Full Retreat July 8-9, 2012

The core of the Over-the-Hill Hikers headed out on retreat to Maude Island! What a fantastic time as always ... laughter, food, hiking - all fun.

After a great speed boat trip out on Sunday morning, we arrived in time for lunch .... terrific as usual ... soup and scones and dessert. So with all that we had to go for a hike ... over to the Farm ... where we got to visit with RB and her miniature horse Sky and found FB working hard on "hundreds" of tomato plants in the amazing greenhouse. Of course we visited with the fancy chickens too.

Only had to walk one way as we had a pick up to return at 4:30 ... [this is great walk through the woods and on the beach] ... everyone pulled out some goodies they had brought over of the retreat and suddenly there appeared delicious array of appetizers for our first on the deck of the summer, it finally felt like summer was really here.

Next wonderful dinner, conversation and to bed ... after lots of photo ops of Bambi and relatives.

Up early next morning for our adventures - which involved canoeing and hiking .... after launching the canoe one pair walked and one pair paddled to the shortest crossing spot from Maude to Sandilands [we were hiking down to the western shore].

The ferrying accomplished, no one fell in and the canoe was hauled up, so we all headed down the beach ...

Not far along we noticed a commotion ahead where two of the hikers were crab stepping down towards the shore ... by the time we were all caught up the story came out ... it seemed like while two of the hikers were walking at the top of the tide line, a live fish fell out of the sky right at their feet. As the wee fish wiggled they immediately jumped to the task of getting it into the water!

In the same general area we came across some dead "shrimp" and some pools of "red tide" ... unbeknownst to us, at this stop a camera bag was left behind at the low tide! [It was retrieved several hours later floating along the high tide line!]

On we went marvelling at fish falling from trees till we got the point where we stopped for our gourmet picnic lunch ...  great food, no bugs and wonderful sun! The return trip was uneventful and a non-canoist got to paddle back!

Again another fantastic meal ... and would you believe rain, with a forecast for rising winds, so off we went in the blue boat not wanting to push our luck ... it was a terrific retreat!

As usual we mused about what the Queen was doing and could she possibly be having as much fun as us.