Sunshine Coast

We head out of Vancouver by driving through Stanley Park, before crossing the Lions Gate Bridge to the North Shore and along to Horseshoe Bay to catch a vehicle ferry to the Sunshine Coast.

Horseshoe Bay

Ferry Crossing to the Sunshine Coast

The ferry goes between various islands and takes 40 minutes to reach the other side of the strait. Gordie is currently staying here in his trailer near the small town of Gibsons. The little town is famous as the setting for a TV series ‘Beachcomber’, which ran in the 1970s and 80s. The show became the most success Canadian TV show ever and was sold to 60 countries worldwide, including England.

Gibsons Landing

Climbing to the top of a nearby hill gives us a good view back down to Gibsons and across the strait to nearby islands, with Vancouver Island just visible on the horizon.

View across the Strait

We take a day trip up the coast, with views out to Vancouver Island and pass through small towns with peaceful marinas. I think I am going to be taking several photos of marinas, as there are a whole lot of them here.

Madeira Park Marina

We visit a place at the top of the peninsular where the tidal rapids are perhaps the fastest in the world. The tides are forced through a narrow channel and because this restricts the tidal flow, the difference in height between 1 side of the rapids and the other can be over 2 metres. The water roars, swirls around in whirlpools, creates standing waves and boils up from below the surface. It is an amazing sight and I find it is hard to remember that this is sea water behaving like this, rather than a river.

Skookumchuck Rapids

On a warm sunny Sunday afternoon we sit in the park at Gibsons Landing and enjoy the final concert of the annual jazz festival.

Jazz Festival