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Ahhh… Hello, everyone!
I’ve slept in many different beds, but I never sleep so well as I do in a tent. There’s something about the fresh air, the crickets, and the true dark that make sleeping on the hard ground more fulfilling than even the softest feather beds. Maybe that’s just me, but I’m sticking to it. In any case, as the sun was just up and since I couldn’t figure out how to access my original morning destination, East Peak, I decided to go wander for a bit to work up my appetite.
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Eighty-eight percent of the island is under the protection of the Catalina Island Conservancy, whose mission is to protect the island’s native plants and animals (which can’t be found anywhere else in the world!) from destruction by people and non-native species. Right off the bat, this non-native specie caught sight of another one: fennel. Yup, I mean the same herb that tastes so good with pasta! It spreads like butter on bread and chokes out a lot of the native plants, so the Conservancy and its volunteers are working to take out this licorice-smelling weed and protect the poor Catalina natives. I’m a big fan of volunteers and volunteering. It’s a meaningful way to spend your day. If you’d like to volunteer with the Conservancy, look here!
After an hour’s trek through the hills, the view became incredible! The clouds played with the lighting so exquisitely that I nearly lost track of time altogether! Fortunately, a couple of quail exploded out of the bushes right next to me, which brought me back into this dimension. In fact, there were quite a lot of birds out and about this morning, singing and fluttering.
Taking down the tent was much easier than setting it up, I have to say. Plus, I had some yummy Pop Tarts to help me along. There’s something about Pop Tarts that just goes great with camping, and they’re not paying me to say that. That would be nice though… Anyway, I had to check out before 11, which suited me just fine. I wandered past the Nature Center and Bird Park (which is a playground in a cage and doesn’t have any birds at all!). When I arrived back in town, the events were getting started once again, and the enormous sand sculpture in the middle of the plaza was finally complete!
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I was once again surprised at how small the festival was. I had about two hours from time of arrival to the big flying fish parade, so I had to make my own diversions. Luckily, there were some really nice rocks by the beach that were just perfect for frolicking! Since Avalon is on the leeward side of the island, the waves coming into the harbor aren’t that big, which made for some great swimming! Right as I got out of the water, the parade started.
The whole parade consisted of a man in a flying fish suit, named “Gill,” leading a Segway Brigade and about four floats down Casino Way to the plaza with the sand sculpture, where the mayor greeted the crowd and thanked everyone for coming to this year’s Flying Fish Festival. They had a great turn-out, and fun was had by all. I have to say, even if it was an awfully small festival, I did have a lot of fun here on Catalina.
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On my way back to the Catalina Express, I stopped to pay my respects to the statue of Old Ben, a legendary sea lion who frolicked in the waves of Avalon from 1898 until the 1920s and was renowned for his friendliness. It warmed my heart that people erected a monument in his honor. Maybe more people need to honor each other for friendliness too.
Weigh anchor!
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