Quads in the mountain

From base camp the extended family have all reached out to see what we are doing and offer suggestions of activities we might do together. My cousin Mel offered to take us quading in the mountains.  We have spent 4 days just hanging out with the kids and it has been really nice. A chance to get out and about was also in order.  Of course we said yes even though I was nervous to ride someone else’s machine! Wayne was keen as anything, this was his kind of excursion.

We got the VIP service, collected at the door. We then drove into a suburb in the foothills of Mt Benson.  Here we found a side-by-side parked up, courtesy of Mel’s son, so we had enough seats for 4 of us. In my head I was hoping I got allocated the passenger seat in this beast so I could be the photographer and feel less worried about my driving skills. My wish was granted.

We made our way into the logging roads that are throughout the mountains behind Naniamo. These trails are used by hikers, horse riders, quads and motor bikes. On our day out, everyone seemed to have a decent amount of respect for each kind of user. We saw lots of bear scat, but no bears. We spotted one deer that quickly got off the track on our approach. Our first stop was at Ammonite Falls.  My sister came here on her last visit and you needed to make your way down by rope and scambling. Mel had stairs built for me 😉

From here we headed into some lakes, one called Boomerang and the one we had our lunch at was called Kidney lake.

After an excellent packed lunch, we then headed into the mountain looking for a view. The first view as overlooking Nanoose, Parksville and a little island cluster called Winchelsea Islands. My driver scared me somewhat when he mounted the ridge as it felt very much like we were going over the edge.

After this stop it was time to tackle Mt Benson.  This meant a little more rugged trails to reach the top and gee did Wayne hate the challenge, not!

Excuse my french

At the top of Mt Benson we were greeted by a hiker with a Groodle (golden doodle) that was the colour of a cougar and she came leaping out of the rocks straight out of a movie. All I could see was a flash of gold coming towards me out of the corner of my eye – my heart definitely skipped a beat or two! Also at the top of Mt Benson was a heavy fog, the 360° view was not to be had. We had to use our imagination and thought we were doing that again when Mel suggested we hold pieces of bread in the air to feed the whiskey jacks… whiskey jacks? Yer yer, some joke to play on the tourists to make us look silly, or that us what we were thinking until 1 by 1 they started flitting out of the trees closer and closer. Before we knew it they were eating right out of our hands, even landing on Wayne’s head to steal a morsel of bread.  They were quite something.

Our ocean view

We made our way back down and to base camp. What a treat. Thanks Mel n Ben, so happy 😊

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