Catalina Trip

A couple of weeks ago my class and I went on a trip to Catalina. None of us were sure how the trip would be since the class above us didn’t have good things to say from their trip last year. We arrived at school at 6:45 in the morning and piled into the bus. Off we went. My and I chattered in the back of the bus, until and argument between Claudia and Armand grew so loud that we were forced to move.

Upon arriving in Long Beach at the port where the Queen Mary is docked, we all got out and waited for the boat to arrive. I was very excited since I haven’t really been on a boat before. At first the ride was really fun. The ocean had some huge swells so we rocked around and it felt rather like an adventure at sea. But after some time, my stomach got the better of me and I had to stay at the back of the boat, looking out over the sea. It felt so nice to have the ocean air on my face. In two hours we arrived at Two Harbors in Catalina where we met our “guides” Laura and Shannon. We ate a quick lunch then hiked to Cherry Cove where we were going to stay.

The beach at Cherry Cove was very nice, with little or no waves and sea shell speckled sand.
Everything seemed wonderful until we heard about the many restrictions we had on our stay there. No walking anywhere without a chaperon (yes, that includes the restroom), no sitting on the beach, four minute showers, no tea in the mornings, etc. We walked to where our “tents” where located. I shared a tent with My. It felt rather like an army or prison camp. With the army green tents and showers that needed a button to be pushed at all times for the water to flow. But we made the best of what we had.

We had a small snorkel which was really neat. Although it wasn’t as colorful as the oceans of Hawaii you still saw some neat creatures like swell sharks and garibaldi fish (which happens to be our state marine fish).
The worst thing about the trip would be the food, no doubt about it. Everything seemed pre-made and microwavable, the only vegetable being iceberg lettuce in salad. Ventana and I both had major problems with the food, and in the end the chief didn’t seem to happy with us.

On the second day we had an algae and sea animals workshop. I loved learning about the types of algae and some of the fish were really neat, especially the octopus. We saw some really cool things and learned a lot. We then played “Cherry Cove Jeopardy” which my team won! In the afternoon we went on a kayak which I enjoyed tremendously. It took me a while to get the paddling right, but by the end, I was pretty good. We played a fun game that was rather like ocean soccer. I had a blast.

The third day was our day trip. This meant we woke up slightly earlier and packed lunches and towels and sunglasses into our kayaks. We kayaked around the coast till we got to this lovely little beach covered in sea shells. We ate lunch there and then went snorkeling out by the large rock. It was an amazing snorkel because of all the kelp growing underwater. It was like a different world. The plants would sway and move in their own wind. There were many little fish and pelicans on the rock above. I had an amazing time. It might just be my favorite part of the entire trip. I didn’t want to get out of the water!
Once we got back to camp we were exhausted but found out we had a night snorkel to do that night. So once it got dark (and cold) we headed back to the beach and got backing into our wet (and cold) wet suits. It was pretty miserable, I must say. The snorkel was neat, but it wasn’t amazing. We saw most of the same things as in the day. The best part was probably the bioluminescence that glowed in the water when you turned the lights out. I was absolutely freezing once we got out. I thought I shower would warm me up, but all it did was make my hair extra wet. It was a long cold wet night and I woke up feeling not great.

I decided not to go on the last snorkel because I was already feeling weird and I knew if I put that wet wet suit on again that would be the end of me. So My, who was also sick, and I relaxed on the beach while most of the class went snorkeling. (underwater pictures from that snorkel are thanks to Elizabeth)
That afternoon we went looking in tide pools which was really fun. Joey Gilmore and I went on a search for crabs to catch for the octopus, but we weren’t in luck. Shannon (our guide) found a shed skin from a lobster which we put in Philip's shoe as a surprise for later.

That night was “dress up night” but since we didn’t have many clothes we made do with odd bits here and there. I was a candy sixties girl, while ventana was a lion and My a eighties fitness instructor. It was really fun seeing what everyone did with their normal clothes. And to make it all even better dinner that night was actually good.

On the morning of the last day, we packed up all our stuff and set out on a ridge hike. The hike had an amazing view, but was super hard. I found myself in the back almost the whole time, talking with Hannah about lemonade and soup, two things we were craving. We were all happy once we saw the boat pull into the harbor.
In all it was a good trip, but not an amazing one. It had it's bad points, but then again, isn't that true with every trip?