After the long and arduous trek to the ‘Lonely Doug’, Eternal Falls and Eden Grove, we rested up at Flora Lake Campsite.

The next day, on an impulse, we decided to go to Bamfield. There, we took a water taxi across Bamfield Inlet and walked the boardwalk.

The right picture is of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, a marine research station (building on the right) established in 1972. The building on the left was the station built in 1904 as the terminus of an undersea cable between Bamfield and Australia … a distance of more than 7,000 miles.

The 3459 nautical mile long cable began at Bamfield on September 18, 1902 and reached Fanning Island on 6 October.

Our next stop was at Sproat Lake.

We were treated to a long boat ride around one the five arms of the lake. The Sproat Lake Provincial Park is home to an archaeological site called K’ak’awin with nine ancient rock carvings. The natural erosion over the years has taken its toll on the panels of prehistoric drawings, causing them to deteriorate and fade. The etchings look like they represent creatures from the lake; real or mythical.

Not far from here, we saw two of the last remaining Martin Mars waterbombers that were originally built for use during the Second World War. After the war, the vintage planes were put into use to help fight forest fires by dropping water or fire retardant. In years gone by, two of the these huge historic planes would have been seen sitting in the middle of the lake waiting to be called into action.

The weather is still holding up and a good time is being had by all. Next stop – Salmon Beach.