2023 Canada – On the road to Whistler

With our ferry leaving Schwartz Bay at 9 o’clock we had to get up a bit earlier. I ordered an ‘in-room’ breakfast of sausages and eggs, which is my normal breakfast. I got sausages, eggs, grilled potato, thick toast, jam and grilled tomato. I’m sure the hotel means well, but with the exception of the toast and jam (Deb had that), the other extras went to waste.

Deb had given some strict instructions (a request) to concentrate on photographing houses on the way back. I decided I’d use my bigger zoom lens to see if I could do better that the way over. For those who care it’s a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and I thought the results were pretty good. Here’s a few of the houses.

No whales on the trip back, but certainly an opportunity to enjoy the scenery that this part of the world offers. There was a lot of smoke haze around today from the recent bushfires. As usual Deb struck up a conversation inside the ferry (out of the wind) while I was out photographing … more Australians, this time from Sydney.

Once back on shore we caught a taxi back to the city to have some lunch and pick up a rental car. Lunch was at an Italian place next to the car rental place, so we both had a carbonara to fuel us for some ‘wrong side of the road’ driving. The biggest challenge I have is spatial awareness on the right-hand side. On a previous occasion, I managed to lose a wing mirror by drifting a bit too far to the right. Luckily these days most cars have the lane detection function that beeps when I drift too far.

It was pretty easy to get onto highway 99, the Trans-Canada Highway and then it’s 135 kms to Whistler which will be our next overnight destination. One could usually assume would be about 90 minutes drive. One thing we learnt today was that all highways seem to suffer explicable slow downs. Highway 99 was just as terrible as the Bruce Hwy to the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast Hwy! Despite the traffic, this is one of the great highway drives and in fact the slow pace meant that I could take more of the scenery in. The views of the Howe Sound are spectacular.

There are three stops that most make on the Sea to Sky Highway. Shannon falls, Sea to Sky Gondola and Brandywine Falls. The two waterfalls are located in provincial parks and there is an easy walk to the falls in both cases. Shannon Falls is British Columbia’s 3rd highest waterfall at 335m. Brandywine Falls are 70 m high and are fed from the Powder Mountain Icefield and eventually feed Daisy Lake.

The ‘Sea to Sky’ Gondola is a recreational aerial gondola built in 2014 and offers views over Howe Sound along with cafes, a lodge, hiking trails, and a suspension bridge. The upper platform, on top of Mount Habrich, is 885 m (2,904 ft) above sea level. It is a little scary going up… and walking the suspension bridge, but the views are amazing. Highly recommended.

We arrived into Whistler around 6 pm. Whistler has a permanent population of around 15,000 people, but hosts about 2 million visitors and temporary workers every year for skiing and snowboarding in winter and mountain biking is summer. We took a quick wander into the village and shared a plate of ribs followed by ice cream. I had chocolate and vanilla, while Deb added a scoop of Pistachio. The view from our room:

Lastly, one follower (the same one with all the questions) has asked when we will wear our newly-knitted beanies. My answer is soon. It was 27 degrees here today, but expecting a high of 16 tomorrow.

Until tomorrow!