B.C. - Powell River, Sunshine Coast (and Sea Lions!)

 When we stopped at the Tourist Info office yesterday (and came home laden with maps and brochures),Valentine Mountain Trail was recommended.

"A gentle incline" she said. Hah, maybe gentle to her (a 20 something)

 

" The last bit is steep, but don't worry, there are stairs" she was a master of the understatement.

But she was certainly right

that the views

were worth it.

While we were there we met a local, a young woman who worked for BC Ferries. She told us where we could see Sea Lions. We could actually hear them barking from up on the mountain.

Back down to the car and we drove in to the old section of Powell River, by the paper mill, to find the beach she had told us about.

 

There they were, lying around on the left over log booms

near "The Hulks" (more on those later)

They were incredibly noisy,

constant barking.

It was impossible to tell how many were out there

as some were up, barking and jousting, and many more

were lying around, mixed in with some Harbour Seals

and still others were in the water. We ate our sandwiches accompanied by the "Sea Lion Chorus"

and then drove into "the historic townsite" . This was declared a National Historic District in 1995.

The Powell River Paper Company was founded in 1909 and the town was laid out for its employees. The mill built and owned all the houses, cinema, town hall etc. It reminded us a lot of Clarkdale, where we stayed in Arizona. It was of the same era and philosophy though that was a mining town.

Looking towards the sea

the mill dominates but

the homes

and public buildings are attractive and well built.

We were lucky to be able to go inside the Patricia Theatre, built in 1928 and still operating as a theatre.

Driving back towards modern Powell River we were able to get a good view of the Hulks. These are cement and metal ships that are sunk/anchored to provide a breakwater that protects the logs for the paper mill.

B.C. - On to Powell River, Sunshine Coast

 We were up at 7am, left the house by 8:30 to get in line by 9:30 for the 10:30 ferry from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay. A drizzly, misty drive, with sea fog rolling in and blanketing the mountains.

Luckily we had had our coffee and breakfast before leaving, as the little restaurant here was closed.

 

We were second in line and gradually the waiting area filled. We talked to one guy, originally from Ireland, who was going to walk part of the South Coast Trail, camping, with his young labrador retriever. 

Here she comes.

We grabbed a coffee and blueberry scones from the cafe on board before bundling up and heading out on deck. One of the signs had said that whales and dolphins are sometimes sighted from the ferry so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

Apart from a couple of seals we saw no wildlife but spectacular scenery, with moody cloud and fog effects.

The last four days we had been exploring this section from Horseshoe Bay to Earls Cove.

A fifty minutes ride and then we were off and on to the Northern section of the Sunshine coast.

The next 4 days we would be exploring this section from Saltery Bay to Lund.

Not far up the road and there was a sign for a Salmon river. We stopped and walked around. It was obviously a hatchery and demonstration centre but it was closed.

The fish didn't know that and we saw some jumping and pushing their way up the rapids and dams.

The Heron was looking for a meal and we were told that a bear had been their earlier.

Powell River wasn't far and we checked with our AirBnB host to see if it was OK to get there early.

Lovely views and a 

sweet little apartment

a few kms outside of town.

We went grocery shopping, checked out the Visitors Centre and
 

ate out lunch down by the marina.

Unloaded the groceries, got settled and it was time for a "fizzy water",

beer, then

wine

on the deck,

where there is an excellent BBQ. So marinated some chicken breasts in Italian dressing to have with steamed broccoli for supper.

An evening walk 

down to the water, 

eat our complimentary chocolates and I think it will be an early night.