We are in the midst of an experiment. D is still going to be working for another couple of years and because this is a new company for him, he only gets 3 weeks holiday when previously we had gotten used to many more weeks than that. He spends one week doing humanitarian work in a northern community and his remaining two weeks with me in Isla Mujeres. So come the fall, he has not been on vacation for nine months and he is itching for a break.

In the mean time, the city of Winnipeg has recently changed the bi-laws surrounding Air BnBs and we have hit the maximum number of weeks that we can rent out our home and still have it be our principal residence. So, since we enjoy residing at the lake so much and our city house would sit empty, D has us participating in a Home Exchange program. This summer, two families from BC have stayed at our home in the Winnipeg and we are now in BC to stay in theirs. In addition, my friend Nancy who I have known for decades once asked me to visit her at her ocean side home at Pernder on the Sunshine Coast. Since D can work from anywhere in Canada, he is currently at work in a second house on this breathtaking property.

D has had this time booked since Mother’s Day when he acted on a West Jet ticket sale. We flew to Vancouver on a Thursday evening. Even with the gain in time of a couple of hours, it was late when we arrived at our Richmond Air BnB that night. The next morning D was at work by 8:30 Winnipeg time which was 6:30 Pacific Time. He had to work until 2 Winnipeg time that day and that is when Nancy came to fetch us to accompany us up to the Sunshine Coast.

We had been to Vancouver on numerous occasions as it was Head Office for both the businesses that D and I worked for. But we could not believe the change in the downtown skyline. Chock full of high rises with cranes everywhere indicating even more building.

Once we had crossed the iconic Lion’s Gate Bridge, we toured West Vancouver where Nancy grew up, stopping for a moment under the bridge. I found out as a result of posting a picture of the bridge on Facebook, that one of my grandfather’s had worked on the bridge. Small world.

The vistas of West Vancouver were familiar to me and I realized that I had participated in an Aids Walk in the neighborhood many years previous. In fact, Daughter #1 now almost 40 years old, had been with me as a 6 or 7 year old.

Nancy, who makes the trip to the Sunshine Coast often, was clever enough to make a ferry reservation for us. Being the Friday before a long weekend the ferry and harbour were very busy. What a lovely way to travel though.

Landing in Gibson’s Harbour, that too was familiar to us. We had just started watching a weekly TV show called “Murder in a Small Town” that had been filmed in the area (in fact we will watch it again this evening).

We stopped in Seschelt for groceries and libations and continued on our way. Once we drove onto Nancy’s property I was blown away by the natural beauty of the forest.

We stopped for a couple of minutes at the first house that had been built on the property.

There was a sheer drop from the trees to the ocean.

The view from inside or outside of the “Small” house was sublime

As we approached the “Big” House, I understood the luxuriousness of our anticipated stay.

This was the beautiful room that Nancy assigned to us

with this amazing view.

The weather was glorious on our arrival day, so we enjoyed the wrap around deck and the views (and in my case), a chilled glass of Prosecco!

The trees against the pastel sky were a perfect way to cap off our day.

We knew that these water formations were an indication of some kid of activity. We didn’t specifically know what had made them though.

The table was set for a delicious feed of shrimp and capers with ziti, washed down beautifully with the prosecco. What an amazing and wonderful day!

Kath’s quote: “A holiday is an opportunity to journey within“.-Probhas

Love never fails.

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