84 » OpenRoad Driver
Gibsons. Sechelt. These are the well-
known, populated hubs of the Sunshine
Coast. Egmont, with a small post office,
a general store and a small handful of
year-round residents - who call themselves
Egmonsters! - might not be on the tourist
radar whatsoever with the exception of its
two star attractions. Princess Louisa Inlet is
one of them, known for her calm serenity.
The other star is the Skookumchuck
Rapids, a four-kilometre hike through the
rainforest that leads to a lookout above
some of the fastest tidal currents in the
world. In an ebb tide the water churns and
roils furiously, creating a frenzy of rushing
whitewater. In a flood tide the presence of
a single, continuous wave attracts hardcore
wave kayakers who come to test their
skills as 200 billion gallons of water flow
each day through the narrows connecting
Sechelt and Jervis inlets. The currents have
claimed several lives over the years, and
most visitors who venture out for the view
come by speedboat, or hike through the
Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park.
Along the way they can sample baked
goods from one of BCs more remote
bakeries. The Skookumchuck Bakery &
Cafe, 300 metres from the road, is nestled
deep enough into the rainforest that its
very existence seems implausible. But its
cinnamon buns are reputedly the best on
the coast, and on weekends its baked goods
fortify the steady stream of visitors who
come to play the word Skookumchuck on
their tongues and see one of nature’s great
shows.
The next day we were on the water
again, this time on jet skis with Luke
Hansen, whose family owns the West
Coast Wilderness Lodge. We zoomed a
few kilometres out to Hotham Sound in
the Harmony Islands, where the water
temperature is a comfortable 22 degrees
Celsius and the Freil Lake waterfall
cascades into a four-foot pool. “We often
come out here for the day,” Hansen
reflected. “We stop for lunch on one of
the islands, shuck oysters straight from the
rocks, and take a dip beneath the waterfall.”
It’s spring and there’s still a chill in the air,
but as the warm water rushes over my feet,
I wish I had a swimsuit and towel at the
ready.
Later we feast on steak and linguine patio
side at Inlets. The resort’s fine dining
restaurant, it is perched on a craggy bluff
overlooking sundrenched islands and
mountains densely packed with trees.
Herons fish from the docks and even
though they don’t make an appearance for
us, schools of Pacific white-sided dolphins
often splash through the channel. With the
exception of a few homes scattered across
the way on islands and the inlet