Saturday May 29, 2010

Friday night we decided that we wanted to go to the beach no matter the weather. So Saturday morning when the sky was grey and the clouds were spitting a light mist, we held to our decision.
We began our trip to the beach front near UBC around 10:30 AM. We took a bus, then another bus, the SkyTrain, the Canada Line, the Canada Line again (we went too far and we had to back track), then another bus, and finally walked a mile or two to a huge flight of slippery stairs that led down the beach.
The view was breath taking. The water seemed to stretch on for forever and it was almost impossible to distinguish the sky from the water due to the almost matching shades of grey. The sand was littered with rocks, shells, and a few scattered crab legs. Many of us began our visit by searching for seashells to take home as souvenirs.
After a while, I climbed upon a huge pile of rocks, each covered with tiny black mussels and seaweed, to obtain a better view of our surroundings. Shortly after, I heard Liesl exclaim that she noticed something swimming in the water. My focus turned in the direction she pointed and I saw the water swirling as if something has recently submerged.
I made my way closer to Brett, who was also standing on the rocks at the edge of the water. We waited patiently for the appearance of this creature while the others, still on beach, tried to figure out what it may be. After its second appearance, we decided it must be a seal. This brought about excitement and the furious snapping of pictures each time that the seal broke the surface of the still water.
Eventually we noticed that the sightings were becoming closer in distance and closer in time to the point that we realized there must be more than one seal. At one point, they both (we think they were mates) broke the surface at the same time. We spent the majority of our time in awe of these two wild, yet curious, creatures. We all felt extremely blessed to have witnessed the seals in their own habitat.
We spent a few great hours at the beach and after realizing we were cold and hungry, we began the daunting climb to the top. I’m not sure about the others, but the stairs made me realize how out of shape I really am. Once at the top, we noticed a sign that said seals are often found eating and sun bathing on the beach and not to disturb them in their activities.
We made our way back to the bus stop, boarded the bus, and stopped in town to do a bit of looking around, possible shopping, and using the washroom. Most of the stores were either expensive or closing down for the evening, so we soon made our way back to the Canada Line and SkyTrain where we ate our supper.