I was taken on a road trip to the appropriately monikered Sunshine Coast as ‘payback’ for our extended NM/TX road trip last April. Cora was surprised I had seen so little of British Columbia as I usually dedicate my Vancouver stay to Chen Tai Chi 2.5 hours a day 6 days a week. Two car ferries plus in between winding driving eventually led us to Lund, the northern-most point (and last harbor) of Highway 101 that extends south to Chile. As we returned from dinner, we sighted a black bear scampering away a few feet from our airBnB. In Lund, we rode the water taxi to Savary Island completely surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches and temperate clear waters (one of few such islands) but clearly unwelcoming to day tourists: ‘no public toilets’ and ‘only walk on the beach, not into neighborhoods’. The beach was littered with clams and Japanese oysters, some still live, and the highlight was observing the marvelous mudflat snails leaving a roadmap of their slow-paced trails.
We joined up with Cora’s friends and timed our hike precisely to Skookumchuck Narrows South Point to coincide with the tide-induced waves as the feeders converge in this natural funnel. The giant cedars and firs reached the sky and lush moss and fern formed a carpet were cathedral worthy and mushrooms (lobster) accented the pews of logs. The usual endpoint is to watch kayakers ride the waves in reverse, staying in place instead of going with the flow. In the distance, we spotted a school of 20 or so porpoises feeding frenetically and jumping playfully! We learned that this was a rare sighting – none of our local hosts or other hikers had ever seen them there. A second group migrated to the tidal waves just in front of us and began surfing and jumping – what a thrilling sighting.
We moved to the friend’s house some 50 feet above French Cove which borders on Smuggler’s Cove Provincial Park. As the name implies, not only contraband liquor but disemployed Chinese railroad workers were transported to the US. Of course, it is a well-protected, bucolic cove today with abundant beaver activity. The hike along the Cove and the Georgia Straits shoreline was rocky ending upon boulders, the air fresh and humidified, the water clear and cold, and nearby islands sprinkled along the coastline. Trudging carefully down to the water’s edge, we took kayaks out of the Cove to nearby islands. Some 50 harbor seals were basking in the late afternoon sun, braying and diving. A heron, a gaggle of cormorants, and a red-billed oyster catcher were active on another island. Our host told us the story of taking his granddaughter out for the first time in the exact spot, when a huge orca swam right beneath her. I could do without that heart-stopping encounter.
