Day 12: Sunshine Coast

Quote of the day:"Whenever I go over a bump, I think I'm going over a whale"

Haley, Estrella, and Christina with paddles

Estrella in her banana Kayak

Christina and Haley in the kayak

Outside of the Waldies' Home

Katherine and Mr.Waldie

Mr. Waldie's photo of KECH

Kitty(Kat) and Guinea Pig(Estrella)!

UFO(Haley) and Doggie(Xtina)!

Katherine and Christina next to the bridge and a fallen tree

When Haley crossed the river on a log

KECH next to a tiny waterfall

Bev and Estrella!

On our stump!

The morning began at 9 o’clock and after a light breakfast of granola and fruit Estrella, Christina and I were off the go on a two hour kayak excursion. Christina and I found ourselves in a brand new rented fiberglass double kayak while Estrella was in Bev’s single person kayak. After a quick lesson our fears of tipping over were relieved. Our kayak adventure quickly turned into a race Estrella’s boat was dubbed the banana as her boat was a bright yellow and she was also wearing a bright yellow life jacket. The cooperation between Christina and I in the double kayak was essential for us to get moving, at times it was difficult however the setting put all 3 of us in a giggly mood and after 2 hours and several collisions later we emerged from our trip untipped, with slightly tired arms, and smiling faces.

Bev had a prior lunch engagement with a couple of friends in the town of Gibsons which is a 25 minute drive from her home. We all loaded up in the Jeep to drop her off. As we pulled up to her friend’s home we realized this was no ordinary home. The property edged right up to the coast and the architecture of the house was something out of a magazine (looked a lot like the house in the movie The Proposal). The combination of an amazing ocean view, the seclusion of the property, and the beautiful looks of the home made us all agree that it would be the perfect vacation hideaway or place to retire. After a quick chat with Bev’s friends and quick tour we were off on our own to explore the town of Gibsons. Katherine was intrigued by Mr. Waldie's past as an art professor and had an engaging discussion with him.

We all walked around the main street about three times before finally deciding on a lunch spot called “The Waterfront”. The outside of the restaurant were all windows so we had an amazing view of the beach. The menu was fairly simple however we came across an item which was unfamiliar to us all: poutine. The waitress explained to us that it was French fries covered in gravy and cheese, we figured it to be the Canadian version of  In-n-out’s animal style fries. Being adventurous minded and rather hungry, I decided to order it. Overall lunch was hearty and one plus was that Christina ordered a veggie burger which she had been desperately craving since out departure from LA.

After lunch, while walking around the main street we looked at the trees on the sidewalk and noticed that they were absolutely covered, almost blanketed in ladybugs. After further investigation some locals carrying bags of ladybugs explained that they place the ladybugs on all the trees in order to get rid of the aphids: good bug eats bad bug, as they explained. Lavender was also abundantly growing and we all grabbed a few flowers to enjoy the scent: we entitled Americans thought it would be okay to snag a few bits of the plant.

We went back to pick up Bev from her lunch at the beautiful house and decided to go on a short hike to a waterfall. The foliage was abundant as always on the sunshine coast but this hike had a lot more water. And then there it was: the fallen log above the river. The log was just so perfectly placed, it was a makeshift bridge and my inner child took over and I leaped on to the log and crossed instead of crossing the actual man made bridge,despite worried concerns from the other girls. After hopping off the shakey log I realized I had fulfilled one of my dreams inspired by Mark Twain’s tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Our hike was short but was filled with beautiful scenery as always. Dinner was a heart taco feast followed by chocolate chip cookies. We are all looking forward to heading back to the States tomorrow!

Bests

• Christina found her stuff
• Not tipping the kayaks
• Hiking to the waterfall
• the Waldie's amazing home
• Having tea

Worsts

• Haley's poutine (better in theory)
• when Estrella tripped in the forest