Well, we finally got the clear sunny day we were longing for, after what seems to have been an eternity of wet leaden days in Vancouver. So, we made the most of it, and headed over the Lions Gate suspension bridge (1930’s) across Burrard Inlet to the North Shore and the ferry port of Horseshoe Bay. Our destination was Bowen Island, just a short 20-minute sail across the Howe Sound (a natural fjord) into the Georgia Strait. It’s quite amazing that you can be in bustling downtown Vancouver at morning rush hour and within half an hour be standing at a quiet ferry port facing heavily forested mountains and distant snow-capped peaks. 

Bowen Island had been traditional Squamish hunting territory for thousands of years, but, with the settlement of the British in the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries, it quickly became a popular summer retreat for more recent Vancouverites under the Union Steamship Company. The cutely named Snug Cove, the only port on Bowen, expanded with dance pavilions for 800 people, six picnic areas, stores, hotels and 180 holiday cottages, attracting thousands of new local visitors in  the 1920’s and 30’s.

Today it’s one of Vancouver’s most beloved holiday destinations, and you can see why. The island is roughly 12km long and 6km wide, covering some 50 square kilometres of land, so reasonably explorable by foot or bike – but, given the huge amount of car traffic on the ferry over and back, there must be a sizable population – or so you’d think! We’re told there are barely 5000 permanent residents in this tight-knit community. So, what’s with the traffic then? Commuters? The ferry takes a maximum of 100 cars, where drivers are asked to ‘snug up’ and park as close as possible to the car in front. I reckon it was full to capacity in both directions!

Meanwhile other, more transitory residents, such as the Coho, Chum and Chinook Salmon breed on Bowen Island during fall, where they navigate the intricate wooden fish ladders cleverly built into the fast-running streams at Bridal Veil Falls that help migrating fish reach their upstream spawning grounds. 

There are many trails and walks you can do on Bowen, some described as hiking, some challenging, whilst others more sedate – we chose the latter and walked to Killarney Lake in the centre of the island with the soothing sound of a ‘crow orchestra’, as one lady passer-by put it – the ‘caw caw’, followed by a rambling sequence of bell-like notes, clicks and coos.  It’s a gorgeous walk, through lush Douglas Fir and Cedar forest with a vivid green fern undergrowth, expansive wetlands and the impossibly beautiful Lake itself, a serene place if ever there was, with the forest mirrored in the still deep blue green water. 

After days of dreary rain, coming here to Bowen Island on such a crisp sunny morning was just the tonic we needed, averting the nasty case of S.A.D (Seasonal Affect Syndrome) I was rapidly succumbing to. 

It’s the end of our Canadian adventure (for now), as we head off to Sydney on Saturday. We’ve had a wonderful time, seen so many extraordinary places and met so many wonderful people on the way. We’ll be back, O Canada.