Friday, July 24 (con't) to Friday, July 31, 2026 (Cluxewe Resort, Port McNeill, BC - PART 1)

We left off on our last blog as we were travelling from 'secret lake' on our way to Cluxewe Resort for 2 weeks of camping and fishing (ocean this time), arriving Friday (July 24), a day before our reservation to beat the rain that was predicted. Thankfully they were able to accommodate us for the extra night. We were assigned site 53, a waterfront site (with power and water)...we would loved to have stayed in that site, especially since it is right beside the site (52) that our son, Rob and his family will be in. However, tomorrow we have to move to the site that we booked (back in January) for the 2 weeks...full hook-up site 90 (not on the waterfront).
This afternoon and evening we will enjoy our waterfront site...


Beach view from our site...
Considering it was supposed to be a rainy day, it's pretty darned nice...
Cruise ship in the distance passing by on its way south from Alaska...
Saturday morning (July 25) we walked down to see if the folks in our site had vacated. Check out time is 11:00 but they had obviously left early, which meant we could move in. Unfortunately the only thing site 90 had going for it was that it was a full hook-up site...the site itself was narrow with big trees to maneuver around. There was also absolutely no privacy from the site next to it (91)...so it would have been more conducive to two families camping together. I ended up knowing the woman...someone that I worked with 'back in the day' albeit in another department. I hadn't seen Gayle for over 20 years. Apparently she and her husband have been coming up here for years.

Steve actually had little issue backing in around the trees...the trailer was even level! Our son, Rob, is expected to arrive around noon, so after we got set up we walked down to his site and were surprised that he was already there. It is about a 6 hour drive so he was up and on the road early...Angie and the boys will come up tomorrow as they just got back a few days ago from a month with Angie's family in Winnipeg Manitoba.

We spent most of our time over the next couple of weeks down at Rob's oceanfront site...getting lots of steps in going back and forth! That afternoon it was time to put on chest-waders and Steve went out fly fishing...
Most cruise ships take the passage on the other side of the island in front of us (Malcolm Island) so we usually only see them from a distance. However, this one, the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam, came through right in front of us...very cool!
Rob fly fishing with the cruise ship in the background...
Some pretty ugly rain clouds came our way giving us a brief shower...
Our long-time friends, Rob and Nancy, arrived late in the afternoon and we sat down at the beach after dinner...
The sky still looked threatening...
But gave way to a gorgeous sunset...
Sunday (July 26) was not too terribly exciting...it was laundry day. So we drove the 10 minutes to Port McNeill to the laundromat...then had lunch at Gus's Pub overlooking the marina...
Apparently this is the world's largest burl...too bad someone set it on fire!
Angie, Conner and Bryce arrived in the afternoon, so first thing Monday morning (July 27) they were geared up and ready to go fishing!

Bryce's first catch...

And his second fish...which slithered out of his hands just as I was taking a picture. Love the look on his face!😂
And his third fish...
Rob and Angie...
Angie has one!
The beginning of Conner's mega fish-a-thon! He was a fishing machine!

Grampa's turn...


Nice Conner!
As you can tell from the way we are all bundled up, it was cool, wet and windy. This afternoon we had happy hour at Rob and Nancy's site...away from the oceanfront wind...
Tuesday morning (July 28) a Search and Rescue helicopter from Comox kept circling around for quite awhile, then it sounded like it landed somewhere on the other side of the estuary...not sure what that was all about...
Bryce...
Another catch for Bryce...
and Conner...
Lots of fish caught...most were released...
Rob teaching Conner to flyfish...

Steve found out that Ray and Anne from Love Your RV and Boat were going to be in Port McNeill Wednesday (July 29) to stock up, so we made arrangements to get together for lunch. They invited us down to the marina and gave us a tour of their boat...a 34' 1976 CHB Trawler named Vestri. They are fellow RV'ers we first met years ago and have gotten together occasionally when our paths crossed. They purchased the boat a few years ago spending the summers on the water and RV'ing in the winter. Ray is very mechanically minded and has tested and reviewed many products over the years on his You Tube channel that he has either purchased or has been given by manufacturers for review. He's done many mods and upgrades to both their boat and RV. Anne is a fantastic photographer and writer and has her own site Anne McKinnell Photography
After our tour we walked up to the Devil's Bath Brewing...
...and enjoyed delicious pizzas and brews...
It was really great getting the boat tour and catching up with each other!

Angie and Bryce inflated the kayak and took it out...doing their best to avoid all the fishers on shore 😁
Angie has a cabin booked for 3 nights starting tonight. I believe it was a birthday gift and to serve as a reprieve for outdoor camping in small quarters. Well, she couldn't have picked a better 3 nights as it was like November with cool winds and on again off again rain! It was hard to believe that last week we were in temperatures up to 36C/98F! At least with the bad weather, it gave us time to work on our blog about our previous week and get it posted!

Thursday afternoon (July 30) we joined them at their cabin (#1)...
A cute little studio cabin, but so bright with all the big windows!
A small deck with a BBQ. Rob also brought over his propane firepit... 

Friday morning (July 31) Steve went and sat on the beach in front of Rob's site...at least it wasn't raining, yet. Eagles scouring the beach...lots of washed up salmon carcasses for them at low tide! 
I walked to the cabin and watched Rob tie a fly...
That afternoon we joined them on their deck with the firepit...
And that concludes our first week at Cluxewe Resort...stay tuned for our second week (Part 2).



Sunday, July 19 to Friday, July 24, 2026 ("Secret" Lake, Northern Vancouver Island, BC)

We packed the final things in the trailer Sunday morning (July 19), hitched up to the truck and were on our way by 9:30. Rather than take the Island Highway (19A) that follows the coast, to make better time we headed to the Inland Highway, (19) going north. 

About 2 hours later we came to our turnoff onto a gravel logging road. Of course, pulling a trailer meant going much slower than highway speeds. The 22km/14 mile long road for the most part wasn't too bad until we came to the last 5 kms before the lake...which is not being maintained. It was a very slow bumpy go, but we finally made it to our destination...a remote lake where we had spent our summer vacations for about 12 years before we retired. It has been 18 years since we have been here and we really wanted to see it again.

The recreation site is no longer maintained and has a small rustic campground with the prime sites being on the waterfront. We were hoping to find a vacant one and upon driving through, we found a few sites available. Of course, we chose what we thought was the best...and it was great!

We got the trailer backed in, unhitched and started our set up. After a quick bite to eat...a rather late lunch...we drove the truck down to the main beach area to off-load the boat. That in itself is a lot of work...getting the boat motor out of the truck, along with all of the other paraphernalia that goes in the boat. 

I drove the truck back to our site while Steve took the boat around to our site.  By this time, we were hot and tired and ready to relax in the shade with this view...
With all of the trees, Steve wasn't sure if he'd be able to get a Starlink signal. Good thing for the long wire as it ended up being down on the beach...


Steve took a 1:18 minute video...Cheers! 
The following 4 days were basically a repeat of each other...Steve out fishing in the morning while I cleaned up and puttered around inside the trailer and finally sitting lakefront with my book and taking in the beauty of the area. We also had extremely hot weather with temperatures (in the shade) up to 35.8 C/96.4F.

Monday (July 20), Steve here...I set out for a morning fish as the low clouds were burning off.
I still didn't have 100% confidence in my motor so fished the bay near the campground. I don't recall ever catching anything on this end of the lake. Normally I fish the far end of the lake which is about a 10-15 minute run in my boat to the river outlet. That's where I know the fish are...
It turned out to be a spectacular morning! Looks like a wildfire happened since our last visit.
I trolled past Dianne...
Dianne got a couple of photos of me trolling by...
I trolled past the end of the campground then returned fishless...
It was very hot so we decided it was time for a float on our new tubes, then a dip. This lake used to be extremely cold but was surprisingly quite bearable...
Tuesday (July 21) Day 2 of fishing. I decided to take a run to the far end of the lake...
Another gorgeous day as I near my destination...

The mouth of the river outlet is just to the right of my rod. We used to go up there to picnic below a beautiful waterfall. I would have to get out of the boat at one shallow spot and pull Princess Di up the river until it got deep again! 😂 It's now so shallow across the outlet with just a ripple of water going over a gravel bar at its mouth...
I'm in my happy place!
35 second video...
After a great morning it was time to return to the campground... 
Later on we took a walk around the campground and checked out some other sites that were empty...

View from the boat launch...
It's another scorcher today so it was time for a float and a dip!
Ahhhh!
I took my drone up...a 1:44 minute video of the lake, as you will see wildfire smoke had moved into our area...
Wednesday (July 22) Day 3 of fishing...
Cool looking clouds as I once again head to the far end of the lake...
1:06 video...
Thursday (July 23) Day 4 and my final day of fishing. These ducks swam out from the mouth of the river...
I don't know the species...
1:06 minute video...
It was time to head back and load up the boat after lunch. There's rain in the forecast for late Friday and Saturday so we are leaving tomorrow, a day early. I really wanted to avoid packing up in the rain and travelling a muddy logging road. 😁
After getting all hot and sweaty loading up the boat and accessories we were hoping to have a final float and swim, but a sudden wind whipped up the lake making the shoreline muddy. We opted for a shower in the trailer instead.


A short 22 second video...
Friday (July25th)...We had an uneventful pack up and an 1 1/2 hour drive out to the highway. The first 5 km took us about 40 minutes! Along the way we spotted three Elk cows, a grouse and a doe...
See you at our next destination...Cluxewe Resort!