Quadra Island – July 6 – 11, 2009

It’s Island time
So when I planned the trip I thought:

• Every year we have to check out another one of
  the little islands around here
• In July the weather will be always good

And so we started out our trip to explore the very first island: Quadra Island

What’s to know about Quadra Island?

• Is part of the discovery islands – actually is the largest one of them The discovery islands are in the inside passage
• In 1903 it was named after the Spanish Navigator Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra who explored the Vancouver Island area in the late 1800s

 It is raining
It is raining when we go on the ferry – when we arrive at Quatiaski Cove and still when we set up our Camper at Heriot Bay….

 Camping at Heriot Bay
So there are few things we really like here: it has hookups, it is right on the ocean, we are close to the ferry terminal where the ferry leaves for Cortez Island, and the historic Heriot Bay Inn is a very cute little place and the marina.
What we are not so impressed with is the rain….

 A walk in the rain
And that’s why we have umbrellas… so that we can go for a walk in the rain along the ocean and still admire a little bit the view on the islands and check out the Marina – discover some historic farm equipment near the store.

 Sometimes it’s great when it rains
So today we decided to check out the island a little bit more in the rain… when we came to the campground of the We Wai Kai first nations… and yes if there is waterfront then it is all booked, but if it is raining a lot and the tent leaks, then the campers leave and then there is a spot available for us…. So yes we move and set up our camper, gazebo and tarp…. So that we can
walk underneath covers from one to the other… and the umbrellas are always to ready to go.
One thing is for sure: we are rain equipped

 A walk in the rain II
Yes we did that before… only this time we go along the Rebecca spit in the rain: and besides rain we liked the nice Bay, we loved all the Driftwood, we found some cute picnic tables (would be perfect in sunshine), we got first glimpses on the little islands. We admired the lucky ones anchoring their boats in the bay… and we went all the way to the spit….

 A trip to the lighthouse
Gine loves light houses, so if there is one on the island then we will check it out and so we drive all the way to Cape Mudge and the lighthouse… and see this beautiful white lighthouse in sparkling sunshine – yes!!!! The sky is blue and the sun is shining.

And what is so special here besides being at the lighthouse?

• It is here that the tides of south and north Vancouver island meet 
• George Vancouver visited a Salish village here at Cape Mudge in 1792
• The Laichwitach took over in 1840
• The lighthouse is the southern entrance to the Discovery passage
• The lighthouse was built in 1898 because of the increased ship traffic caused by the Klondike gold rush
• Not as bad as the Seymour narrows: Cape Mudge has seen its shares of shipwrecks, on Jan26, 1911 when the cottage city couldn’t see anything because of the snow blowing and crashed 2 miles south of the lighthouse. The Light keeper Davidson guided the lifeboat to safety by waving a white flag on the beach: all the passengers including 14
  women and 4 children had to walk along the beach through the high snow to the lighthouse, where he gave the food and they had to stay for the night. He got rewarded with 50 $

 A Picnic in the sun
And today we could enjoy those beautiful picnic tables of the Rebecca Spit in sunshine – and we discovered all those “Discovery Islands” in sunshine… this is one spectacular view…

 Sunsets at the Bay
And what a better way to end a wonderful day – is to sit and enjoy the “red sky a night – sailors delight” and that is what we did….