Tuesday, July 18th - walking around the spit

Early morning, before Marieka got up, I popped out front and took some photos of the tide out, the Ferry heading to Prince Rupert, Bayview Gardens and some of the gardens.

Looking at Graham Island; ferry heading out

Looking up towards the point of the spit

Bayview Gardens

A unique flower in the gardens

 

We decided to walk around Sandspit today; we had seen a map of a walking route around the spit and decided to explore. First, though, was exploring if there was somewhere to go to eat, or if we would need to get more groceries to make dinner with.

Heading South to the Beaches Restaurant, we checked the menu and ruled it out - standard pub fare and pizza - as not at all Marieka-friendly.

Returning to the Bayview Gardens, we continued on on the Spit Walk route. The map said to do it clockwise, but that it could also go counter-clockwise. As we were starting at the 7 o'clock position of the route, we agreed on counter-clockwise and headed along School Road.

Another restaurant... A little bit closed.

 

We were supposed to turn off this road about halfway to hop onto a trail, but decided to continue on to the golf course, to check the menu of the restaurant there. Seeing fresh, Haida Gwaii tuna on the menu, we had our spot for dinner and headed back along School Road to follow the route.

Had we known exactly where the route went, we could have continued East and hopped onto the beach from there.

Instead, we walked through the forest to an old road. Following it Southeast through a gate, we entered a horse pasture of sorts. There were horses and grass, along with former grass having passed through a horse. We avoided stepping into the latter.

Reaching the Southeast corner of the airport fence, we decided to head onto the beach, which meant a slight detour. Heading South, I noticed the School Road was an easy walk away. Ah, hindsight.

Walking up the beach to the spit, we were caught by the sights of the beach, the birds, and the growing hunger that Marieka was feeling. We hadn't brought any food with us, and we were well past noon. In fact, we weren't sure if we were going to get to the airport in time for her to grab something at the bistro there.

Looking North along the beach

As we approached, this eagle had been perched on the beach, before taking flight

A line of oystercatchers. They have brilliant red feed and beaks.

Looking West from the Spit

Well, we did make the restaurant and Marieka did not have to resort to cannibalism (I was a bit worried), although she was sorely tempted to have something with bread, I convinced her to ask about getting a breakfast sandwich without the bread, and they gladly did this.

We made it back to Bayview Gardens and had a relaxing rest of the day before heading to the golf course where we had Tuna Tataki and Tuna Poke bowls - Marieka got extra tuna on hers, while I had rice that was both gooey and crunchy. The tuna and the rest of the bowl was excellent, and we learned about how it was caught off the West Coast.

Returning once more, we decided to try to get a reservation for tomorrow night at Raincoast Breads, which was a fancy, hyper-local restaurant serving set menus. After figuring out their online booking system, I booked a reservation. We'll see if it's worth $180 per person...