Lake Country to Garden Bay – July 25 2022
We left Lake Country and made our way to Coquihalla Campground, a mid point to Horseshoe Bay, where we stayed overnight. Once we had settled in, we took Jax for a swim in the Coquihalla river to get rid of some of his energy. It was a muggy day and mosquitoes were swarming all around us as we walked back to the RV, so we spent the rest of the evening inside. Even with limited exposure I ended up with a number of nasty red bumps on exposed areas of my body which were both sore and itchy for days.
In the morning we made our way to Departure Bay to take the Langdale ferry across to Gibsons, the entryway to the Sunshine Coast. The sunshine coast is located on the southern mainland coast, across Georgia Strait from Vancouver Island. There was about a 3 sailing wait, so we walked across to the small village where we bought some lunch. None of the restaurants allowed pets so we ended up getting Take out and sitting in a small park with several other dog owners. The ferry ride across to Gibsons was great. They had an open area with benches in the parking where dog owners could sit with their pets. Much nicer than sitting in an enclosed pet room.
Once in Gibsons we drove along a very windy road till we eventually arrived at Garden Bay. The access road to the RV resort off the main road was exceptionally steep and I had visions of the whole fifth wheel tipping over to the side, so chickened out and walked down to the resort leaving Derek to master the drive down. The “resort” itself looked like a hole in the middle of a quarry. It was just sand and store. I had a dreaded feeling in my stomach and could not imagine staying there for a few weeks. Derek immediately christened the campground – “Death Valley”
As time went on we began to appreciate the location much more. The campground was obviously quite new but the owner had started to build basic amenities. Also the people staying in the campground were quite friendly. The best thing was that we were about a 5 minute walk to Garden Bay lake in the one direction, and the Pender Harbour marina in the other. We ended up walking to the marina quite regularly for a bite to eat and would sit on their benches outside watching all the boats. I also discovered on one of my daily walks, a small provincial park in walking distance which had a trail along the ocean. What I loved about the sunshine coast was that there were so many trails – all different to each other, and tons of warm lakes to swim in. The views of the coast line all around us were also spectacular. Garden bay had limited shops but everything was accessible about 30 minutes away in Sechelt and Gibsons.
One memorable hike was along the Skookumchuck trail. This was about an hour’s walk leading to a large rock at Skookumchuck Narrows. Hikers could sit on the rock and watch kayakers playing in the rapids, testing their skills. It was fascinating to watch. At the entrance to the trail there was a little wooden bakery/restaurant set in the forest. We stopped there for lunch on the way back and had a very tasty veggie sandwich and latte.
We were expecting Lucy and Liam to join us for a vacation and were looking forward to seeing them. The day before they were due to arrive, Lucy phoned to say she had tested positive for COVID. What followed was a week of backwards and forwards phone calls as we tried to support from afar. As Lucy is a diabetic we were very concerned for her heath during this time. Luckily she got through it, but it was so disappointing for all of us.
The highlight of the trip to sunshine coast was a boat trip to the Princess Louisa Inlet. As it was a 5 hour affair, I went by myself and Derek stayed at the RV to look after Jax. The boat trip took us through the wide opening of Jervis Inlet which eventually narrowed becoming a long, glacier-cut fjord. We passed dozens of cascading waterfalls along the way trickling down from enormous granite bluffs looming on both sides. The boat stopped at the glacier-fed Chatterbox Falls giving passengers an opportunity to explore the lush rainforest area and eat lunch, before returning back to Egmont. What a great experience.
