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Published: August 13th 2013
August 12, 2013 – East Sooke Provincial Park
Monday morning and while Sam concentrates on a spot of Geography and Matthew and I work on decimals, Steve busies himself with a combination of work and listening to the cricket. By late morning we find out that England has indeed won the ashes in the fourth test. Steve is happy.
After a quick lunch we head out, staying in East Sooke but driving around to Ayland Farm where we park up in another car park monitored again by a lovely lady from Park Watch. Warm and friendly, she immediately provides us with a quick run down on the area. We can head “over there” for the beach and then follow the coast trail around. She provides an estimated time to walk a couple of alternative trails and we choose one that will take us a few hours.
She adds that we should keep our eyes out for whales, suggesting that we watch for the tour boats as our best indication for whale sightings. Sadly it is not meant to be and, despite staring out at the Pacific Ocean for ages, we fail to see anything other than
Beechey Head
Hoping for a whale sighting...lots of fishing boats dotted around. That and amazing views of course!
The sun has returned in full force, the sky a cloudless deep blue turning the ocean a cerulean blue and the camera comes out again in full force. So much for taking a few less photos.
The beach at Ayland Farm is gorgeous! Unlike the pebbly beaches we’ve come across so far this one has fine soft sand and the sun feels hot above us. The boys wander off, investigating rock pools, balancing on logs and creating their own sculptures while we take lots of pictures and wonder if we’ll ever encourage them to do the walk part of the afternoon. A part of us wants a blanket, a couple of books and a plan to chill out for the rest of the afternoon but finally we move on and follow the idyllic trail around the headland; hugging the rocky coastline but weaving in and out of the ancient, temperate rainforest, eventually ending up at Beechy Head.
Along the way we pass some petroglyphs bruised into the rock, apparently in a style particular to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This large wilderness area that
is the East Sooke Regional Park is the traditional territory of the coast Salish people and as I stare at this petroglyph of a seal I wonder how old this one is and who it was that sat here one day, carving into the rock with whatever instrument they would have possessed at the time.
After amazing panoramic views at Beechy Head (but sadly no whale sightings) we follow the trail inland and back to the car park. We pass a variety of other well marked trails that are crying out to be followed. It’s tempting and I think we may do so before the week is out.
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