Fly! Sunshine Coast - September 30, 2009

I had the most amazing experience this week with my new friends Greg & Dana who own Fly!, a local air service. They are based at the Sechelt Airport and available for scenic tours, taxi service, and flight instruction. We had a beautiful sunny day and had a fabulous tour of the Sunshine Coast.

We flew north over Sechelt and over Sechelt Inlet, Salmon Inlet, and crossed the mountains to Jervis Inlet. We then came down over the Skookumchuck Rapids, Pender Harbour, and down the Georgia Strait coastline over Secret Cove, Halfmoon Bay and back to Sechelt.

This 2nd picture was the highlight of the day. This lake is about 2,500' completely surrounded by forest. At the near end of the lake, there is an amazing waterfall that tumbles into Jervis Inlet below.

Sechlet really is the "land between 2 waters". The Georgia Strait is in the foreground and Sechelt Inlet lies behind the town.

4 of us went up in a 4 passenger Cessna. It was very interesting to be able to see all the dials and gauges while we flew.

It is amazing the different perspective you get once up in the air. I know I live in the forest, but you tend to forget the immensity of this forest until you get above and see the vastness. There are just so many trees!

Fresh new snow on the mountains!

Safe approach back to the Sechelt Airport.

What a great trip! I would highly recommend a trip with Fly! the next time you visit the Sunshine Coast.

To see these areas on a map, click here.

Princess Louisa Inlet - September 13, 2009

Wow! Where did the summer go? I am very happy to say that Arcturus Retreat B&B has been very busy hosting guests from around the world. So many guests means no time to blog and not much time to hike. Now that autumn has arrived, I hope to get back in the swing of things.

My best adventure of late was while hosting a friend as B&B guest. We got to play tour guide showing off our favourite Sunshine Coast places, and I tagged along for a real treat, Princess Louisa Inlet. Bryce Christie of Sunshine Coast Tours is a wonderful tour guide. He really knows the history and the geography of the area, and is able to share information in an interesting way. Tours sail daily during the summer and less frequently in other months.

I highly recommend this trip to everyone. My pictures can't begin to do justice to the amazing scenery. The only place I have ever been that approaches the natural beauty is Milford Sound in New Zealand. I would love to see the fjords of Norway someday to compare.

The peaks are just over 8,000 feet and the water is another 1,000 feet deep. The granite rock face is amazing. The sheer mountains go straight down, so boats can navigate incredibly close to shore.

We travelled 2 hours by boat out of Egmont on the Sunshine Coast up through Jervis Inlet and then into Princess Louisa Inlet. It is hard to believe that all this natural beauty is so close to my home. This is one of the many areas of BC coastline that are only accessible by water. Very difficult mountainous terrain keeps people away and leaves nature in all its glory.

Princess Louisa Provincial Park includes Chatterbox Falls and a bit of parkland around it. We were able to take a short hike to the base of the falls and have a picnic lunch. It really was an amazing day.


Soda Pop Falls





Albert Glacier

Wildlife Up Close - August 6, 2009

This was the view from my window when I first woke up this morning. Deer have been visiting regularly as the plums have ripened, but this morning was a special treet. A doe and her fawn were enjoying plums and leaves for breakfast. If you look closely, you can see the white spots on the fawn. I just had time to admire and find the camera before they were on their way. Luckily one of our guests was up early enough to see the show as well.

We had picked a handful of plums before today...just enough for a quick snack and to make the first plum-blueberry cobbler of the season. YUM! With deer arriving daily to snack and wanting to avoid the black bear, we started picking for real tonight. Over 50 lbs of yellow plums are now in and that is only the beginning. We didn't even have the ladder out except for about 5 minutes. I will definitely be at the Fiddlehead Farmers Market on Saturday with fresh plums, plum muffins, and maybe plum galettes.

Commotion by the Ocean - August 1, 2009

Monday is BC Day so we celebrated the long weekend by making a trip to Gambier Island for Commotion by the Ocean. Gambier is the island I see out my window every day, but in 3 years I had never visited.

Commotion by the Ocean is an annual event with food, family fun and great music to raise money for community activites on Gamier Island. The weather was absolutely wonderful today and they had a great turnout. Burgers and beer on a summer evening with fabulous local bands surrounded by the forest. What could be better? This picture is looking back from Gambier Island to our home at the base of Mt Elphinstone. Note the 7km/h speed limit....ahhhh island life.

Sibling Rivals was fantastic, and boy can this gal play tenor sax. The crowd was up dancing the entire time for both sets. Nearly Neil is a great cover band with terrific energy. Bobby Bruce can totally do Neil Diamond...it's amazing. I could have listened to these groups all night. Unfortunately, the official gig wraps up at 9pm so that all of us mainlanders can catch the last ferry off the island. However, I am sure that the locals are still going strong even now. We thank them for starting mid-afternoon so that we can enjoy many hours of great music.

I am looking forward to a return trip next year.

Rainbows - July 25, 2009

Mother Nature is just amazing. Tonight we were treated to a fabulous display of lightning and beautiful rainbows. Now for many people, this is a common occurance. However, on the south coast of British Columbia we don't see lightning very often....and especially not over an hour of both cloud to cloud and cloud to ground snake lightning.

Things got started about 9pm which is 45 minutes before sunset. The storms were to the east over the North Shore Mountains so while watching lightning displays in 1 direction, the sun was shining with clear skies to the west. The result was this fabulous rainbow which the pictures just don't show the real effect. I could only get a shot of the rainbow base...it was a full arc with the entire shape in sight out over Howe Sound. At times it was a double rainbow in full grandeur. As the sun set, the sky became a wild shade of red as the storm built.

Once the sun was down, the storm really kicked in. Major lightning display across the entire horizen for a full hour. While it was only sprinkling here, the rain was so heavy over the water that I could no longer see the mountains. Eventually it poured here as well which was wonderful after months of unseasonal dry weather.

I only hope the lightning didn't spark any wildfires. The forest is extremely dry and there are major fires in other parts of the province.

Oceanbeach Esplanade - July 22, 2009

Another absolutely beautiful day on BC's Sunshine Coast. I took time today to head out to the beach for the first time in weeks. Oceanbeach Esplanade aka Bonniebrook Beach is on the southern tip of the Sunshine Coast just outside of Gibsons. This protected beach stretches on for about 5km. It is mostly rocky, but there are a few stretches of sand depending on the tide levels.

People walk and bike this stretch of beach 365 days a year. Today, on a somewhat hot day, (25C) it was warm enough to swim, stroll, or just about anything. There are multiple park benches along the route that I found perfect for relaxing in the shade and feeling the refreshing ocean breeze. A very pleasant place to meditate and enjoy the rhythmic pounding of the waves along with any number of birds.


In the background of the first photo, you can see Vancouver Island and, if you look really close, the ferry that travels from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo.

In the second photo you can see Canada geese swimming along the shore.

Music in the Landing - July 11, 2009

One of my favourite summer activities is Music in the Landing. Gibsons Landing puts on free concerts in various parks every weekend all summer long. Kick off the weekend on Friday nights at the Gazebo, Saturday afternoon by the Visitor's Centre, Saturday night by the marina, and Sunday afternoon at the artisan's market. Every concert features fabulous local talent and the series covers a wide range of musical genres.

Saturday nights are my favourite, as they are a great way to wrap up a long day following the Fiddlehead Farmers' Market. Tonight's show (sorry, forgot the camera) featured Chelsea Crawford and Verna Chan each playing 1 hour sets. Winegarden park is next to the marina. You'll have to imagine sitting by the ocean, watching the boats come in for the evening, with picturesque mountains in the background listening to light jazz. Some people spread out the blanket and have a picnic. Others stroll by with gelato from down the street. Everyone greets their friends and neighbours who have come out for the evening. Kids run freely in the back with plenty of space for tag and other games. By evening, temperatures slip into the 60's and with a light ocean breeze a jacket or a blanket is required.

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday night! I can't wait for next week.