Comox - Powell River - Saltery Bay - Earl's Cove - Madeira Park - Skookumchuck Narrows

On the 29th of July we left Vancouver Island. I was sad to take the ferry and to leave this magical island behind and I really hope I'll have the chance to go back at some later point in my life.

On the plus side, we got to ride the ferry twice that day and I really love ferries. It's such a great way to travel, you park your car, get on top of the ferry and enjoy the weather (I guess it would be a very different experience in bad weather, but we only had sunshine whenever we were on board). We met a family from Switzerland and they took this dangerous photo of all of us ;-)

Back on the mainland we drove down the Sunshine Coast. We missed the next ferry between Saltery Bay and Earl's Cove but I didn't mind waiting at all, it was a lovely spot, we had food and I had just started my From Vancouver Island with Love hat...

 

On the other side there were only a few kilometers left to our next accomodation - the Chateau Cedro Rosso in Madeira Park. This four bedroom "castle" was just amazing. Everybody had their own room with its own bath, there were three different living rooms, huge windows, a kitchen with everything, four balconies, a garden, sea view and I think our flat at home would have fit in at least twice. Too bad we only stayed for two nights, I could have spent much more time on that deck!

On the 30th we drove back for a little while and then we hiked to the Skookumchuck Narrows, where a huge amount of water must pass the Sechelt Narrows twice a day. We missed the peak of the tide and were about half an hour late, but it was still really impressive to see all those whitecaps and whirlpools.

It was about an hour each way to get there and back and because the weather had gotten really hot by then we were very happy to reach the Skookumchuck Bakery and Café at the end of the trail and stop for a delicious sandwich and some homemade ice teas.

And to end this blog post: This is one of my favourite photos of our road trip. All of us together and in a good mood. It wasn't like that all the time, we actually fought quite a bit. Being together 24/7 in a foreign land and with a different language was intense. I often felt a bit overwhelmed being the only adult and we often forgot to eat until we were terribly cranky or we were tired from all the impressions. But the good thing is that we made up and felt like a family again even after bad moments.