British Columbia

Leader: Tony Greenfield

The Sunshine Coast is well named as it benefits from being in the rainshadow of Vancouver Island, resulting in higher hours of sunshine and reduced precipitation. The area is the product of the last Ice Age, which ended about 12,000 years ago. The great glaciers flowing to the ocean scoured out the river valleys which were subsequently flooded by the rising sea level, creating the fabulous fjords of Howe Sound and Sechelt, Salmon,  Narrows, Jervis and Princess Louisa Inlets. The rising sea level also created the labrynthine landscape of islands, bays and coves that today give the Sunshine Coast its uniquely beautiful geography.

After the retreat of the ice the whole complex mess of mountains and islands was revegetated by the great, green cloak of the temperate Pacific rainforest. Today, the forests of Douglas fir, hemlock and cedar envelop all, except at the water’s edge, where the rocky bluffs are decorated with the complex arabesques of arbutus trees, an aberrant  species that is both deciduous and evergreen, loses its bark rather than its leaves, and when it does shed leaves it is in the summer rather than winter. (A strange beast this!).

On the Sunshine Coast land and water are inextricably linked together wherever you go.  Consequently, we will spend part of each day on the water, including outings to Princess Louisa Inlet, Jedediah Island, Thormanby Island and a sunset cruise to Hotham Sound. Princess Louisa Inlet is one of the world's great beauty spots, Erle Stanley Gardiner, creator of Perry Mason, once famously said of Princess Louisa “There is no use describing that Inlet. Perhaps an atheist could view it and remain an atheist, but I doubt it”.

During our days on the Sunshine Coast we will be staying at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort in Halfmoon Bay, just north of Sechelt. The resort has a spectacular location looking west over Malaspina Strait to Vancouver Island. This is a prime sunset viewing location. I recommend visiting the lodge website at www.rockwatersecretcoveresort.com to get a feeling for this great resort.

The meals on the tour will be one of the highlights you will remember about your Sunshine Coast experience. Breakfasts will be at Rockwater Resort, lunches will be gourmet picnics, dinners will be taken at the best of local restaurants to afford a sample of the culinary delights available on the Sunshine Coast. Our evening dining experiences will be at Rockwater Resort, Ruby Lake Resort and the West Coast Wilderness Lodge.

All meals and gratuities are included in the tour price.