After three days in Vancouver it was time to move to our next destination – Whistler. It was only a 90 minute drive but we had the whole day and wanted to stop off at lots of places on route. We had ruled out the Sea to Sky Gondola as it was very expensive and we had already travelled in a gondola up Grouse Mountain and were planning a gondola trip in Whistler.

As soon as we left the city the views were beautiful. There was blue sky, blue sea to our left and green forests to our right.

Porteau Cove Provincial Park

Our first stop was Porteau Cove which had a pier and ferry dock which we spent ages walking along. It had the most spectacular scenery across Howe Sound and the islands in the water. As we were on the pier we spotted a seal playing in the water.

Shannon Falls

Our next stop was Shannon Falls – the 3rd highest waterfall in British Columbia. When we arrived it was getting close to lunch time and we were worried we would not find a parking space as it was very busy. Luckily someone was leaving so we were able to take the space. We did the short hike to the viewing platforms and then returned to the car for our lunch.

^{Shannon Falls}

There were lots of picnic benches so we set ourselves up for lunch. We had bread, ham and cheese plus lots of dips and vegetables – basically all our left over food from our fridge in Vancouver! We were also near a stream and Tom & Izzy found a fallen tree trunk they could climb on and re-enact a star wars battle with light sabers made from sticks!

Brandywine Falls Provincial Park

Our final stop which was just 15 minutes outside of Whistler was Brandywine Falls. Here there was a waterfall, hiking trails and a secluded swimming lake. We began by heading to the waterfall where there was a viewing platform. There was much more water in Brandywine Falls than at Shannon Falls!

^{Brandywine Falls}

We then decided to hike to the secluded lake – although we didn’t take our swimming kit as had no intention of getting in! It was just a short hike through the forest and the lake looked beautiful – but we would not have swam in it!

^{The secluded lake at Brandywine Falls}

Whistler

By this stage it was mid afternoon but too early to check into our property so we thought we’d head into Whistler, get our bearings and find somewhere for an early tea. We found a Mexican restaurant ‘La Cantina Tacos’ where we had a selection of tacos and I also had a margarita! The food was really good.

^{Some of our food at La Cantina Tacos}

We then checked into our apartment for the next two nights. We had a two bedroom apartment which was on a complex with a shared pool and gym facilities. The property was really nice and it had a balcony overlooking the woods. We were wondering whether we may see any bears as there were lots of notices saying not to leave food on the balcony as it may attract them.

^{Our apartment in Whistler}

Tom and Izzy used the pool and we chilled out for the evening as we had a busy day the next day going up Blackcomb mountain.