Monday July 17 - Vancouver - Sunshine Coast
We left around 11am for our ferry from Horseshoe Bay to the Sunshine Coast. Once off the ferry at Langford it was a one-hour drive along highway 101 to our waterfront resort, the Painted Boat Resort, Spa and Marina. By the time we arrived it was 2pm but we were able to check-in immediately in spite of the offical check-in time-being 4pm. Our unit was almost new and huge - a very large open plan living/dining/kitchen and 2 bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs (entry level) as well as a huge rumpus room downstairs with a walk out to a grassy area. On the living level we had one huge terrace as well as another balcony off the master bedroom. We had lovely view of Pender Harbour. it was a sunny and warm day - high of 25℃ - definitely living up to its name of the Sunshine Coast.
We settled in and walked over to the local IGA for a bit of shopping - I also got the washing started as we had an in-suite laundry. The washing machine (a front loader Whirlpool) turned out to be a real lemon and the bain of the trip. We relaxed the rest of the day and stayed home for our old favourite of pesto pasta.
Tuesday July 18 - Sunshine Coast
Ah another sunny and warm day - high of 27C. We started the day with a strenuous hike to Mt Daniel - 480 vertical meters in one-hour each way. We had an excellent lunch at the Grasshopper Pub then did some kayaking in the afternoon. Again we had a relaxing evening with a dinner of sambos at home.
Wednesday July 19 - Sunshine Coast
Ah yet another glorious day - sunny and high 20’s again !!🌕. In the morning we went to Ruby Lake and hiked a section of the world famous Suncoaster Trail - 37 k’s in total. Based on the section we did (Pender Harbour) it was not clear what made it one of the 10 best treks in the world. We had a quick lunch at Backeddy’s pub which was conveniently close to the start of the track to the Skookumchuck Narrows (locally referred to as the “Skooks”) - here both the flood and ebb tides create a waterfall like rapids where experienced kayakers take their chances paddling through. We timed our walk (one-hour each way) to coincide with the day’s high tide (one of the highest) and saw a lone (professional) kayaker shooting the rapids over and over. Of course there were quite a few other people there watching as well. We got back home just in time to shower and change for dinner at our resort’s restaurant - sitting on their balcony in the setting sun. The food was excellent.
Thursday July 20 - Sunshine Coast
We had booked a boat trip to Princess Louisa Inlet and as luck would have it, it was a cloudy day and a bit cooler. The trip on a covered high-speed zodiac left at 10am and as we cruised up the passage (some 65 k’s) it started to pour rain. Once we reached the Inlet the rain had eased to drizzle so we were able to disembark for just over an hour and walk around the area - viewing the wonderful Chatterbox Falls. After this tour we drove over to the Pender Hill hike (it turned out to be very hard to find so we ended up running quite late) - the hike was only 35 minutes in each direction but was very steep and very rugged. Back at the hotel we stayed home for dinner.
Friday July 21 - Sunshine Coast to Whistler
We left the Painted Boat resort around 10:45am for the 1 hour drive to the ferry at 12:15 - fortunately we left early as we got stuck in a traffic jam on the way. From the ferry (Horseshoe Bay) we drove to Whistler arriving around 4pm after a futile stop in Squamish to do some shopping - I did get a new hair dryer though. Before checking-in to the Embarc resort (fka Intrawest) - we had stopped at the IGA and liquor store to stock up. Since it was already quite late in the day - by the time we settled in it was time for happy hour and dinner at home