It's summer 2003. My husband, James, and I are on the ferry pulling into Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver, BC. We've just spent most of our three-week holiday on Vancouver Island visiting my son, Christoper, and his finance, Rhonda. There are three days left before we have to go back to work. As we watch the ferry terminal come closer, I turn to James and say, "You know, Hon, I've lived in BC for over 25 years and have never been to the Sunshine Coast (see map). His answer? "Let's go!"

That conversation took about 10 seconds. It changed our lives and a number of others. It even made a small dint on the face of Powell River, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

With the decision made we got off the ferry from the Island and boarded another for Sechelt, which is on a peninsula with no road access. The ferry ride took about 50 minutes and the drive another half-hour or so. In all honesty, we weren't overly impressed by Sechelt - not really sure why - it's a nice enough little town. The next morning I said to James that we were this far on the Sunshine Coast we should complete the journey by going to Powell River. James was a little reluctant even though he had never been there either - perhaps just wanting to get home. But, considering the outcome, thankfully he agreed and we headed up the coast for the next ferry.

The 40 minute drive is through beautiful scenery although the roads are quite twisty and at times steep. The ferry is at Earl's Cove and the trip through Georgia Strait (about 50 minutes) is nothing short of spectacular (see photo album)

The magic of Powell River was felt as soon as we got off the ferry at Saltery Bay and made the 20 minute trip into town. The highway for the most part runs beside the ocean and looks out at Texada Island. As it turned out our timing could not have been better as it was Sea Fair weekend, a festival,we found out later, that has been an annual event for 46 years. The people and the atmosphere at the festival served only to enhance the feeling of something magical.

We had only the one night in Powell River, but decided right then to come back for our holidays the following year.

Now here is where it gets a bit strange. The same year we took our 'spur-of-the-moment' trip to Powell River my neice, Barb, and her husband, Mark, were looking for an investment retirement home. They had looked all over the interior of BC and found nothng suitable. Then they came across Powell River in the possible listings and decided to check it out. In November they bought a house about 15 minutes south of Town.

In July 2004 the four of us took our holidays together. We spent a wonderful (provided you don't count the mild sun stroke) day and night on Savary Island, known as the tropics of Canada. The rest of the time was spent exploring the Powell River area and going with Barb and Mark to look at houses. Their realtor, Ross Cooper, a throughly professional and very nice man, kindly showed us several places. Ross told James and I that if we were thinking of purchasing a home in Powell River we had better do it as market prices would be going up by around 20% in the next year (Did he prove to be right!).

We weren't actually in the market for a home as our plans were to buy the following year and we certainly had no immediate plans to move out of the Lower Mainland. But then we went to see the home Barb and Mark had bought after making arrangements with the tenants. Right next door was a house for sale. We called up Ross to show it to us. The price was $112,000 for a 3 bedroom home on 2/3 of an acre with lots of fruit trees and lovely gardens.

So much for plans. We called my brother, Dave, and asked if he would be interested in buying a house with us. We told him about the house and the price. He said yes before the phone was hung up.

Dave moved up in August. Soon after his son, Michael, moved up with his girlfriend, Marijanna (now his wife and the mother of their child, Hailey). James and I couldn't move up for another year, but in the meantime, my oldest son, Ryan, and his family moved up in February, 2005. Another strange coincidence is that the only suitable rental available just happened to be Barb and Mark's place. In September, 2005 Ryan's wife, Dee, started up a community newspaper called the SunnySide Coffee News, which is still going strong after three years.

James and I moved here in August, 2005. As both of us are artists we got involved in the art community soon after arriving. In 2006, not being able to find a website for the area that included all the information for businessess and local groups, I set out to create one. It took eight months to research the data and construct Powell River Direct.com. Recently the website underwent another major redesign that includes this Powell River Blog, which I hope will become a popular vehicle for residents and visitors to share their experiences in this marvelous little corner of the world.