Sunshine Coast

5,150 km  

Ahoy! I have not posted in quite some time as work has kept me busy over the last month. But I have gotten up to a few interesting things such as a few hikes up Mt. Gardiner on Bowen Island, and a hike up Lynn peak.

Today though, I am just on my way back from the Sunshine Coast. This weekend I decided after a long work week to take some time and tour up to Pender Harbour to check out where my dad's family would vacation to while living in Vancouver. Also I really wanted to do some camping and just relax out of the city, the weather was right, so I took my opportunity early on Sunday morning and caught a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons.

To find my way up to Pender Harbour on Sunday took a great deal of patience as I meandered my way up the coast. It took me a total of 4 rides to get from Langdale Ferry terminal to Madeira Park, but I embraced it with stops along the way and lots of time to take in my surroundings.

One of those stops was in Roberts Creek with a gentleman named Masih and his mother. They drove me down to the small town of Roberts Creek which was a unique little town. The town itself grew with an influx of draft dodgers during the Vietnam War, and these days it still resonates that vibe, despite a lot of new comers to the area.

At the foot of the actual creek, there are some beautiful beaches that get hit with tons of sun. most interestingly, between the carpark and the beach there is a giant Mandala painted on the pavement. Annually the town and visitors from around the globe gather to paint this massive piece of art with each small section telling a different story from a different individual. 
 

For some cool aerial shots and more info on the Roberts Creek Mandala visit http://robertscreekmandala.org/

After Roberts Creek I found my way up the coast to Halfmoon Bay, another small seaside town with a neat historic general store, where I stopped to pick up some supplies. While waiting on the road for rides at several locations including Halfmoon Bay I was able to take advantage of bountiful harvest of blackberries from the side of the road. So tasty!

When I reached Madeira Park, I took a walk about town and adventured down the road south a bit until I found a great place to camp just off the rocky ocean shore. The view was great and I even took a cold swim in the morning to freshen up. I didn't linger in the water for long as it was so cold! 

The next day I moved on back down the coast to Smugglers Cove Provincial Park. It was free to camp at the park in the designated camp spots and I was the only camper there. The park does not offer an extensive trail network but for the trails it does have it offers amazing views of the ocean. While wandering amongst the massive Douglas Fir trees and Arbutus trees in the forest you will find many great views overlooking the cove and the Georgia Straight.

 

Historically the park gets its name from the infamous smuggler and pirate Larry Kelly whom used the cove to hide out and smuggle Chinese workers to the United States for 1$ person. It is also said that during the prohibition the cove was used to store barrels of liquor destined for the USA. 
 

My only qualm with the park was how busy it was, here is a lot of day time foot traffic from the sail boats moored in the cove and locals driving up for a forest walk. Though once 8pm rolled around the park was quiet and only a few people were seen after that. After dinner I took a hike up to the northern point of the park where there are plenty of great rock outcropping's to watch the sunset from. 

 

In the morning I enjoyed a massive breakfast right on the water overlooking the cove, and made my way back out to the highway and eventually back to the Langdale ferry terminal. 

 

Overall for a short three day trip I saw a lot of the Sunshine Coast and its people. The people that gave me rides were of all walks of life. Locals of young and old, retirees, and folks only recently moved to the area. These folks were all kind natured and full of helpful tips and stories(Including a 20 minute ride filled with all the local Sasquatch stories). These people are a testament to how beautiful and welcoming the Sunshine Coast is!

W

Seattle - Cascadia Qualifier

5,001 km

The last weekend of June saw me and many other polo players from around Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia head to Seattle for the annual Cascadia Qualifier. The top nine teams from this tournament book there spot in the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship, this year to be held in Minneapolis, USA.

Before the tournament began I make the trek down to Everett to Play with my teammates Jared and Jeremy. I stayed with Jared, his wife Heidi, and there daughter Poppy for two nights in the older area of Everett Washington. 

  

While I was there we played polo one evening, Catan another, went to the Diamond Knot Brew Pub in Mukliteo Washington, and drove by the largest building in the world by volume(The Boeing Factory in Everett). In Mukliteo we had lunch and wandered around a bit and took a look at the old historic lighthouse. Here are some pictures of my stay in Everett, WA.

On the Friday I migrated into Seattle and hung around for the day in Capitol hill and then met up with my host for my stay there, Ryan. Ryan is the vocalist and guitarist in one of my favorite bands, Addaura. I went to one of his shows at the Black Lodge on Saturday night and it was killer. Nice to see and meet a band that I have listened to a lot from almost 5,000km away.

The tournament kicked off on Saturday morning with 5 games played that day. We did not fair so well but we were playing some of the best teams in the world. We ended the day 1-4 and had lots of fun and improved a lot.

Sunday was the final day of polo and we played two games and lost them both. We had lots of fun while playing and gave both teams a run for their money. The rest of the day was spend drinking, heckling, and watching some intense polo. 

Overall it was a highly memorable five days. Here are some misc photos from around town.
 

W

Vancouver Island

4,771 km

Nanaimo and Mount Benson

I arrived in Nanaimo on Thursday night and spent a day in and around town. I stayed at the painted turtle guesthouse which was a great and cheep hostel in Nanaimo. 

I decided to take in some outdoors on my own to decompress a little and headed out to hike Mount Benson. I headed up early and already the cloud cover was thick and low, but it did not stop me. I decided to give it a try and hope the sun pops out and visibility improves. 



I got to about the 2,000ft level just after a gruelling steep rock exposure area that you must pull yourself up with ropes. It was fun! Once I got to this point I decided to turn back as visibility did not improve and was not worth teeming on.

I head back to Nanaimo and picked up a six pack of beer and hung out on an embankment in Maffeo Sutton Park and ate lunch and a Nanaimo Bar. The park offers great views of the harbour and surrounding islands, and it was cool to watch all the sea planes take off and land!

Summer Solstice

Later I caught a ride with Mattis from couch surfing down to a summer solstice party near lake Cowichan. The party was fun with great food, music, morning yoga on a lake, and great people. We all camped there and I chose a remote spot to set up camp in the quiet surround of the forest. 


I onlly have this one photo from the solstice party. Haha.

At the party I met Ruth, Malinda, and Dominique and as a group we drove down to Victoria with a stop to hike at Goldstream Provincial Park to climb Mt. Findlay. 

Mt. Findlay offers some great views of Victoria, the Jaun de Fuca straight, and the day we were up there we could even see the Olympic Mountains over in Washington State. A great ending to the longest day of the year.

Victoria

I spent Sunday milling about and taking in the scenes from around Victoria. I started by walking downtown and checking out Chinatown and the surrounding hood. I found a neat little cigar shop called Goodfellas Cigar Shop. The shop has a great selection of cigars, pipe tobacco, pipes from England and Ireland, and even hot sauces! This was not your typical tobacco vendor.

 Next I found a nice bakery called Cascadia Bakery, and it offers a wide selection of pastries, breads, beverages, and sandwiches at reasonable prices.

I then went to the Swans Liquor store and picked up a bomber of Philips White IPA and wandered along the waterfront and across the historic draw bridge to Songhees point.

Songhees Point offers a spectacular view of the Victoria harbour, downtown and the parliament of BC. I sat on the rock bluffs and drank my beer and watched as the ships, rowers, planes, and even a little pirate boat drifted by.

Swans brewpub was my next stop. Being in the craft brewing capital of Canada, I felt I should take I. A bit of the great craft beer there is to offer. Swans brewpub is on pandora street and has an awesome and bright glass enclosed patio and awesome beer. There is also a hotel upstairs if you can't find your way home. 

Now it is Monday and I'm going to head back to Vancouver this afternoon, but I will go for another walkabout through Victoria and discover some more gems hopefully.

W