Florencia Bay....

....other wise known as Wreck Bay or just plain Flo, is a beautiful beach at the end of 1.4 km trail through the rainforest just north of Ucluelet. Of all the beaches in this area it's one of the lesser known but perhaps one of the most stunning. The beach is named after the ill fated 200 tonne Florencia which wrecked in the bay in 1860. It was also the sight of a minor gold rush at the turn of the 20th century when placer gold was found in the black sand at the mouth of Lost Shoe Creek. We had a look but sadly found none on our little stroll :(



On the trail to the beach I was happy as a sandboy to see some beautiful Swamp Lanterns close to the path. These sunny yellow flowers otherwise known as Skunk Cabbage (eeugh...I much prefer Swamp lantern!) poke up through the boggy ground each spring and remind us all that there are sunny days on the horizon :) At this time of year they smell quite nice in a sweet and musky sort of way and not at all skunky. They get that name from their slightly less pleasant smell later in the year when the cabbagey leaves are big and the flowers start to wilt.

At the top of the scary looking steps that lead down to the beach we found a strange stash of garbage which, upon closer inspection, appeared to be mostly Japanese. We guessed that this must be a collection of debris washed up from last years Tsunami . I've heard a few people talk about japanese things washing up on the beaches here but this was the first I'd seen myself. There were pop bottles, air fresheners, juice boxes and even a shoe that had clearly been afloat for quite some time.  All a bit eerie for my liking. 

These are the scary stairs leading down to the beach. I wouldn't like to walk down these in the rain!

This beach is stunning and was totally deserted except for us which made it extra special. The driftwood was huge and there was A LOT!  Quite the challenge for a three year old to navigate. 

We were a bit paranoid about keeping the kids near to us on this walk, there's been a few Wolf interactions in the area over the last few weeks and especially on such a quiet beach it's best to be super cautious. I'm sure Seb and Bel are going to be scarred for life by my constant screams to stay close and look out for cougars and wolves. At least Seb was armed with a light saber ;)

Back on the trail, more swamp lanterns and a pretty salmon berry flower. These are blooming in my back yard and will hopefully soon lure in some hummingbirds.