Day 16 - The Sunshine Coast Powell River to Gibsons
We had arrived at our lodge well after dark so didn't have any idea what Powell River looked like but had a pleasant surprise in the morning that there was a little marina right there outside of our room. I got to see a tug boat pulling a long raft of logs to the local pulp mill.
After coffee and a pastry in a local shop, we took a bit of time to drive around Powell River. Its a little different vibe as a more working class town rather than the retirement meccas on Vancouver Island.
A point of interest at the paper mill is a floating break wall comprised of concrete ships from WWII. These recycled ships are ballasted to make them float low and anchored in deep water to make a safe harbour for boats to deliver logs in rafts!
We had another ferry to catch to get to our destination for tonight so we couldn't spend too much time in Powell River so moved on south along the Sunshine Coast Highway.
I was another beautiful day to take the 1 1/2 hour ferry ride between Saltery Bay and Earl's Cove.
Leaving Saltery Bay...
We say several of these fish farms along the way....
After we finished with the ferry, we stopped at Pender Harbour and found some sailboats finishing a race.
Next stop was Sechelt for a light lunch. We noticed that there were more vacation homes along the water and they were getting bigger. This is probably due to their proximity to the Greater Vancouver area.
Our motel for tonight is in the town of Gibsons near the ferry to Horseshoe Bay. This was going to be an early morning (in the dark) adventure because we had to take the first one of the day as every other one was booked (poor trip planning).
We went downtown to the waterfront for supper and found the town alive with folks walking the pier and filling a multitude of restaurants. I think this might be a bit of a weekend destination if you live in Vancouver and want to get to the Sunshine Coast for the weekend. We found a nice Mexican Cantina for supper.
We returnd to the motel and went to bed early in anticipation of the 5:15 alarm to get up to get to the ferry for Horseshoe Bay. Ughhh.
