It started to rain again during the night…and….didn’t…stop. Tucked up in our yurt, that overlooks humpy cove, we aren’t at all worried. It’s warm and cosy in here, you can hear the rain on the roof and we have wine and cheese and chocolates. The morning is spent reading and chilling but by about lunchtime we are ready to venture out.

The rain briefly clears, so I make my way out of our yurt, along the boardwalks that straddle mossy forest – it’s really a bit like Swiss Family Robinson – to the yurt that houses Susan’s art gallery. Susan Swiderski owns and runs Orca Island Cabins, along with her husband Dennis, son Jonah and daughter in law, Yen. They are all incredibly friendly and welcoming and helped us settle in very quickly. Susan is an artist, she uses the island as her studio, painting beautiful landscapes mostly on canvas. The gallery also sells cards, prints, scarves painted by Susan, handmade jewellery and other lovely things. I spend a peaceful half hour here, soaking in the view and adding things to a mental shopping list.

Leaving the gallery, I pick my way carefully down to the rocky shore and snap some pictures of the clear water, the bridge and yurts and spruces on the opposite shore. The rain is holding off so I decide to collect Gordon and go for a paddle. Dressed for rain, we select a double kayak and jump in. We glide out of the cove towards a nearby inlet that, we’re told, has a waterfall. It’s very still and calm, the water glassy; I can take photos of the reflections. There are some private cabins scattered around and we also pass a group of divers. We can hear the waterfall and see the lower creek but decide not to get out to explore further. Big, fat drops of rain are starting to fall so we head out. At the edge of the inlet, we meet another group of kayakers, some smiling, some a little chagrined. The rain is getting harder. Their guide is a stereotypical, all American girl, extremely enthusiastic to be out on the water. We shout greetings and continue, not towards our cabin but out into Resurrection Bay, towards Fox island. Gordon thinks we are not far from the bird rookery, and puffins, that we had seen yesterday. We paddle from point to point until, with rain increasing even further and no sign of the cliffs, we reluctantly turn back to Humpy Cove.

By the time we put the kayaks back in their place, it’s bucketing down and we retreat for lunch and a snooze. The weather does not improve for the rest of the day, so I alternate reading with blog writing and eating. Not a dreadful way to spend an afternoon.