It was a very new sensation looking out of the tent and being in a car park of a small town. We both felt weirdly vulnerable here, we missed the wilderness and our coastal campsites. The town of Telegraph Cove was empty and had an eerie feel to it. Instead of waiting for slack tide at 2pm today I decided we would paddle against the current, hugging the coast to avoid the fast moving water. We set out into the rain, not expecting to cover huge distances but happy to be on the water and not waiting around for half of the day. It’s so wet up north, the ground is sodden and there are waterfalls gushing into the ocean all along the coast. It feels like it’s been raining here for eternity.

It was flat and calm on the water and we were sheltered from the head wind by being so close to the coast. We paddled past a river that ran into the ocean. At the mouth of the river there was a seal thrashing around with its freshly caught salmon. Seagulls were dive bombing from above, trying to get at the fish each time the seal came to the surface.

The rain continued to pour down on us as we slowly made our way up the coast toward Port McNeil. It was busy on the ocean with fishing boats and the ferry coming and going. There is no denying we have made our way back to civilisation now.

We arrived early and moored our boats at the marina. Our hands and cheeks were frozen, everything we were wearing was saturated, but we didn’t mind. With not many days left on this journey we are trying to live in the moment and enjoy every last bit.