This past weekend we had a little less conversation a little more action (please). As mentioned in a previous post, we typically plan vacations, but not all aspects. And recently, we decided to go on a spur of the moment weekend trip to BC’s Sunshine Coast, planning only our hotel and going reservation-less for a spot on the BC Ferry – a risky maneuver for a Friday afternoon. But everything on BC’s Sunshine coast was…
SKOOKUM!
Going into a destination with very little knowledge is fun, but you can miss out on stuff, and when we arrived in Gibson’s we discovered something – we were in the town that the TV show, the Beachcombers, was filmed. Now, before you go saying “What? Mr. Walking Book of useless facts didn’t know that”. Nope, I didn’t – I just knew the Beachcombers was filmed somewhere in BC. Shelly and I both knew the show and some characters, the main storyline, probably caught a few episodes over the years, but I couldn’t recall what one episode was about. To be fair, the same can be said about the Littlest Hobo, but I’ll wait Until Tomorrow to discuss that one.
Anyway, while walking the streets of Gibsons we snagged a shot of Molly’s Reach and the boat Persephone, both used as scenes/props for the show. We then ventured on to where else – the Persephone Brewery – for some craft beer. BC’s craft beer scene is pretty skookum, and like the rest of North America, it’s becoming increasingly popular to brew some craft beer. So we like to take advantage of said craft beer (and beer tours too).
After a flight of beers and purchasing some travellers it was off for a relaxing night at our B&B, complete with fantastic view and hot tub. Our dogs were barking, and my legs were sore from the leg workout I did that morning, so this hot tub was pretty skookum!
The next day we opted to drive west to the town of Sechelt where, evidently, the entire cast of Cocoon decided to settle. It’s funny when you experience a culture shock, like when you arrive in Vancouver the first thing non-Asians might say is “wow, there’s a lot of Asian people here”. And that’s probably racist-sounding, but it’s true – there are many. And it’s okay to think this or whisper it to your spouse, it’s merely an observation…much like a Sechelt, where I whispered to my wife “wow, there’s a lot of old people here”.
A short drive from the Greater Sechelt Area is Porpoise Bay, where we took a peak at the mediocre views, then moved along – nothing to see here. After Sechelt it was some winding road-tripping along the Sunshine Coast Highway. We made a few stops, but the ultimate destination was Skookumchuck Narrows to check out something pretty unique – the Skookumchuck Rapids. The difference in water levels on either side of the rapids can exceed two metres in height – that’s over 6.6 feet, or one Michael Jordan. And the speed of the water can flow faster than 30 km’s an hour…oddly that’s the speed limit driving through the Main and East Hastings area of Vancouver.
As I was about to write-off Skookumchuck Rapids as a pretty non-skookum place after an hour hike in, Shelly waved me over to a little eddy and pointed out some starfish and other marine life who made their home just out of reach of the Skookumchuck rapids, and that made the destination pretty skookum.
All that marine life had me hankering from some sushi, followed by another hot tub to soothe those tried legs – two hours of hiking after leg day will do that to a guy – especially when that guy (me) has scrawny chicken legs! But after our tub there was still time to take half a bottle of wine down to the beach and enjoy a pretty skookum sunset…
Now, as I mentioned we didn’t plan much on this trip, but when we got in line for the ferry to the Sunshine Coast we noticed how busy it was getting, and that others had to wait for the next one. So we jumped online for return ferries and the afternoon sailings were all booked – not skookum! So we booked the 8:45 pm sailing so we could enjoy as much time on the coast as possible.
Our Sunday started off with a sleep in, then a steam shower which our B&B had…then it was a drive to Roberts Creek Pier. Old people are funny. Not funny haha, or a Joe Pesci-like clown funny, they just like to strike up conversations with strangers and tell you about the past, their life, and in this case at Roberts Creek – how we should vote!
Jokes aside, an older fella did chat us up, and we enjoyed the conversation – his tidbits on what brought him to the Sunshine Coast, how terrible Nanaimo is, and so on. It worked up an appetite, so it was time for a picnic on the beach, then onward and upward for another hike – this time up Soames Hill for some picturesque views. Soames Hill is a shorter hike, but a steep ascent up some well-crafted (and much welcomed) stairs. The view is spectacular and you don’t have to be an expert hiker to enjoy the trails here. Talk about a calf workout though!
All hiked out, it was time to just chill and enjoy some scenery back in Gibsons…like the Persephone…again. Okay, confession, we both wished we were able to reserve an earlier ferry back, because we were done with the coast by mid afternoon. Luckily we found a secluded spot to enjoy some sunshine at Georgia Beach.
We loved the peace and tranquility of the coast, but we were hiked out, hot tubbed out, and skookum’d out. And just our luck, the last ferry was running late that day. Oh well, not everything can go as planned, and not everything is going to be skookum all the time!
Now go sell all your stuff and find something skookum to do!