Montreal is thataway.

Sometimes, here in the north country, we pretend we're in the tropics.

Montreal, 5111 km. Quadra, 6.

(Evening coffee at a beach shack, near the 50th parallel.)

Viewpoint

Rocks, green-clad hills, clouds, and a mini-lake.

From a high point on the road home (about 200 m. above sea level).

And the road meanders on, across the shoulder of the hill, heading up to Bull Lake.

More or less where we were.

While I've been gallivanting around the island (Campbell River and points west, east, north and south), my critters at home in the tank have been active. I'm working on a video of a hermit and her babies, which should be done by tomorrow.

And then there are all those other points (east, south, north) to look at. I will never catch up!

A dollar a head

Looking at the map of the Sunshine Coast shoreline, I would be hard put to find Smuggler's Cove. Not that it's all that hidden, but there are just so many deep cuts into the outline, places where long ages ago, rivers cut through the rock on their way to the mother ocean. But one of these inlets has earned the right to the name. SunshineCoastCanada tells the story:

This small, picturesque all-weather anchorage near Secret Cove has authentic pirate history. Following the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, William Kelly smuggled illegal Chinese immigrants from Vancouver into the US by sea for $1 each. He evaded arrest by hiding in Smuggler Cove. During Prohibition in the 1920s, the Cove was used to store bootleg liquor en route from stills on Texada Island to rum-running boats heading to the US.

Nowadays, it's a hide-away for vacationers, a good place for a summer cabin. It is still difficult to find; a small green sign on the highway points off to a road down the hill, which meanders about, crossing other winding roads, going down and down for 5 km. to the coast and a parking lot. A gap at one end of the lot leads to the beachhead.

A very private landing place.

Deep greens and blues.

There are about a dozen cabins in the woods and on the rocks around the cove.

Grasses on the rocks, and a view into Halfmoon Bay

The beach, what there is of it, is rocky, fringed by cast-up logs and broken driftwood. The water is crystal clear; standing on a rock above it, we could see a little seaweed at the bottom, rocks covered with barnacles and dark spots. We scrambled down to get a closer look, and realized that all those dark spots were small crabs. Tame crabs, or maybe just crabs unused to people; instead of hiding underneath the rocks, as they do around the Lower Mainland, they were nonchalantly sunning themselves under a few inches of water. Even our shadows, as we leaned over them, didn't disturb them. I poked at a few with a stick. They ambled away, not in any hurry.

Sample rock, with purple shore crabs. (Some purple shore crabs are green, and there are two white ones with purple legs in the photo.)

I turned over a few rocks on the shore. There were no crabs underneath.

Smuggler's Cove

More tomorrow. Happy Labour Day!

The two colours of the Sunshine Coast

Green:

Leaving Saltery Bay

And blue:

And heading south.

I've been busy, and I have an early morning ahead. Tomorrow, I'll post the details about the Rock Flipping Day.

Following the tide

Lone wader in a bright sea:

Squinting into the light, on Semiahmoo beach.

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We hurried; now we wait.

Sunshine Coast, Day two, Leg one: Earl's Cove ferry landing.

The Lower Sunshine Coast is connected to the mainland by two ferries, at the north and south ends. We pay to get there, about $35 for the car, but leaving is free. (If people had to pay to leave, maybe they'd just stay put, move in and put down roots.)

Our route to Vancouver Island included three ferry trips: from Horseshoe Bay to the Lower Sunshine Coast, at Langdale, off again at Earl's Cove, connecting to Saltery Bay on the Powell River peninsula, and then from the town of Powell River to Comox on Vancouver Island. We spent a lot of time at ferry landings.

We took the second sailing at Earl's Cove, getting to the landing at 9:30 AM, and loading at 10:30. An hour to kill, but the morning was cool and there was plenty to see.

Morning shadows, on the way to the ferry.

Earl's Cove.

Waiting for the ferry.

Squiggles on the water.

Unidentified weed.

Hawkweed.

A flowery bush.

Barnacles and reflections.

A handy map.

With mermaid and octopus.

Good to know.

And a saucy robin.

Finally, here she comes!

Our ferry here was the Island Sky, a smallish boat, carrying only 125 cars. (BC Ferries fleet, for comparison.) The trip takes just under an hour.

Next: water, rocks, and lichen.

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Photos through dirty windows

We still haven't replaced the car that was stolen a month ago; while the weather is decent, it won't hurt to walk a bit more, and use public transit for longer runs.

We had to go into Vancouver on Monday, which entailed several hours on a series of buses and the SkyTrain. I entertained myself (and probably some of the other passengers) by taking photos through the windows. Here are a few of the least blurry:

Tipsy. No wonder: I was holding my the camera above my head on a swaying bus. A fragment of Delta, and blue sky above.


The Fraser River, from the SkyTrain bridge, looking west.


Apartment buildings, somewhere in Burnaby. The train is entering a station, so the track is fenced.


Rooftops, and beyond, on the other side of the river, Burns Bog. Looking southwest.


Somewhere in Burnaby, looking south.


A freight train parking lot. New Westminster.


The Port Mann Bridge, from the SkyTrain Bridge. New Westminster-Surrey. Looking east.


The first support of the Alex Fraser bridge, from the Scott Road Station, looking west.


Almost home again: window of a supermarket, Delta.

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Beach Grove in the Sunshine

Just so I won't forget: this is what sunshine looks like. And it was barely a week ago!

(It seems as though it's been raining for much longer than that.)

"Oh, what a beautiful morning!"


Sweetly scented.


Red wagon.


Pink and white.


Brown butterfly with frayed wings.


Tidy yellow cottage.


Sundress at an alley-way sale.

Rosebush with reflecting window as background.

And maybe, just maybe, the sun will come out tomorrow. It's overdue.
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Srevotfel

When I was a kid, Mom often served us her specialty supper; she said it was a Swedish dish, and called it "Srevotfel".

It didn't fool us. Read that backwards, to see what we were getting.

So this post is "Srevotfel"; recent photos that didn't get posted with their companions.

Sky and sea, looking directly into the light. On the cliffs west of White Rock beach.


One lone pink cloud at dawn.


Reflected sky, at Boundary Bay beach.


Trees, right side up and upside down, at Cougar Creek Park.


The camera focused on the frame here, rather than the scene. Part of the problem may have been that I was poking the lens through the chain-link fence, at arms' length. But I like the result; it seems more like a painting than a photo.

Photos I wanted to take the other day ...

... but didn't. Because I was driving.

Anyhow, Hugh, over at Rock, Paper, Lizard, took them. And posted them on his blog. Here. (Down at the bottom, below his tales of woe. Ouch!)

These are the mountains that hedge the northern border of the Lower Mainland. The range continues on to the east; looking south, we have Mount Baker, and west, the ocean. Appropriate envy is permitted.

Quick Change Artist

Afternoon sea and sky, off Ocean Park beach.