It's warm and sunny, it's the final weekend before Cindy starts school, and the fire ban has been lifted for this year. So we got a car and headed out first thing in the morning toward French Beach. We stopped in Sooke for weiner roast supplies and were walking along the beach long before noon.
It was a perfect day. The tide was coming in and we watched wave after wave come crashing in, carrying rocks, pebbles and sand in the flow. The water was clear and cold, the sky a deep blue and the mountains across the strait were shrouded in white mist. We could just make out a row of container ships and coast guard vessels far off on the American side.
We spent a solid hour sitting on a log and watching two seal lions popping up and swimming about offshore. There must have been some good food in the area because they stayed put for a long time. At one point, one of the sea lions came right close to shore and stuck his head up to watch us watching him. It was huge, easily the same size as those big beasts we see sunning themselves on the pier at Cowichan Bay.
When we got hungry, we found a fire pit and built a small campfire for a weiner roast. It was perfect. I miss campfires so much. With the fire bans every summer, this is the first campfire we've had in almost two years. We had good site lines to the water and when we were cooking, Cindy noticed a water spout halfway out across the straight. Then another, then another. Clearly a pod of whales were having their own summer feast out in the water. We tracked the spouts from their blowholes for over half an hour, although we only got one glance at an actual animal. The food must have been good enough where they were that they didn't need to swim closer to us.
After lunch, we went for a stroll along the beach. The tide was well in now, so most of the sand was submerged, leaving only gravel and larger stones for a beach. But there's more sand as you walk east, so that's the direction we headed. We came upon a flock of sandpipers scampering about and feeding on the last sandy edge before the water covered everything for another tide cycle. We waded in for a bit, froze our feet and calves, then headed back to the car for the drive home.
We're so lucky to live in a place where these amazing beaches are so close. We used to have to plan for a year to see these sights, now we can head out on a whim, because it's Friday and we have a free day and campfires are allowed. Such bliss.
