Minnie, Nicky, Catherine and Begonia (their teacher) arrive late today from the CHMS school in Hong Kong. They will have been in transit for over 20 hours although part of that is waiting at YVR for their plane to Campbell River.

They will get a few hours of the Vancouver Airport as their first taste of Canada……then me, Campbell River, the Campbell River ferry and an hour or so of being jammed into a Pathfinder going down a windy, rough and dusty logging road. Typically, the kids are OK with all that although this time it will be almost dusk by the time we get home. It is the sight of the last steep hill and the waiting boat that first freaks them out. A little.

I get all the gang in the boat and we head out to our island and, if the weather is rough, they get sprayed. That usually wakes them up! Then we arrive at a distant and rocky shore and we are greeted on the beach by Sally and two dogs in what must seem like to them, the middle of nowhere. But, so far they usually do OK. They are coping. Mind you, dogs are things to be very, very wary of and they show their concern on their face and through their body language – their luggage is always kept between them and the dogs.

But it is the scramble up the barnacle and kelp-covered rocks with their baggage in tow that is the first real test. Sal tries to ease them in to it but, really, she, too, is on the beach with a suitcase or two and her feet are slipping. How much easing can she do?

By the time I get back from docking the boat, the gang has been introduced to the boat-shed-cum-temporary-accommodation that will be their home for the week. They put on a good face but I can usually sense the shock setting in. At this point, their eyes and actions suggest that an alternative would be worth discussing. But they are too polite to bring it up.

And then Sal feeds them.

Sal is a great cook and a good meal coupled with a total of twenty two or more hours in transit makes even the most freaked-out guest suddenly sleepy. So, we send them off to bed and consider day one complete.

Day two is when we separate the lumberjacks from the pantywaists. When that is sorted, Sal takes the lumberjacks on an adventure and me and the pantywaists do something ‘nice’ like play with the dogs, set up their computer or sit around and read. Sometimes I teach them to chop wood. Usually one day with me is enough to convert everyone into lumberjacks and I am basically free after that except for the support chores that I try to get done while everyone else is being a lumberjack, hiker, oyster-gatherer, school-visitor, yoga-doer, boat-rider, mountain climber or kayaker.

We will be busy for the next week.