Whale-watching

Sometimes when we go out on boats, we don't get off and hike around islands, we just drive around on the water and see what we see. This got even MORE beautiful and interesting around Christmas, when the humpbacks came to town.

We still stopped to appreciate the gorgeous skies and views and water...

And there are always new (to me) things to see, like Cormorant Island, eponymously named for its nesting birds, with Mount Williams in the background. 

But it sure was a nice salve to the sting of holidays away from my family, to bring a couple of thermoses of hot chocolate out to the dock, hop in a zodiac with half-a dozen new friends...

...and head out to commune with the humpbacks.