Discovering The Sunshine Coast
My six months through the winter in Gabriola island slipped by so quickly. I was due to fly home to Guernsey on May 2nd, but one week earlier I received an email from the Canadian Immigration Department to tell me that my application to extend my visa had been approve. So, the spring is here and I have the opportunity to discovery more of Canada and the Gulf Islands. On May 17th I started by catching the early ferry from Departure Bay (Nanaimo) to Horseshoe Bay (North Vancouver). Then another ferry to Langdale , the start of my wonderful discovery of The Sunshine Coast.
My first stop was Gibsons, with its pretty marnia and harbour with a magical mountainous back drop. This is the place many movies and TV programmes have been made, including the TV series “Molly’s Reach”. There are many galleries, gift shops, coffee shops and restaurants lining the coastal route. After lunch in a restaurant with beautiful views over the shore line. I drove north on the 101, passing through Sechelt, stopped at Half-moon bay to photograph Racoons, via Secret Cove to Madeira Park.
Pender Harbour
– I stayed two night in the “Pender Harbour Resort Hotel”. Wonderful views down over the marina from the balcony of my room. The near by Madeira Park was a mass of colour with many spring flower in bloom. I spent my second day traveling small country lanes, discovering many tucked away, peaceful, secluded, bays, harbours, inlets and beauty spots. From Pender, I headed an hours drive to Earls Cove to catch yet another ferry, then continue north on the 101 with a short stop at Powell River, on to the end of the highway and the beautiful small town of Lund.
Lund
– Three nights at the historic hotel www.lundhotel.com/ which is perched on the waters edge with views across the harbour and spectacular sunsets from the restaurant deck and gardens. I visited Nancey’s bakery, the perfect place to enjoy a morning coffee or afternoon tea with its selection of homemade cakes, pastries and tasty lite lunches. Sat outside in the colourful gardens looking across the picturesque harbour. One evening I eat at the Boardwalk restaurant, perched on the jetty jutting out in to the harbour with live music, good food and spectacular views.
Desolation Sound
– Next morning I took a three hour trip from Lund harbour on a rib to discover some of the many islands and inlets of Desolation Sound. Many of these beautiful unspoilt islands are small and uninhabited, but the whole area in rich in sea life, the rocks and shores massed with Oysters, multi-coloured star fish, seals and sea lions basking in the sunshine, eagles and sea birds.
Savary Island – The third day I took a twelve minute water taxi ride from Lund habour to Savary Island. This long narrow island with is beautiful sandy beaches is approximately .08 kilometers wide and 7.5 kilometers long. The population is around a 100 but increases in the summer months to over 2000. There are no shops or restaurants, residents order their supplies online and they are delivered by water taxi. Vehicles are kept in a car park in Lund, many residents also have a vehicle on the island, these have to be shipped by a small landing craft.
It was a beautiful, hot, sunny morning as I climbed out of the water taxi, I walk along the wooden jetty, then turned left along the beach road. Most properties have a decking with chairs on the edge of the long sandy beach opposite their properties, many of the properties are holiday home which people had come to prepare for the summer season. As I strolled along I saw a some guys getting off a small boat admiring the fish they had caught, photographing there catch, then gutting it on the beach. High in a tall tree to my left a bald eagle, watched, calculating his next move. ( see what happened next in my series of photos below).
