It has been almost two weeks since my family and I have moved to the floating lodge located in Quait Bay. If you are not familiar with this portion of our organization it is a 16 room fishing resort which is the sister lodge to the Outpost; however, it has been closed since 2005 for renovations. Our role here as the caretakers is to keep everything clean and in working order.
You may be wondering what we do here to keep ourselves from going stir crazy? Besides doing work for the lodge we take pleasure in exploring the bay, hiking around the lakes, fishing and crabbing. In addition to enjoying the outdoors we look forward to our visits with our neighbours, Wayne and Catherine and their son Shayne, from Freedom Cove.
During my eight seasons with Clayoquot Wilderness Resort I have only been to Wayne and Catherine’s floathouse once and it happened to be my very first week in Tofino. Finally, last week, I made it back to their amazing floathouse for a long awaited visit. Let me tell you, they have been busy expanding on their alternative lifestyle.
As I boated into their cove I couldn’t help but notice the vibrant colour scheme which contrasts beautifully with the lush green winter gardens. Wayne quickly stopped working on one of his projects and greeted me with a warm smile. He directed me over to Catherine and went back to his project. Catherine was equally as welcoming and gave me a tour of her amazing floating gardens. All her summer plants have already been moved into the greenhouses; she has herbs, fruits and every vegetable you could think of. She then brought me into their home where she continued the tour, offered some tea and enlightened me with their inspiring stories.
Wayne and Catherine are both artists. They carve ivory which has come to them naturally (no animals harmed). In addition, they are both writing books with their own illustrations, of course. Catherine practices dance, yoga and tends to her garden while Wayne continues to build their floathouse, fixes boats and helps their son, Shayne, build his own floathouse. During their “free time,” Wayne and Catherine have taught themselves how to make molded
beeswax candles. These candles are available for purchase in Tofino and other locations on Vancouver Island. Catherine has composed a poem which is provided with the different sculpted candles. For example, the frog will help make your dreams come true while the ganesha promises to enhance your love life.
I felt very inspired when I left Wayne and Catherine’s floathouse in Freedom Cove. I will be sure to recommend this tour to all our guests at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. In the meantime, if you are interested in contacting Wayne and Catherine you can email them at freedomcove4@live.com . Moreover, you can find them on YouTube under Tofino Floathouses or Freedomcove Floathouse.
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