Mileage today: 156 miles. Total miles: 5,757
Today we followed a longish route that included a magnificent highway plus two different ferries as we hopped north along the fjord like coast of British Columbia. Thank heavens the weather was back to being bright and sunny today.
We left Whistler at 9 and made our first stop at Brandywine Falls about 12 miles south. We were taking Rt. 99, The Sea to Sky Highway so called because it links Vancouver and the coast to Whistler and the mountains. There are many spectacular things to do along the way.
It was an easy hike from the day use carpark to the actual falls. A nice walk through the woods and across a railway line to the overlook. Very pretty falls cascading down to a pool beneath. There were two more viewpoints. One gave another view of the falls and the second gave a fantastic view over Daisy Lake and to Mt. Garibaldi aka The Black Tusk.
Tantalus Viewpoint was just a few miles on. Fantastic views over the snow covered Tantalus Range of mountains.
Our next stop was at Brackendale beside the river. It is a massive centre to see bald eagle’s who come to feast on the salmon. None visible today apparently its too early but we did observe some Squamish Indians fishing for salmon using nets and also several seals playing in the fast flowing river catching fish too. Pictures are on my main camera and I can’t access them till my laptop is available again. Grrrrr. I will add some more in then. It was so photogenic today.
Lunch stop was Tourneau Cove, a marine park and a hot spot for divers. There were lots there. We watched them a bit enviously. Looked very nice and lots of fish and 2 shipwrecks.
Our first ferry was from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. I’d booked and paid in advance. It was meant to go at 2:25 but was about 15 minutes late. Quite a big ferry. The journey was around 50 minutes and gave gorgeous island views all around us. There are loads of islets and larger islands. Fantastic sailing waters.
Once we landed at Langdale, it was a 75 minute drive north to Earls Cove to get our second ferry. That wasn’t till 6pm so we had about an hour to wait. This ferry was included in the price of the first one. It was a reasonable sized ship too. The second journey was around 40 minutes again past green undeveloped islands.
Finally we got to Saltery Bay and the last part of the journey, a 35 minute drive north to the town of Powell River. The sun was setting as we drove and it was a brilliant sunset. Blood red sky to the west. We were too hungry to stop.
We checked in at our hotel: The Old Courthouse, which is…… The old Courthouse. Its pretty quirky but comfortable. We dropped our stuff and headed to the nearest restaurant which happened to be Indian. We had such a lovely meal. A sort of thali, a sampler plate. All very yum and the naans were particularly good. One of the best Indian meals we’ve had outside India.
Pretty tired tonight but a very good day. Tomorrow we go to Vancouver Island. More adventures await.