Salmon run (or how mean Mom and dad are that they won't let Zoe jump in the river)

Salmon run (or how mean Mom and dad are that they won't let Zoe jump in the river)...


We decided to break out of town and head up-island... not very far past Costco is Goldstream park.. which is now full of Salmon.. The Salmon migrate from the ocean, to return to the very spot in a river that they were born to. They pair up together (male/female), dig in the sand with their tails, female releases eggs, the male fertilizes them, they cover up the eggs, and then die shortly after in the river. We've never seen anything quite like it.. I'll put up videos soon.
These are 10-20 lbs fish.. lots of them, fin to fin, some in water not deep enough to swim in as they make their way upstream.

We wandered a bit more to find other streams, and sure enough, salmon in even the smallest of brookes... there were two teenagers walking (foolishly) through the streams, and Zoe thought that looked like great fun.. it took a lot of restraint to keep her from running in to. Eventually we just had to leave, the puddles and river looked like too much fun.

We then drove up to Nananimo.. 2 hours north of Victoria. The weather was not great, so we didn't explore the beaches.. just found dinner, a hotel overlooking the harbor, and then went to this fabulous Nananimo pool complex.. it had a great boat for Zoe to explore, a river pool, a wave pool, etc. The water wasn't quite warm enough... Zoe got tired, frustrated (she couldn't get the Diego ball for 30 minutes until the lifeguard fetched it down), and then was too cold to play (and wouldn't warm up in the hot tub).. it was a full day.

The next day we explore a pub for brunch, mall for toys and books... it was kind of strange, Nanamio is more up to date than Victoria, the shopping is much better, store better stocked.. just newer.