Pender island was a wild and crazy time with two families in one house and two darling dogs demanding much attention. Trouble seemed to loom our first night when after a 4 hour ferry ride and an arrival at 11pm at the cabin after a very meandering road; that traversing on every subsequent trip was a revelation - how on earth did we find the place that first night? (I memorized the map and the little silver jetta is a great sleuth), the septic sewer system smell overwhelmed us all. It was so horrific on the pool table/ table tennis floor that the three darling boys were driven out of their beds and forced to sandwich together on the futon couch in the next room. It took a day to beat the smell into submission amongst much theorizing with Brent and much anxiety by me.
Once the smell was under control the fun began. Multiple pool tournaments, ping pong,and beach excursions. Brent and Joop were super diligent each morning and hiked the mountain on the island. Caroline and Marlee and I translated our energy into daily coffee and shopping excursions. Each were equally exhausting. Our attempts to beach it were satisfying on the collecting front and the witnessing front. One of the highlights of the trip was being at a beach when a pod of at least 20 killer whales swam past blowing and breaching. It was spectacular. Aiden, Marlee, Kyran and I found amazing sea glass and sea pottery. Massive amounts. It was very satisfying. Aiden thought he could translate it into a money making business, but his potential buyers were also competitive collectors unwilling to spend. The ocean turned out to be too cold for most. I eventually managed to get in and enjoy it even though the circumference of my head really ached with the cold but I had absolutely no tolerance for the jelly fish. Millions it seemed but probably in reality just in the double digits. They were the very large lions mane type. As Caroline said - unbelievably ugly with their ugly red beached bodies. No amount of research could reassure me about their numbers. Is this what the ocean is coming to? Or is it just a seasonal, current variation? I am very nervous because even with extreme vigilance I sustained multiple stings. Kyran was badly stung just sitting on the beach when some tentacles washed up over his foot. I literally couldn't think of it and any time we went to any beach I obsessively scanned the ocean. I was probably very boring with my obsession. One day coming back from the beach I spotted incredible flowers at a farmside stand. Joop nearly burnt out his clutch reversing back to the farm. It was an honor system and the bouquet of flowers was unbelievable so I stuffed money in the little can. How trusting are people? The flowers were an boon to recovering Caroline and lent a beautiful fragrance to the rest of our stay.
After wonderful meals each night we would sit on the veranda staring at the ocean or engage in Karaoke competitions. We canoed a beautiful bay our last night together and managed to canoe up to a mother seal and her baby on an island. She seemed very complacent about our interest and just lounged on her side cuddling her baby to her it seemed with her flipper. The 3 boys had their own canoe and filled the bay with their exhuberant singing and wildly competitive shouts of "stroke!"
A number of our excursions were to the south island and one of Brent's favorite memories is having all of the kids in the truck with him driving, the ipod blaring, and the getting "air" as the truck sailed over the bumpy road. Mico managed to read 4 novels in the middle of all of the activities. Marlee managed to complete many beautiful paintings, Aiden independently pulled an all nighter that seemed to stretch on for days if you are a friend of his on facebook. Caroline managed to survive a dreadful illness but somehow not affect her activity level. Kyran and Joop and I just managed the dogs and took inspiration from the Meige-Moffat clan. I was mesmorized by the Moffat childrens' style. Even at a cabin on an isolated island the boys managed to appear each morning in well coordinated outfits with freshly ironed shirts, Marlee in different hat, high waisted skirt ensembles. I wondered where they got it from. Brent vociferously denied any influence. Caroline just batted her style maven eyelashes and pranced off with once again another scarf/hat ensemble. The night that the adults went to the resort for evening cocktails while the kids swam in the pool it was assumed that she was part of the fashion show!
The last day on the island was very quiet for the 3 of us plus dogs. We were even too tired to kayak. Although when one of the guides did not seem amply horrified by the jellies or didn't even notice the plethora of their numbers I was reluctant to trust myself to their tutelage. Joop took Kyr and I out for a lovely supper at the resort. It was a lovely last evening to a hectic holiday.
