooking over the fire
Why should we use a BBQ when we have a fire: so the peppers and onions and get fried in the frying pan over the fire (ok it was a little bit black on the outside for cleaning later)… the smokies on the fire and stick and as we go along we BBQ the cheese sticks over the fire too… that means eating for a long
time with a lot of fun…

 
 The fire keeps us warm
It is a little bit cooler tonight… but when sitting close to the fire… then life is perfect

 

 Clouds means time to go
And after another good night sleep we wake up to a slightly cloudy sky, which means it is time to go home… having a stop for some bratwurst and see there when we come home the sun is out and a wonderful afternoon awaits us.

 
And what we didn’t do
There were a lot of plans on what we could do… but the beach was the only thing we did :-) - I think we have to come again…