20. Kayak with Orcas Trip - Johnstone Strait

Having ridden a bison bare back rodeo style in the Yukon, wrestled a Grizzly in Alaska, I felt I was now ready to lassoo a passing orca and surf kayak behind it for a while......I mean how hard could it be??.................Hmmmmmm in my dreams!! :))

The Johnstone Strait, situated between Vancouver Island and mainland BC is home to the largest resident pod of killer whales (orcas) in the world, with a population of approximately 200 whales. Apparently there is no better place to view them......time would tell.......

We would be spending 3 nights at the Spirit of the West "base camp" situated on the West Cracroft Island (see http://www.kayakingtours.com/).  We would return back to base at the end of each day.  This was clealry very different to the expedition trip along the Yukon River!

Before our boat transfer to base camp, we got to spend a couple of evenings at the Taku Resort on Quadra Island, which is just a 10 minute ferry ride from Campbell River.  This was a beautiful spot!

Svan at the harbour at Taku Resort at sunset

At "Rebecca Spit" on Quadra Island

A very civilsed lunch at Tsa-kwa-Luten Lodge, Quadra Island

After a 3 hour boat transfer from Quadra Island to the base camp we couldn't believe the facilities that they had!  Having grown accustomed to "back country" camping in the Yukon, we were amazed to find hot running showers, hot tub, nice clean out-house and luxury 4 person tents for each couple!

Hot tub with view..

Hot water shower!

We were also incredibly well looked after by our 3 great guides (striking the pose left to right) Pat, Mattias and Steve.  These guys enjoyed food - we ate incredibly well and the whole experience felt like the "Hilton" of back country camping!  The best of the best meal for me was the fondue - we dipped freshly sliced pineapple, peach, pear, strawberry and apple in gorgeous creamy chocolate! Yummy!! 

Before attempting my dream new sport of "orca kayak surf" I would first need to hone my kayak skills!!.....With only a couple of hours ever spent on a kayak (canoe is actually very different) it was clear that in the event of an emergency my eskimo roll was going to need some work!  On the first afternoon I got straight to it and found out what the guides were referring to when they had highlighted the release (or "holy crap") cord during the safety talk!

Me kayaking in the customary upright position on the last day

Kayaking in the clouds on the final morning!

The Team - on our left Mark and Jacqui from Australia who were great fun and who we met up with in Vancouver after the trip

Having seen nothing of the orcas for the 1st three days, just when there was talk of us going to SeaWorld along came a pod of 5 or 6 on the final morning.  We had actually been out on the water that morning and had given up hope when Mark in our group spotted something from camp through his "binos".   We all rushed to grab our cameras, which many of us had already packed away for the boat trip back.   They passed us in the middle of the channel but came right past camp!

There was a "hydro-phone" set up in camp so we could actually hear them calling to each other.  It helped to make the whole experience really memorable. 

After we had all started with such high expectations there was a huge sense of relief (guides included) that we had actually got to see some orcas!  And yet there was still even better to come...

It was almost as if the guides had put a call out on the hydro phone! On the boat on the way back to Quadra along came a "super" pod of around 200 dolphins who played behind the boat as our driver Jay skilfully drove through them time and again.  This was truly amazing and felt almost like they were trying to jump into the boat!  Compared to the orca pod so far away this felt so up close!

Dolphins chasing the boat!

This was another great trip.  However having completed the Yukon River trip only a matter of a few weeks before the comparisons were numerous.  Having often felt cold and shivery during not only the river trip but also in the RV we certainly had our reservations going into this one!  We couldn't believe how lucky we ended up with the unseasonably warm temperatures, even if Svan did still wear her thermal underwear (remember this is the same woman who wears a wet suit wakeboarding in Florida!)  With the base camp being sited on such a busy shipping lane this trip did not have the same feeling of being in the wilderness as the Yukon trip (some of the guys even had network coverage!).  Plus with all the great creature comforts, being so pampered by our guides and returning back to base each evening it did not have the same sense of "big adventure" either! 

With all that said we did get to see orcas (albeit from afar) and the dolphins chasing behind the boat (all on the last day) certainly meant we all finished on a real high, even if my dream of "orca kayak surf" never did materialise! :))