Bryan and I spent President’s Day weekend in Qualicum Beach in Vancouver Island. Last year I bookmarked an online article in Seattle Met about unique vacation rentals. The one that intrigued me the most was the Free Spirit Spheres.
We stayed in the Melody spherical treehouse. Melody is located away from the other two spheres and overlooks a small pond. The craftsmanship and attention to detail inside the sphere is incredible. There are two window seats as well as two tables that fold down. We left the tables down during the day. At night, we folded up the tables and pulled down the murphy bed.
There is a skylight at the top of the sphere. I enjoyed gazing up at the treetops while lying in bed. It was a unique experience.
The first night we stayed in Melody, there was an intense rain and wind storm. The spheres are tethered to the trees with ropes, no bolts are used. I was worried that the sphere would move around a lot in the wind, but the sphere only slightly rocked back and forth. The one downside was there is no bathroom in the sphere but luckily the composting toilet is only a short walk away. The composting toilet outhouse was clean although I saw several wicked looking spiders in there during the nighttime. There are much nicer bathroom facilities with showers on the opposite side of the pond.
No breakfast is served at Free Spirit Spheres although the owners prepare a welcome basket full of fruit, baked goods, yogurt and candy. The basket was filling enough that we ate it for breakfast our first morning. We explored downtown Qualicum Bay and found a restaurant called Lefty’s Fresh Food. We ate lunch there on Saturday and then went back to Lefty’s again on Monday for breakfast. The oatmeal spice pancakes were delicious.
On Sunday morning Bryan and I took a kayaking trip with Adventuress Sea Kayaking. Our guide, Jan, was friendly and loaned us extra rubber boots to keep our shoes from getting wet. She took us to an area where there were hundreds of male California and Steller sea lions. The sea lions were resting on floating logs in the water as well as splashing around in the water.
We also saw some harbor seals and bald eagles. I have gone on several kayaking trips over the years and this was by far my favorite. I would definitely recommend a kayaking trip with Jan if you are in the Qualicum Beach area.
Travel Recap
STAY: Free Spirit Spheres
EAT: Lefty’s Fresh Food
FAVORITES: Sea lion kayaking tour with Adventuress Sea Kayaking
