First Stop, Gibsons
I vaguely remember the last time I had visited the Sunshine Coast: I was probably in my early teens, and I went with both my family and my parents’ friends and their family. What I do recall, though, is sitting on the docks watching the sun set among the water and hills, and feeling particularly calm. It’s strange to think it took around a decade before I would visit the Sunshine Coast again.
A couple weeks back it was the Canada Day long weekend, and Alex and I thought we would have a weekend getaway. I suggested the Sunshine Coast, because it had been so long since I was last there. Because we didn’t have a car, and because transit was available, we did just that: took the bus. We got to Horseshoe Bay on Saturday morning where the ferries departed and walked on as foot passengers. Forty minutes later we were at Langdale Terminal. We hopped on a bus and off we went to Gibsons. The buses here don’t display the stops, so the entire time I was tracking by GPS where we were on Google Maps in order to get off at the right stop.
First stop, Gibsons. This coastal town is often called the “Gateway to the Sunshine Coast” and its claim to fame is being the filming location for The Beachcombers, a long-running and popular Canadian TV series back in the 70s and 80s. One of the restaurants that was featured as a café in the show, Molly’s Reach, is still present in Gibsons and is very popular with tourists.
We strolled along the main road until we reached our Airbnb. Overlooking the waters with Keats Island just across, it was a beautiful location. It turned out that we were the first guests to stay at this Airbnb, and I was beyond excited to find that the walls inside were freshly painted in my favourite colour (turquoise/Tiffany blue). The guesthouse was perfect; our hosts provided us with everything we needed; the views were beautiful; and we were within walking distance to the town center.
Our first Airbnb for the weekend.
We spent the rest of that day walking around, exploring the beaches along Gibsons. We treated ourselves to delicious gelato at Mike’s Place as a midday snack before meandering along onto the pier and watching boats going in and out of the cove. For dinner, we enjoyed delectable mussels at Smitty’s Osyter House while sitting on their patio, on a very large bench table squeezed in with many other customers. It was hard not to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, as we were all so close together. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed ourselves.
On the pier in Gibsons Landing.
In the evening, we were trying to decide whether we could grab some more drinks before heading back to the airbnb, when I noticed a “Gibsons Tapworks” on my Google Maps. “Look!” I said to Alex, who promptly agreed that that was the place to be that evening.
It was the perfect little spot, with views of the water (come to think of it, every place we went to had great views) and supremely friendly staff. Alex and I each had a few beers to while the evening away.
“Is it just me or are all of the people here, and on Bowen Island, and on Vancouver Island… just really, really friendly?” Alex asked. It appeared to be so.
Fingers Crossed We Don’t Capsize
The next day was to be an activities-filled day. We had brunch at the Drift Café and Bistro (yet again, stunning views from the patio), and then headed off to the kayak rental shop. Days before we even arrived on the Sunshine Coast, I asked Alex if he wanted to go kayaking. He suggested we follow a tour, so that we would be with people who knew what they were doing, learn things we wouldn’t otherwise, and also have help if we capsized. Except… we felt the tour was a bit outside our budget. In the end, we decided to go with renting our own kayaks. (We’ve both had a little bit of experience kayaking, but I wouldn’t say we knew how to flip it back up if a particularly strong wave were to knock us over.) Risk it for the biscuit.
I’ll admit I was slightly tentative about paddling all the way across to Keats Island, as it was on the windier side that day, and I started to feel the waves get stronger underneath us as we paddled away from the sheltered cove. It didn’t help that the coffee I drank that day was quickly filling up my bladder again. After about an hour of paddling, we had made our way across the Shoal Channel right up along Keats Island and took a quick break behind what was appropriately named the Shelter Islets. Looking at where the wind was coming from, we determined the quickest and least “dangerous” route back to the cove. (So, apparently it is better to paddle across the lines of the waves at an angle than to be paddling parallel to them, as you would be more easily flipped over.) I was starting to get the hang of it though, and feeling more relaxed (as relaxed as you can be when 50% of your brain energy is focused on how full your bladder is), while I was sitting in the back steering the kayak. We made it back to the shore just in time, and I ran back up the hill to find a washroom.
We didn’t just work our upper bodies kayaking that day though, we were planning to hike up Soames Hill as well. After a quick stop at Gramma’s Pub for some food and a drink, we headed to the trailhead for Soames Hill. It wasn’t a long hike, taking less than an hour to climb to the top, but it was rather steep with many steps near the end (but only a fraction of the Grouse Grind!), so we got pretty sweaty. The view at the top was stunning though. We could see the entire route we took while kayaking, from Gibsons across to Keats Island, including the Shelter Islets. Seeing it from above made me realize that we actually paddled pretty far in the two hours (far for me, as a beginner).
At the top of Soames Hill.
Feeling the raindrops as it started raining on our way down.
It wasn’t long before another young couple joined us. Unfortunately, it became clear that they were there so the girl could take photos, as we listened to her berate her boyfriend for not taking better pictures. After we got back down to the bottom of the hill it had started to rain, and we sped-walked to Persephone’s, a craft brewery that also grew their own hops. We spotted a deer grazing among all the hops, unfazed by the people who were trying to take photos of it, us included. After one beer, we took a cab back to Gibsons Landing as we were nowhere near a bus stop and it was still raining quite a bit. We stopped at Buono Osteria for dinner (I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but they sat us by the windows and we enjoyed an excellent view even though it was raining) and then headed back to the Airbnb for the evening.
Great views from our dinner table.
A Llama, Some Spiders, and Too Many Missed Buses
The next morning I headed out while Alex was getting ready to grab some coffee and breakfast to eat on our Airbnb patio. Soon after, we set off to catch the bus to Roberts Creek, a quiet community between Gibsons and Sechelt. As we were still early for our check-in, we got off at Roberts Creek Pier and splashed around on the beach, visible as it was low tide. To me, it is rare to find a beach here with fine sand that is not littered with broken shells and other debris (as the Vancouver beaches often are); this beach was beautiful though – I felt comfortable taking off my shoes to walk in the sand.
A Great Blue Heron stands watching.
At the Roberts Creek Pier.
Our Airbnb was on a working exotic fruit farm, and one of the main reasons I picked it was because there was a llama. When we got there, we walked up the lane and I soon spotted the llama. Curious, it trotted our way to the edge of its enclosure, close enough to touch. With big round eyes and a smile on its face, it immediately stole my heart! We headed on towards the cottage and were greeted by Annette, our host. She was very friendly and got us settled in right away. While we perused our new home for the night, looking at photographs and books, we somehow deduced that Annette’s late husband was the famous Canadian Mountaineer John Clarke. How incredible!
Inside our second Airbnb home.
This very cute llama greeted us as we arrived.
We lazed around in the cottage for a couple of hours before walking back to the bus stop to go back to Roberts Creek Pier. Unfortunately, it appeared we had missed the bus we were supposed to catch and the next one would not be for another 80 minutes. We didn’t feel like walking along the highway for forty-five minutes to our destination so we called a cab.
The difference a few hours made! The beach we had previously been splashing around on was completely submerged under water. Originally, we had been planning to watch the sunset from the beach. It didn’t matter though; the sunset was still beautiful to watch from the pier.
Watching the sunset at Roberts Creek Pier.
Standing at the bus stop once again, it was now dark and we were hoping to catch the last bus back. Except we suddenly realized that because it was a holiday, the buses were likely on weekend service. Which meant no more buses were coming. Dismayed, I tried to call a cab again.
I first dialed the number to the Gibsons cabs. “Oh, we’re pretty backed up right now, why don’t you try the Sechelt number first and if that doesn’t work call back.”
I dial the Sechelt number. “Ah, I could get there maybe in like half an hour, but I’ve got two people before you. Why don’t you try this number instead: ___”
Finally, I dial the third number. “Alright, I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have a car in a small town.
That night I would discover that many of the corners of the cottage housed spiders (harmless, Annette assured me later), which I was personally disturbed by. Being the hero that he is (he made sure I knew), Alex caught a few of the more prominent ones and let them out the door. I still didn’t sleep easy that night and also was too spooked by the spiders to even shower. As much as I liked the rest of the cottage, I was glad to be going home the next day.
The Sunshine Coast is absolutely beautiful, and when I go again, I think I would take a car to be able to travel up further to Sechelt and more. Even if I didn’t take a car, Gibsons itself is still a wonderful place to spend a day or a few in, and easy enough to get to!
Here's a short video of our weekend getaway!
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