A Beary Strange Adventure!

 Hullo!!! Mama was packing a big suitcase AND a duffle bag and I thought I would stowaway! She hadn't mentioned anything about taking me on this mystery trip and I thought... I will just bring myself! She was pretty surprised to see me!

The first part of the trip was a ferry ride... which is nothing new...

But... where are we going???? She won't tell me but she was frowning and muttering that I would not be a happy bear... beary strange.

Anyhow... a ferry ride is always fun...

But where are we going AFTER the ferry ride???

We are almost in Horseshoe Bay... and no sense of where we are going. Sigh. I will have to be patient...

We then hunkered down in the newly renovated Starbucks in Horseshoe Bay! Look at all of that luggage... surely we are going on a big trip! But why are we in Starbucks? Are we waiting for a ride?

While Mama blogged away, I wandered along the shore... at least the weather is clearing up!

This is a pretty busy ferry terminal with a lot of ferries coming and going and...

Wait... are we getting a different ferry???

Are we??

Yes we are...

I've never been on this one!!! Cool... now I'm really curious... 

Where are we going??? I hate it when humans are closed-mouthed!

Oooh... ooohh... we are leaving!!!

The weather has seriously improved!! But it is windy!

We went to the front and the wind was so bad I could not stand up... seriously... I tried!

Face into the wind? Nope...

Back to the wind? Nope!!

Anyhow... that's where we are going... a place called Langdale! On the Sunshine Coast (which is code-speak for the Rainy Coast).

Langdale doesn't even have a passenger gangway so we have to walk off on the main vehicle deck. Exciting!

Almost there!

The adventure begins! Let me get back into Mama's backpack... and see where we end up...

Er. What? A dorm room?

Sure looks like a dorm room...

Are we going back to school?

This is NOT what I had in mind!!!

Ugh... shared showers down the hall??? What has Mama done now???

Ohhhh... I see... we are in a camp... made out of portables... yay.... not.

This is definitely NOT what I had in mind when I stowed away... Mama is just muttering that little bears should not stowaway but... that's what little bears do!

Sigh... alright... let me have it... where are we, what are we doing here... what are the sights and for how long...

***editor's note***

After hearing the news, Sandy retreated under the blankets and refused to come out for the 2 weeks we were here. No sights to see. No pool. No Starbucks (gasp). No hiking. No geocaching...

Although there were some views...

But a lot of sketchy views...

Although the baby seagulls were cute... they looked like little spotted leopards!

A Fall Hike...

 Yes, yes... this was a September adventure that never got posted after LF arrived...

We are going on a hike today! First we have to go under the highway and then...

Here we are!! Isn't it pretty? We get a nice view of the city...

There is a nice trail along here. 

But even cooler are the "galleries... where the sandstone has been worn away by wave action...

The holey-honeycomb pattern is due to saltwater freeze-thaw cycles...

Neat, eh? It's a shelf that overhangs.

Hmmm... that cloud of smoke wasn't there 2 min ago... we could hear the fire engine sirens from over here. It ended up being a condo complex... a fire on the exterior... no one hurt.

Ugh... stairs!! But that's OK... good exercise!

You can see how the smoke changes from black to white (steam) once the firefighters got there.

We are just across the highway from a lumber mill. Grampa would have liked this!

Looks like they've got it knocked bakc

This rock is interesting... we saw the fins carved first... can you see them?

There... fins...

And the head... of a salmon!

Can you see it now?? Pretty sure it's a salmon... (Editor's note... it could be another fish, but to a bear, any fish looks like a salmon).

Alrightee... we are getting distracted!

More stairs???

But we finally made it out to the point! Just in time for sunrise.

It's beary pretty here...

And we are near one of the ferry terminals and a ferry is just leaving... 

Oh, and that's one of the electric ferries to one of the smaller islands...

And there goes the big ferry to the mainland and... what is that in the distance? Ooooh... that is one of the other big ferries going to the other ferry terminal (yes... there are a LOT of ferry terminals here!).

Ta-dah!!! Three separate ferry routes all in one photo!

Well, that was fun!

And look... there is even a mini-Abyss here!!

Ahhhhhh...

Yeah, no... this is not deep at all... not like the real Abyss...

Whew!! Great adventure though!