An Easter Kayak up The Indian Arm!

This Easter there was no slip and slide and dessert bar or a Good Friday American themed dinner! but we did kayak up a Canadian fjord known as The Indian Arm which is just as good right?

I worked out that it was the first Easter in my 26 years of existence that was not spent with the Jones family, which also meant I missed out on our awesome easter egg hunt! but we managed to have a pretty awesome time anyway! 

We started off at Deep Cove, which has become one of my favourite little spots in Vancouver! It's so scenic and beautiful! and I'm pretty sure we managed to get the first two days of sunshine in a row we've had this year so that was an added bonus! 

We rented a double kayak, packed up our camping gear and headed off for a day on the water!

We stopped off at the Twin Islands on the way to have a spot of lunch and admire some of the beautiful scenery! 

and I saw a snake! I called out to Byron and told him there was a 'MASSIVE' snake crawling in front of me.  I may have exaggerated slightly...but it just took me by surprise! 

I couldn't get over how amazing the views were! 

It's a good thing the scenery was so awesome, because it was a good distraction from the 18km kayak that lay ahead of us! 

After a few stops and a leisurely 5 and a half hours later we reached our camping spot at Granite Falls.  Is that not the most awesome place to pitch a tent?!

The falls were pretty cool too! 

With thanks to self timer we actually managed to get a picture of the two of us together! 

Everything was so lush and green!

even this crazy seaweed!

We trekked into the forest, and found some crazy massive trees! The forester in the family was loving it!

A beautiful little peek of the view through the trees!

and some more waterfall action on the way back to camp!

We had a spot of dinner...

Sadly the campsite didn't allow open fires which meant we couldn't toast marshmallows and make s'mores! but no camping trip is completely without s'mores so I made a baked version the night before and we brought some with us! You have no idea how much that tasty little chocolate marshmallow graham cracker delight motivated me during my day of kayaking!!

The scenery was still pretty beautiful even as the dark crept in!

and I loved this pic Byron snapped of our tent! We also lay out under the stars for a while in our sleeping bags and managed to spot a few shooters! 

The next morning we woke up refreshed and revitalised after a good nights sleep, well I did since I'm a heavy sleeper.  Byron, on the other hand had been kept awake all night long by that beautiful yet oh-so-loud waterfall we had camped beside! 

We were excited to see the clouds from the day before were nowhere in sight, and all that lay ahead of us were blue skies! 

and not just blue skies, beautifully calm water! We had managed to wake up before all the speedboats were on the move and so the water was so still it was like glass! 

You could see amazing reflections of the mountains in the water, including this snow capped peak! Those ripples were just from our oars.  

and then to top it all off we saw a seal! which was very exciting! and after the first seal we spotted, we saw about 9 more on the way! Apparently seals are early risers too! 

I think this early morning part of our kayak back to Deep Cove was my favourite bit of the whole trip! I can't even describe how tranquil and amazing it was! 

and then it started to get super warm out! which made it even more magical! (until I discovered I had got sunburnt but only on one half of my face!!)

We stopped off at the other side of the Twin Islands on our way back to have a spot of lunch with a view!

There were some amazing amazing waterfront properties that we passed.  You've never seen such big houses before! At one point I thought I saw a moderately sized one so I pointed it out to Byron, only to be told it was just the pool house for a ginormous house just behind it! 

This was the view of Deep Cove as we started to get nearer! Isn't it just the cutest little place! 

and I snapped this picture after we got back on to land, this is the view as you look out to the water.  Sooo pretty!

It's a very small little town, what we would call a village really, with only one row of shops.

That one row of shops contained a very good Gelato shop though called Gelato Express.  Can you see that cute little train in the top right of the pic? It would ride all the way around the shop on those tracks up there! So fun!

and oh that gelato was oh so welcome...in fact my sunburn was coming up so much at this point I really would have liked to put my face in that gelato!

It was a well deserved treat to finish off our little kayak trip!  By was clearly a fan!

With flavours like coconut and lime, how can you not be!

We decided that for dinner that night when we got back to Vancouver, we really needed to pig out! As we'd eaten pretty light during the trip since we didn't have room to pack too much stuff! 

So we headed to Peckinpah for some Carolina Style BBQ!

Byron tried Birch Beer for the first time - it was like a cross between root beer and cream soda and was really yummy!

I ordered my fave - a root beer float! and I was delighted when this beast arrived at the table! 

By pigged out good on his brisket and ribs platter...

and for me you just can't beat a pulled pork burger!  

Oh Vancouver...how will we ever leave you!