ACCOMMODATION IRELAND

What a great find! I couldn't figure out why the place wasn't very crowded..We took a shortie 4 day holiday at West Coast Wilderness Lodge. We were lucky, the weather was absolutely spectacular. We took a guided kayak trip one day, a guided canoe trip another day, we hiked to Skookumchuck rapids the 3rd day, and visited the Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve the final day.

The owner himself took our family on the canoe trip and he knew the place inside-out. The kayak tour was THE highlight of the vacation for me: the water was calm, the weather just perfect. We saw hundreds of seals on islands and swimming in the water with us, orange and purple starfish, many, many types of birds, including bald eagles. The kids loved it almost as much as I did.
Accommodations were very good: we got a big suite with a comfy queen bed for parents and a foldout sofabed for kids. The balcony overlooked the water and mountains. it looked like the room an bathroom had been very recently renovated - bathroom looked brand-new. We spent a bit of time with our binoculars watching seals from our balcony and from the huge scenic balcony just outside the main building. Nothing like sitting out there after a busy day, catching up on some reading, enjoying the fresh air and great views. For the finicky, there was no TV, but if you need a TV in a place like this, you've got a problem!
We had breakfast everyday at the lodge - it was a great start for every day. We only ate dinner at the lodge one night and had a great meal.. Kids also enjoyed archery, the pool table in the evenings and of course the hot tub. The only thing missing was a good beach for swimming - Ruby Lake and other swimming beaches were a short drive away, but not within walking distance.

Combine spectacular coastal scenery, first class accommodations and unforgettable cuisine and you get the student accommodation in nottingham which I was lucky enough to spend a short time at recently. While the villas are comfortable and elegant, the infinity pool relaxing at any hour and the spa (which I did not enjoy on this trip) inviting, I was particularly impressed with the food at the Resort's cove-view restaurant. As it turns out, the Painted Boat Restaurant (open year round) has the ambitious but achievable goal of creating a "culinary trail" for the Sunshine Coast along with a number of other fine eating establishments that string the Coast from Gibsons to Lund. These restaurants focus on creative regional cuisine and they purchase most of their fish, fruits, vegetables, seafood, coffee and honey from local farms either on the Coast or off the nearby Gulf Islands. The Queen Charlotte Islands halibut we enjoyed for dinner was of the melt-in-your mouth variety and, when paired with the organic greens salad and white wine from BC, I was in heaven. If you plan on heading up to Madeira Park and the Painted Boat Resort, make sure you meander off the main highway from time to time to enjoy the communities (and the food) along the way - Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay & Secret Cove, to name a few. I can't wait for my next trip and my next splendid meal.