12th Day - Sunshine Coast

April 19, 2023

We had planned for a relaxed day without any special excursions to specific destinations. We wanted to enjoy our accommodation and explore the area a bit, and I was already looking forward to a short daily report. But this extraordinary country and our trip always have a few stories up their sleeves. So here are a few lines about what was planned for today and what happened. First, in the morning, we were still relatively full from last night, so we definitely didn't want to have another monster breakfast with eggs, bacon, and pancakes. That's why we drove to a small grocery store (with prices that make your head spin, like half a pound of butter for €4.20!!) and bought some items for a light breakfast. To digest the price shock, we went to a small national park beforehand and took a walk to a beautiful enchanted bay, of which there are countless here. Because we are on a peninsula here, and no matter where you go, you always come across the sea.

Afterwards, we had the aforementioned breakfast in our suite, including watching "Rosamunde Pilcher" on the ZDF Mediathek 😅 followed by the Champions League for me ⚽️ and exploring the surroundings for Brigitte🚶‍♀️. And since both activities were quite exhausting, we put on bathrobes afterwards and went into the hot tub, with a view over the bay, even though it was 7 degrees Celsius outside.

Brigitte, as always well-prepared, presented several options for a nice dinner in the evening. So we drove, just around the corner by Canadian standards, to the town of Sechelt, which is beautifully situated between two ocean bays ("village between two waters"). And since the "Sunshine Coast" lived up to its name from the afternoon on, the drive along the coast was already a fantastic experience in itself, with bright sunshine and deep blue skies.

Arriving in Sechelt, we took advantage of the beautiful weather for a short walk through a lovely park by the sea, where, as in almost all parks here, there is a bench inviting you to linger on every corner. All benches are marked with a small inscription indicating who donated or dedicated the bench. By the way... no matter where we walk or drive, everyone greets us, smiles at us, or waves to us warmly. A very friendly and relaxed bunch, these Canadians. Of course, this may also be because "grass" (marijuana/cannabis) can be bought completely legally here and there are shops everywhere where you can buy everything from cookies to pre-rolled joints 😎👍🏻

As hunger slowly set in, we quickly went to the "Twenty Two Tap House" that we had chosen. It's a large sports bar with great food, ice-cold beer, and 10 big screens showing ice hockey 🏒 or baseball ⚾️. With the drive back to the hotel in the low-lying evening sun, we ended the day, but not before visiting our seal friends 🦭 in the marina once again.

Tomorrow, most likely in the snow, we're heading to the mountains to Whistler.