April’s aunt and uncle live close to Halfmoon bay, north of Vancouver on the Sechelt Peninsula. This area is also called the Sunshine Coast. We went for a two day visit along with April’s grandmother. There are no direct roads to Halfmoon bay from Vancouver so ferries are the used to ferry people, bicycles, cars and trucks across. I was shocked to see the prices that the ferry charges. As this is most people’s main or only method of transport to the mainland, I though it might be subsidised. It might be, but still expensive.
We arrived at April’s uncle & aunt’s place after a beautiful drive in between trees or along the water. Their house is mostly made out of wood. I loved it. Using that much wood in South Africa would cost you a small fortune, but this is close to lumber areas. April’s uncle used to build houses and it showed in the construction. What was very amusing is his business’ name. Their surname is Badley, so he called his company “Badley built corp.” What a sense of humour :)
Shortly after arriving the cat decided that it wanted to “play” with a little bird. This incident was spotted before the bird became a meal. Cat locked away, April showed off her birding skills she learned while doing bird banding. See the proper technique demonstrated below. There wasn’t much visible damage, but once set down the bird didn’t make a run for it. We suspect that the cat had played just a little too hard.
The Badley's quite enjoy sailing…and they had a trimaran :) I asked if we could go for a sail, which was well received. So we went down to the boat the next day to check it out. She has nice lines, but the weirdest/most interesting thing was that the mast doesn't have stays…and rotates! Pretty cool, but I would’ve wanted to see it in action. There was NO wind :( So we went for a hike instead.
April had to do a tour in Ireland to find out about one of the best standing waves in Canada, just around the corner from the Badleys. The spot is called “Skookumchuck” Narrows (meaning “Strong water”) at Sechelt inlet. We timed our hike through the forest perfectly catching the rising tide at its peak. Needless to say that we, by that I mean me, went crazy with photos and videos. The guys were doing some sick moves. Since this wave is not dependant on weather conditions, but tidal variation, it is very dependable. So there are quite a couple of people that come down with organised tours. You can’t be a novice :) Since it was my birthday, we went for drinks on the water with a great view just as the sun was setting. And on arrival back home, I was surprised with a piece of birthday cake. Very nice :)
View from the ferry – An artist with a sense of humour – April showing off her bird handling skills
The Badley residence – Proof of the company name :) – Their trimaran
Map of Skookumchuck narrows – A tea house on the way…in the middle of nowhere – The path – Great views along the trail
Surfs up – Kayakers waiting their turn – Chilling at our vantage point
Small marina where we had drinks on my birthday – Me with my birthday cake
