604 Pulse

I couldn’t have chosen a better day to travel to the Sunshine Coast. After an early spring of downpours and colder-than-normal weather, I woke up to warm sunshine and clear skies. Spring was definitely in the air. My destination? The Painted Boat Resort Spa & Marina in Pender Harbour – a resort I had heard much about and had briefly visited in October of 2011. This time I was invited to come back and experience it properly and I couldn’t have been more excited!

Photo: The view of The Restaurant from my two-bedroom Painted Boat Resort villa.

I left Vancouver after 10am making the 11:20am Langdale ferry with plenty of time to spare. It cost me about $60 to take my car on the ferry, but what’s nice about taking your car from Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast is that you only pay for the ferry one way, making it one of the more affordable BC Ferries excursions you can take. It’s also a short ferry ride, arriving in Langdale 40 minutes after departing Horseshoe Bay.

Photo: Deep within the rainforest at Cliff Gilker Park, Roberts Creek.

Making a few pit stops along the way including a short walk in Cliff Gilker Park, I purposely took my time driving to Pender Harbour. The drive along Highway 101 was easy though. There was practically no traffic as it was Thursday and on such a sunny afternoon it was a real pleasure to drive. I even had my sunroof open! By 3pm, I was already at the resort.

The Painted Boat Resort Spa & Marina

As far as accommodation choices go, the Painted Boat Resort is relatively new having just opened in 2008. Tucked away on a bay in the community of Madeira Park,  it’s a luxury accommodation of 31 villas which are nestled away in five acres of Douglas fir, western red cedar, and arbutus trees. It has that quintessential west coast atmosphere that I personally love. But what’s really unique is that each villa has not just one but two bedrooms. I figured that my villa was going to have a lot of room, but I didn’t truly understand just how spacious these places were until I opened the door to my ground-floor suite…

… and discovered that it was even more stunning than I imagined! The fully-stocked kitchen, dining room, island bar, office and living room (complete with stone fireplace) are all in open concept. And with the natural light pouring in and the warmth of the hardwood floors, it just blew me away. Go on, take a look!

Those two doors opened to the patio which had everything you needed for the ultimate Pender Harbour summer BBQ.

Back inside, I decided to check out the bedrooms. Remember, every villa at the Painted Boat has two bedrooms.

This bedroom was the smaller of the two, set back from the water and yet you could still see the water outside the window. I loved how cozy this room was.

It even had its own bathroom next door which is probably used as the communal bathroom if you were hosting guests, as it’s located right off the kitchen.

But I knew I’d be spending the night in the master bedroom. It had its own private patio, a flat screen TV, and a spacious ensuite with a shower and hot tub.

I had just enough time to unpack, pour myself a drink and snap a few photos before it was time to head out down to the dock and meet up for my boat trip adventure with Malaspina Water Taxi. This, I was really looking forward to.

Malaspina Water Taxi

The one thing I’ve always heard about the Sunshine Coast is that if you really want to experience it properly, you have to get out on the water. Now I’ve taken ferries to and from the Sunshine Coast and have even done a short canoe trip on Sechelt Inlet, but I’ve just never properly toured the Sunshine Coast by boat. All this was about to change, and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day.

When I arrived on the dock, I was joined by three staff members of the Painted Boat Resort who would be coming along on this adventure. Malaspina Water Taxi owner and captain, Andy Cardiff, signaled to us to hop on board. Andy also brought along his trusty pooch, June. “He’s a male dog with a girl’s name”, he told us. And apparently he doesn’t like to be home alone, and to the delight of everyone on board, he was going to be joining us on our boat tour.

Andy’s story is rather interesting and inspiring. He had left his job as a municipal worker after 10 years and moved to the Sunshine Coast to pursue a different lifestyle. He started Malaspina Water Taxi in 2005 (taking over a previous water taxi business) and hasn’t looked back since. He now gets to share his passion and enthusiasm for the Sunshine Coast with others like myself, providing us with access to the natural beauty of the Malaspina Strait through a variety of boat tours and water taxi services. If you want to truly experience the Sunshine Coast by the way it’s meant to be experience, he’s your man.

Our first destination was about 20 minutes away from Madeira Park to where ancient petroglyphs were apparently found in the rock face. Having never seen petroglyphs before, I was pretty excited. I knew they existed around BC, but didn’t know they could be found on the Sunshine Coast. Apparently it’s not that well-known, unless, I suppose, you spend a lot of time on the water in this area.

As we turned around the bend from Pender Harbour, we entered the mouth of Agamemnon Channel. A short distance later Andy slowed the boat down and pulled closer to the nearby rock face. When we saw them, we immediately ooh’ed and aww’ed.

For whatever reason I was assuming the petroglyphs were going to be tens of thousands of years old, but it turns out that they’re only about 500 years old. It’s still equally as impressive and fascinating, especially when you consider that 500 years ago Quebec was still a few decades away from Jacques Cartier’s initial voyage. The world was a very different place.

We continued on our journey, heading to our second petroglyph location off the rocks of Nelson Island.

Nelson Island is a rather large island in the Sunshine Coast. It’s only accessible by boat, and although some people live there, its permanent population is rather small. Perhaps the most famous resident of Nelson Island was Harry Roberts, a Sunshine Coast pioneer who gave the region its name. He retired there in 1929 and resided in a cabin he built called Sunray. Roberts Creek is named after him, and there’s a beach that Andy would later show us called Roberts Beach where Sunrae still stands.

But going back to the petroglyphs, they totally mystified me. Having studied coastal First Nations art history at UBC, I was surprised to see such a completely different style of artwork on these rocks from the more ovoid native art we’ve become accustomed to from these regions. Who were the people who painted these rocks? What does it mean? It’s a mystery to me, but one I’d like to learn more about.

As we continued westbound along the southern coastline of Nelson Island, I was struck by the jagged beauty of the rock formations.

Wildlife wasn’t super abundant, but we did see some bald eagles, shorebirds, and few harbour seals, including this cute fella…

He didn’t like it when we got closer, but hey… can’t say I blame him.

Just before heading back to Pender Harbour, Andy showed us a few beaches along Nelson Island. He  told us that he often drops passengers off at the beach here – his boat call pull right up to let them off. He’ll coordinate itineraries with his passengers if they want to go off exploring for the day. It’s just a matter of deciding on a meeting area – he’ll head off and come back to pick them up later on.

We had been on the water for over an hour by this time, but it was so beautiful, sunny and warm, nobody was in a rush to go back.

Back at the dock, we thanked Andy and say goodbye to him and June, and strolled back up the dock to the resort.

Feeling invigorated, I walked back to my villa to rest up before dinner. Once again, I was struck by how beautiful my suite was in the late afternoon sunshine. I immediately went to the master bedroom and opened the glass doors to the patio, letting in all the fresh air.

I then wandered into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The natural light pouring in was spectacular.

I just kept thinking, “I need to come back here. This place is just too nice to experience all by myself.” Not, that I was complaining about having it all to myself, mind you. But I just couldn’t stop thinking of how everyone I know would love it here. It was like staying in a big, beautiful, modern house with all the amenities and everything you could want, except right here on the Sunshine Coast. I just wanted to share it.

Dinner at The Restaurant

Around 7pm I wandered over to The Restaurant at the Painted Boat Resort. The Restaurant sits upstairs in its own building apart from the villas, providing an unobstructed view of the harbour. It was there where I met up with General Manager Ryan Schmidt over dinner.

Photo: Outside the Restaurant during the sunny afternoon.

Though I had never dined there before, The Restaurant had previously been on my radar for their special wine-pairing dinner events. I also knew that they had an extremely talented chef, Head Chef Spencer Watts. Chef Watts boasts an impressive resume, including having previously worked at Vancouver’s C Restaurant – one of my favourites. I was excited to learn that he has since spearheaded the Ocean Wise program on the Sunshine Coast and continues to dazzle guests with a menu that features the freshest, most sustainable ingredients. He may just be paving the way so that the Sunshine Coast becomes the next big culinary destination in BC.

For dinner I’d be ordering off their Off Season Menu – a three course seasonal menu featuring a diversity of gourmet offerings. Needless to say, for a food-lover like myself, I found it challenging to decide what to eat since everything sounded so good!

Being a big fan of smoked salmon, I opted for their House-Cured Salmon Gravlax as my first course and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Chef Watts did a beautiful take on this Scandinavian classic, serving it with a horseradish crème fraiche, dill powder, and fried capers. It was stunning to look at and tasted even better. My glass of Wild Goose Vineyards’ Mystic River Gewurtraminer paired with it perfectly.

Did I mention that The Restaurant is known for their wine? With Brad Royale as Wine Director, they will no doubt please wine aficionados, offering a well-rounded selection of unique wine offerings from around the world.

While I was enjoying my salmon, my dining companion was digging into the Five Spice Duck Ravioli with ginger spinach, agedashi demi-glace and pine nuts. He raved about them and insisted I try them. What’s a girl to do?  Upon first bite, they were almost like an haute cuisine version of a Chinese dumpling and were absolutely delicious.

For my second course, I ordered the Arctic Char with dashi broth, root vegetable fricassee and edimame. Normally they have a Ocean Wise-certified white sturgeon which is sourced from a local Sunshine Coast sturgeon farm – the first of its kind in Canada. Unfortunately, due to a supplier issue it wasn’t available that night. But that was more than okay – my Arctic char was fantastic with a perfectly crispy skin in the most satisfying Japanese-inspired broth. I think this is one of my most new favourite ways of preparing fish.

Last but not least was dessert. I’m not a girl who holds back at dessert, so I was more than willing to give this a go. I was craving something to sink my teeth into, but I didn’t want anything super sweet. Therefore, the Date Cake with puff pastry, apple cream, and pecan ice cream fit the bill. Paired with a freshly-brewed coffee, it was the loveliest way to end my meal.

And thus my day at the Painted Boat Resort was coming to an end. Walking back to my room, the stars were bright in the sky and you could clearly see Jupiter brighter than the others. I returned to my villa, slipped into a robe, and enjoyed the tranquility of the night. As cliche as it sounded, I wanted to move right in and call this place home. I was sad to be leaving the next morning, but I knew that the next time I’m looking for a quick getaway from the city, I know where I’ll be heading.

For more information on the Painted Boat Resort Spa & Marina, including unique packages that include meals at The Restaurant and outdoor adventures with Malaspina Water Taxi, visit their website at www.paintedboat.com.