The decision was a good one because by 10 o'clock the wind was howling! Plan B. Explore Quadra Island. Quadra Island is one of the larger islands sitting between the V.I. & the mainland. It only took 15 mins to get there on the car ferry (above).
Cape Mudge to the south west of the island is home to a lighthouse (above). We looked out to where we were floating amongst all the orcas the day before and across the passage to Campbell River. 
Not long after leaving the lighthouse we saw a bald eagle above us. I couldn't help stopping the car & taking its photo.
The south east of the island is home to Rebecca Spit (above & below), a peninsular that spears off the island creating Heriot Bay (below). Discovery Passage islands are a natural dumping ground for the floating logs that wash out of the forests. The Rebecca Spit beaches are no exception. Some of the weird shapes of the smooth logs make for nice photos.
We drove to the other side of the bay to Heriot Cove where the ferry to a near-by island leaves from. There is a neat little hotel called the Heriot Bay Inn (how inventive). What better place to have lunch, shelter from the wind & look out over the marina (below). It was all very civilized & lunch was very nice. We thought how lucky we were to be in the pub rather than being bashed around in a boat. 
After lunch we followed the main road to the north east of the island. Eventually we came to a bridge between two lakes (Village Bay Lake pictured below). It is probably the most uninspiring lake I'd seen in Canada. On the other side of the bridge the road turned into a dirt road. We explored a little further, but soon realised it was a road for residents, not tourists so we turned around & headed back.
Somehow we missed the turn off to the dirt road that goes to the north of the island & ended up nearly back at Cape Mudge! We were getting low on fuel & it was getting late in the afternoon so we caught the next ferry back to Campbell River. The roads to the north of the island are pretty much dirt logging roads so it may well have been a good plan anyway.
Back on the mainland we hung around near or in the hotel & watched the world go by. Just before 5 we drove out to Moose Falls (above) in the hope of seeing 5 o'clock Charlie.
He was a little late that day but only by 10 minutes. Lucky a Kingfisher was there to entertain us.
When Charlie showed up he set about scooping dead salmon out of the pond. The difference this time was that he was aware of us & kept dragging the salmon into the trees to eat them. Sadly we said goodbye to Charlie & headed back to town.
We had dinner at the nice seafood place from a couple of nights previous.It was a good outcome for the day that would have been a lot less pleasant on a small boat in rough weather.
We were surrounded by these awesome creatures that are nearly as intelligent as us & 10 times as heavy. The family group above are part of one of G-Pod who are one of the northern resident pods. They are rarely seen as far south as Campbell River. The big male is called Shushartie (G39), the bigger of the females is his younger sister Tatchu (G52), another female Glide (G54) (far left) and a very young & unnamed calf. The calf is believed to be Tatchu's. I sent some of the photos to the Vancouver Aquarium who are the central point for all things orca. It turns out these are the first ones they've seen of this calf. 
Everywhere we looked they were surfacing & acting up.
I would have been quite happy to hang around them for hours, but we had a tight schedule to meet the grizzlies two hours away. 20 minutes would have to be enough that day.
We crossed the straights to Bute Inlet that cuts into the mainland (grizzlies don't live on Vancouver Island). It was a little cloudy but conditions were great for boating. Bute Inlet can be a nasty place for a boat if the wind & the tides are fighting each other (and often do). The only problem was the debris (mainly trees) littering the inlet thanks to storms the previous week.
We arrived at the Homalco First Nations land.
We had lunch at the dock before boarding the bus for the bumpy ride along a dirt logging track to visit the grizzlies.
After 10 minutes we saw our first bear & he was a big one.
The bear was so intent on hunting fish that he didn't even notice the excited tourists in our tower.
Our second bear spotted a target & suddenly leapt into the water but unfortunately failed in its bid for a meal.
With no whale watching on offer the backup plan to fill in the day was to explore nearby Strathcona Provincial Park. We didn't know too much about it, but we took the risk & went for a drive.
About 20 kms out of Campbell River the road stared to follow along the bank of Upper Campbell Lake (above). The weather wasn't helping, but I imagine the scenery is very nice on a good day. The area seems to be more set up for fishermen & other boaties. It wasn't until after we'd crossed between Upper Campbell & Buttle Lakes that we were actually in the provincial park. It was fairly noticeable as the logging activity suddenly disappeared & the type forest changed.
There are a number of short hiking trails in the park including the one to Lady Falls (below). The trail winds through some wonderful temperate rainforest (above). The influence of the warm Pacific Ocean currents prevents Vancouver Island from being hammered by the bitter winters that much of Canada is exposed to. This allows the forests on the island to thrive.
Lady Falls (above & below) was easily worth the walk despite the inclement conditions. 
The weather started to close in even more so we left the park & headed back to Campbell River. On the way back we stopped at the Salmon Hatchery on the edge of town. Not surprisingly we saw many salmon in the crystal clear waters leading away from the hatchery. The one thing that stuck in my head was the smell of rotting fish. Once the salmon spawn, they die & float down stream only to wash up on the bank or be picked up by scavenging birds & other animals. It's all part of the cycle when the nutrients are returned to the land.
By the time we arrived back in town the wet weather had gone leaving us with the late afternoon to wander along the waterfront of the marina. 
There were a few of the local residents inculding gulls & a harbour seal.
I drove up to Elk Falls where we were the day before with the hope of seeing bears again (Kerri wasn't feeling up to it). It was around 5pm when I arrived at Moose Falls & sure enough, there was 5 o'clock Charlie. 
Charlie was going about his business, fishing salmon out of the pond.
The light was better than the previous evening & I was able to get much closer to him.
He wandered off after a while, but not long after a second bear appeared on the other side of the falls (below).
When I eventually came back to the hotel, Kerri was feeling better & was at the water front taking some photos. We walked all the way to the end of the marina. After a bumpy start the weather had turned around which was a good omen because we'd booked ourselves onto a grizzly watching tour the next day.
We had dinner at a very nice seafood restaurant in front of the fishing fleet. It was so nice to have fresh seafood after a couple of weeks in Alberta 1100 kms from the ocean.
