12 Days of Family Road Trip: Part 3
July 26
Trip: Sooke to Port Renfrew (~1.5hr)
Activities/Visits: Kayaking, Shirley, Sheringham Point Lighthouse, Pacheedaht Beach (Port Renfrew)
It was another beautiful day at Sooke. The harbour was majestic and quiet in the morning. Importantly, the kids woke up on time to do sea kayaking in the morning. We met our kayaking tour guide, Randal, at Kaltasin Park, who ran Mystic Beach Adventures Inc, which guided people on nature and wildlife tours at Sooke.
The kids weren't strong enough to paddle on their own, so I towed Frederick's kayak, while Randal towed Charlotte's.
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| My Son and his Kayak |
There were many starfishes, moon jellies and crabs. We even saw a few blue herons fly around to catch the fish.
Moon Jelly Video
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| Purple Starfish |
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| I got a drone shot of myself kayaking. |
Continuing our adventures, I decided to drive to Port Renfrew. The original plan was to go to the Botanical Beach. That place has many holes where you can find many small sea creatures. Unfortunately, we would miss the low tide by the time we arrived, so we headed to Pacheedaht Beach instead.
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| Google Map of driving from Sooke to Port Renfrew |
On the way, we stopped at a popular restaurant called Shirley Delicious for lunch. The kitchen usually closes at 2 p.m. I'm glad we made it in time for lunch.
I still don't know if Shirley is a town or a county, but it is a place on a map. My friend Shirley would for sure love to visit this place.
While I was waiting for the food, I discovered there was a lighthouse attraction close by. It was called Sheringham Point Lighthouse. So we drove there for a visit.
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| Sheringham Point Lighthouse |
How often have I got to visit a lighthouse for someone who lives in Alberta (a landlocked province)! So, I configured my drone to do a 360 helix master video shot!
Well, if you watched the video, yep, it crashed. I misjudged the height and distance of a tree that grew off a cliff. I watched my $1000 drone crash and fall down from the tree. It shouldn't be hard to get it back... I thought. I searched around for a way to get down, but there were metal fences were blocking me from going down there.
The drone was so close, yet so far, I couldn't find any safe path.
After 1/2 hour of searching, I felt like I needed to commit by sliding down this cliff and figuring out how to get back up later. The cliff was about 5 to 10 meters high... very steep.
I didn't want to hurt or get stuck jeopardizing a family vacation plan. "Idiot Dad Needed Rescue From Retrieving a Drone..." I internalized!
On the other hand, Charlotte tried to convince me to let her climb down the cliff to retrieve the drone. My heart melted; she was very committed. But, NO!!! - My usual word for my kids. A reasonable parent shall never risk their child's safety.
So, I bravely declared: "We are NOT going down the cliff for the drone. Safety is more important. The drone can be replaced." (something along that line)
While there was 30% battery left, I retrieved some aerial photos wirelessly from the drone to my controller. Unfortunately, I couldn't retrieve the high-quality videos.
R.I.P., DJI Mini 3 Pro! 😭
We left the lighthouse and drove to Port Renfrew with major emotional scars. The sky was getting dark and cloudy, and the road was very windy and narrow in part. After the windy driving, my son didn't feel too well, but at least we were at Pacheedaht Beach.
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| Pacheedaht Beach - Cloudy sky and a huge dried tree trunk |
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| Kids looking out the ocean. |
My wife marked this.
The sand was mostly fine, but the ocean water was cold, and it was a bit windy. It felt lonely! After using "free" running water to clean our feet from an unoccupied campsite, we left.
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