Along the Sunshine Coast

Let's travel along the Sunshine Coast - we can take the Water Taxi if you like!

The Sunshine Coast - somehow sunshine is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of British Columbia. In some areas, though, they have more sunshine than in others, and the Sunshine Coast is one of those areas. Since it is on the mainland it is rather protected from all the bad weather by the many islands that you find in the straits, especially Vancouver Island that separates this part of British Columbia from the open ocean.

We took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Gibsons which is the first small town you get into when you have left the ferry. They greet you really nicely here:

It's mainly a fisher town with its own marina (more on that in a later post). I especially loved the signs in this town - signs of direction and the name of one of their fish and chips places.

The view over the strait from here is beautiful. It's pretty quiet as well, just add the sound of the ever hungry seagulls.

We spent the night in a campground nearby and went to the beach the next morning. It's a rocky beach here and rather "rustic".

Driving up the Sunshine Coast, you pass several inlets, all of them beautiful with a big sense of calm - quite what I like.

And watch out for those turtles!!!

When you're half way up the Sunshine Coast, the road ends in Earl Cove and you have to take the next ferry for a 75 minutes ride to Saltery Bay. While waiting for the ferry, you can take in the fabulous view - I would have liked to take the canoe and paddle out onto the water.

Instead, we boarded the ferry and enjoyed one of these peaceful, quiet boat rides that you get up here. It's a little bit like being in a different world - it smells of salty water and old forests.

We passed several smaller islands where people live in wonderful solitude while we listened to some violin music.

We arrived in Saltery Bay in the evening and immediately went to the campground nearby. It was a beautiful campground right in the woods. Unfortunately it was also infested with annoying mosquitoes, so we took our cooking stuff down to the strait's water to cook dinner. We had the place almost to ourselves.

This place was called Mermaid Cove. From here we could see the fisher boats come home and enjoy a beautiful sunset.

There were signs warning us that recently a bear was seen here, but on this evening the bear didn't "lust" for the mermaids.