Newcastle Island: All Ages and Weather Camping Trip
Our friend Pascale sent out an email back in January about a families’ camping weekend on Newcastle Island at the end of June. Since most times we are not sure what we’ll be doing on the next weekend, let alone a weekend in five months, it was extreme advance planning for us. My dad was planning a visit to Vancouver for the same time, so I figured we could already commit to it. I wasn’t sure how he would react to the camping idea (he lives in NY and has a pretty urban lifestyle) but he was actually excited about it (or at least tried to be).
As the trip got closer we realized there was quite a bit of work involved in bringing another person on the trip. We borrowed a massive tent from friends, and Gili decided to give up his sleeping bag for my dad. Of course he forgot to bring a sheet or a blanket instead, or even a warmer shirt, so he was a bit cold on the first night, but then he borrowed a sleeping bag from friends for the second night, which was lucky, since it got a lot colder. Since there was so much stuff we had to bring and carry over we decided we might as well stay two nights. Our backpacks were heavy and even the short walk between the two ferry terminals felt strenuous with all the weight. Neil was riding his bike, but he helped out too, carrying his own sleeping bag and snacks in a small backpack.
The group of families split into two, the early risers who took the 8:45am ferry from Horseshoe Bay. We were of course not part of this group. The others took the more civilized 11am ferry. There was actually supposed to be a 10am ferry but the day before someone luckily noticed that a new schedule was introduced for just a single week! You can’t trust BC ferries…
The location of our group site was spectacular and right on the water. There was also a small concrete pad that the kids made into a riding course. There were lots of kids around ranging from 7 months to 6 years old. In the evening a small fire was arranged with much appreciated marshmallows for the kids.
The next day started sunny and warm and almost everyone went to check out the nearby beach. Then as the forecast predicted the sky became grayer and cloudier. Almost everyone left that afternoon but we stayed, as well as another friend and her five year old. That evening became very rainy and my dad got the full-on camping experience. The kids tried to play a board game (first time ever for Neil) and then we went to explore the island a bit in the heavy rain. Luckily the next morning we were rewarded with a yet again sunny and warm day so staying another night did not feel like such a terrible mistake.
We caught the first water taxi back to Nanaimo but it still took us about a million hours to get back to Vancouver. The ferry was running late of course (due to car traffic) and the buses leaving Horseshoe Bay do not wait for late ferries… We managed to catch the slowest bus in the world back to downtown, but in the end it wasn’t so bad since Neil crashed and this gave him time for a longer nap.
My dad went to meet up with a friend in North Vancouver and stayed overnight to recover from the camping experience. Gili got off in downtown Vancouver and went straight to work, arriving after 2pm… and Neil and I enjoyed a toasted grilled sandwich from a food truck which had to be cut short due to an emergency run to the toilet. Running around downtown with a 3 year old that urgently needs to go and a backpack that weighs a ton was not so fun. Finally we managed to catch the bus home and arrived back after a camping weekend full with all sorts of adventures.
