I couldn’t sleep this morning because I wanted to log into my work laptop to look something up from last year. As I was working at the kitchen table, I could see the sun peeking through the blinds at the front of Newman. When we opened the blinds, I saw this beautiful sunrise! STUNNING! WOW! Of course I went out to shoot the sunrise quickly in my bath robe doesn’t our neighbour Jim happen to come out too...YEESH....
We had decided today we would go hiking in Rosewall Creek Provincial Park - a short 2.2 km drive south on the coastal highway. I had checked the “All Trails” app and this trail was rated “easy” at 5,8km, 117m elevation and it was an “Out & Back” trail. We had heard there was an amazing waterfall at the end of the trail and that is why we wanted to hike Rosewall.
The trail followed the Rosewall Creek the entire time. It was lovely to hear the water the entire time as we hiked along the trail.
Lots of big trees had fallen along the trail and into the water. The trees in some places had to be 140 feet high!
The trail had its tricky sections even though it was rated “easy”.
There were not very many people on the trail today. We probably met about 10 people in total. That’s the nice thing about hiking during the week! One of the benefits of being retired I guess!
We had hiked for about an hour and then we saw a sign.
We decided to keep hiking not thinking anything about the sign...then this happened not 100 yards from the Park Boundary sign.
A sheer drop to the Creek below on the left, a steep downhill path with nothing to hang onto but a rope attached to some tree roots on the right. HMMMM?!!!! What to do ??? Richard attempted to go down the trail but then going past this fallen log would have meant putting his legs around it and holding onto it. And then I would have to try to do the same thing?! We stood there trying to figure it out for a few minutes and then elected NOT to go down the trail to see the waterfall. A bit disappointing, but not as disappointing as breaking my leg again...so we hiked back to the car. All told our hike was about 2 hours long. A good bit of exercise regardless!
Richard always wants me to look at him and smile and I’m always busy taking photos so we compromised here! Nice to be in December and only wearing a thin jacket for a hike!
We had brought sandwiches with us to eat when we got to the water falls. Since we didn’t get to the falls we had seen some picnic tables we could eat at, in a clearing near the car. Unfortunately the picnic tables were too damp and we were starving, so we ate in Jerry before our next adventure of the day.
We wanted to explore downtown Courtenay next. We hadn’t driven through it when we were in town the other day. So off we went a quick 20 minutes north up the coastal highway. The sky was very clear today as it was quite warm at +9C today. We could see over to the mainland of B.C. and the Coast Mountain range as we drove up to Courtenay.
We found free 3 hour parking in downtown Courtenay. Immediately opposite our parking lot was the Courtenay & District Museum and Palaeontology Centre. Admission was a donation, so we went in to see what the museum was all about.
What an interesting place! The palaeontology section was on the main floor of the museum.
Tylosaurus Pembinesis otherwise known as “T-Rex of the Sea”! I had no idea that these pre historic creatures lived in the sea!
Mosasaur from 80 million years ago which had a long flexible tail that would propel it in the water to look for its next meal. This mosasaur was located at the Puntledge River in Courtenay in 1991.
The museum had a beautiful display of Indigenous peoples masks as well as many other artifacts from the First Nations people. The colours were beautiful on these masks!
We walked around Courtenay’s very quaint downtown street which is nicely decorated for Christmas and it reminded us of a much smaller downtown Oakville or Burlington. Lots of nice shops to explore, when its not so busy with Christmas shoppers! Living in Newman we don’t have a ton of space for new purchases, but we might be able to find some room when the January sales are on!
We had to stop at Lordco in Courtenay (automotive supply shop) as Newman had a missing floor lighting bulb in our bedroom...similar to a night light for the floor. Very important for those early morning bathroom breaks to find our way!
We attempted to find a driftwood Christmas tree but were not successful. We visited a very nice garden centre in Courtenay but didn’t find what we were looking for. We had seen a driftwood tree outside someone’s RV in Peddar Bay. Being beside the water, the appropriate Christmas tree for outside Newman is a driftwood one! We did find a place that sells driftwood, so we may stop in tomorrow to see if they sell them pre-made, or if this is a “DIY” project we can undertake while we are here!
And tomorrow we golf at another new course and the weather looks amazing too at +8C, with no rain!
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