Pipers Lagoon Park

 We explored a new park this afternoon. It's actually just across the bay from Neck Point Park. We had seen the colourful shacks from that park and today we actually got to visit them!






Evelyn loved the view as much as I did.

We were at the park near the end of low tide and were able to walk across to the shacks on dry ground. It was heavily covered in oysters, so I think it may be a farm ground for an oyster company.

 By the time we got over the barnacle encrusted oyster field, and had poked around the shack for about 5 minutes, the dry ground was already starting to disappear. We ended up wading back through calf deep water! I was surprised how fast that tide turned!

 The park is comprised of a long narrow neck with beach on each side, and a sort of island at the end of the neck. It reminds me of Esquimalt Lagoon except it only has one access point. The land at the end of the long spit is very rocky and hilly. In many areas, the footpath disappears into a rocky hill and it is left to the walker to choose their path. Later on, the trail will resume. This island (sort of) is criss-crossed with multiple trails. I think a person could explore the island a different way for weeks. The trails were uneven, rocky and narrow. It made for a good adventure.

After walking around the point of the spit, we checked out a really sweet fort some kids had built in a small wooded area. They had even built a couple lofts in the trees! Evelyn and Ethan were eager to help build and play in the fort, but as they added sticks etc, it began to collapse in a couple places. I decided that climbing up to one of the lofts, or being inside the fort was not the safest idea and I made them leave. As you can imagine, they were not happy campers with that decision. 

 But, once cooler heads had once again returned, they understood my reasoning and got busy enjoying the beach. They found the log above with a maze of insect tracks.

They also decided to make the roots of a fallen tree into a pirate ship.

 That tree kept them occupied and engaged in imaginative play for about 20 minutes. It would have lasted longer, but I had to get home.

Ahoy!