Ucluelet to Ucluelet, BC
Traditional territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
Clear sky, bright moonrise
Again not a whole lot to report. Spent a portion of the day looking after a baby (our favourite thing was me lying on the floor holding him standing on my chest), a portion working on transcribing a past interview, a portion planning for Vancouver and a portion hiking on the Wild Coast Trail. Okay, that turned out to be a lot to report. Still homesick, still going through the motions. In a phone call home my dad told me less than ten sleeps before I’m home and that heartened me.
In the late afternoon and evening, a local guy took me surfing. He let me borrow his wetsuit and we picked up a surfboard in Ukee before heading to Flo (Florencia Bay), Wik (Wickaninnish Beach) and eventually LB (Long Beach) searching for a good wave. The ocean was pretty flat so I wasn’t shredding anything but it was good to be back on a surfboard. The ocean was cold. The wetsuit was warm. We paddled past the break and sat there watching the sun go down. The afterglow coloured the Pacific horizon pink and orange and the distant waves a sharp gunmetal grey. My surfing partner was partly a silhouette and before long the almost-full moon was reflecting on the water in the southeast, glittering like jewels on the waves.
I’ve been beside or near to the ocean off and on for the last couple weeks, but it’s totally different to be immersed in it. To feel it cold against your fingers and salty in your mouth. So, the surfing wasn’t great. I loved every minute of it.
