Jonathan was up before 8am to cook up some eggs on the awesome Camp Chef grill we purchased for the trip. Oliver crawled out from the basement of the Mason's house and got blinded by the sun on his walk over to the RV. His spirits were soon lifted when he was assured that Ben would be joining them on the golf excursion this morning. They were off by 8:20am for their 8:40am tee-time at Champion Lakes Golf Course to golf 9 holes.
I got dressed and wandered over to see if Amelia was awake, and to have a cup of coffee with Heather, while things were quiet. Meems was still sound asleep tucked in Ally's bed in the cool dark basement room, so I let her be. Visited with Heather over coffee and tapped out yesterday's adventures into the blog. Checked on Amelia at 10am and she was STILL fast asleep. Figured I would give her another few minutes and she ended up surfacing around 10:30am after a much needed rest!
The guys got back from their golf not long after and we decided today's adventure was a hike to Beaver Falls. Filled up on salmon sandwiches (salmon caught and canned by Jim and Gail) and then drove a short ways to the railway tracks. We walked along for a couple kilometres to the railway trestle. Saw a cute little brown garter snake slithering between the rails (Heather was not impressed) and Amelia found a treasured yellow snail shell that she put aside to pick up on the way back along with Ollie's railway tie. When we got the the railway trestle, we could see the top of the falls. We followed Brad into the bushes along a thin trail and down a VERY STEEP BANK to the bottom of the falls. We had to put our faith in a long thin rough rope tied to a tree/roots at the top of the bank and slide/shimmy our way down (Strava tells me it was 186m elevation covered). The payoff at the bottom was astounding. Loud rushing water coming off the falls, lush green grasses on the steep banks, and a misty spray to cool us down. Jonathan lifted the kids across a small water section onto more rocks. Ben braved the cold water rushing down near the falls, but the water was too high and dodgy looking for kids (or the rest of us!) to go in. Kids seemed quite happy not to get wet.
After enjoying the beauty of the falls, it was a scramble back up the steep slippery dirt bank to the top. Oliver scurried up like a spider monkey ;-) and we met Heather and Gus the dog at the tracks again. A long (feeling) hot walk back to the car along the tracks.
Everyone was very happy to get back and jump in the pool for a cool down. Ollie started a game of "rondo" or piggie in the middle while Amelia worked on her underwater somersaults.
BBQ sausages (veggie sausage) and salads for impromptu dinner and then settled into watching The Sea Beast on Netflix.
the start of the 4.18km loop to the falls and back
Little snake we saw on the way to the falls.
these photos don't show how VERY steep this descent was using a rope to get to the bottom of the falls. Felt adventurous and the kids did really well!
Beaver Falls! an impressive prize at the end of an adventurous hike down a cliff! Ben braved a short swim, but the water was too high and fast for the kiddos to go near.
Ollie had driving lessons from Ben in the golf cart today, and everyone went in the pool after our hike for a cool down, and a rambunctious game of Rondo (piggie-in-the-middle). Amelia worked on perfecting her underwater somersault and diving skills.
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