Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Campbell River

Today we woke up and agreed we had all had the best night’s sleep since we have been travelling. We were greeted by Ania for the most incredible breakfast we’d ever had. Ania is polish and is a chef who had learnt her skills in France. She has even been on the cover of a French food magazine! We enjoyed fresh scones with quince jam, fresh fruit and superb eggs benedict. We wish we could have stayed an extra night and when we left there were hugs all round. What a fantastic stay at the B&B! The sun had also come out again.

We then drove to Campbell River which is a 1.5 hours drive northwest. We saw lots of eagles on the way. We then arrived at the hotel – and could check in early – another bonus! We then went for a walk to the harbour and found Dick’s Fish & Chips. This is one of the most famous fish and chip shops (in the world apparently) and we did agree it was very good.

We then went to the Quinsam River Hatchery to learn about salmon. What we did learn very quickly was there were two black bears chomping on salmon a short walk away! We quickly went to the river and couldn’t believe our luck – the bears were still there feeding on the salmon! They would dive their heads in the water and bring up a salmon – and they would take a couple of bites, let go of the fish, and pick out another. We could only watch for 30 minutes as the hatchery was closing – but it was an incredible sight! More bears in the wild!

We then decided to go to Walmart – it’s James’s birthday tomorrow and I needed to pick up a card and a few surprises. Will said, ‘I love this town so much. It has a Walmart with a McDonalds in it and also a pharmacy for Dad!’ He didn’t realise what he said but Terry and I had a laugh.

Tonight we weren’t really hungry after our lunch but we took James over to Dairy Queen (yes Bree! Haven't you heard of Dairy Queen?!) It is his birthday tomorrow however he started counting it from when it was morning in Australia. It will be the longest birthday in history although i told him he had to wait until his birthday in Canada for his gifts. We decided to take him to DQ - as he convinced us it technically was his birthday - and he had the tastiest brownie with cream and ice cream. He said it was, ‘even better than McDonalds however I better not think this too much as when I get back to Australia I’ll be disappointed.’ He is becoming very confident with the currency and counted out his dollars and quarters to the server.

Tomorrow we have a very exciting adventure. We are flying by seaplane to Knight Inlet for Grizzly Bear watching. We have never been in a seaplane so it is really exciting. The forecast is 7 degrees and rain - i hope the rain stays away!