They say when you are far away from family, your friends become your family. Living abroad, it’s the family-focused occasions that remind us of the vast geographical distance between our life here and our loved ones back home. But they also remind us of the opportunity we have to build new traditions and make new memories with new people! So when we heard that Anienke and Smit would not be going home for the holidays either, we all got very excited and started planning a Christmas weekend getaway. Some place where we could unwind, play games, watch movies, and recreate Christmas dishes we love from back home. Here’s how we spent our Dutch-South African Christmas on the Sunshine Coast:
friday, heading to the Sunshine Coast
Does Sunshine Coast sound familiar to you? Tom and I had been there once before last summer, and we were quite keen to go again. The Sunshine Coast is located on the southern coast of British Columbia, and spans about 180 kilometres between Howe Sound in the southeast and the entrance to Desolation Sound in the northwest. Due to the long stretch of mountains between the coast and the rest of the province, there is no direct road connection, meaning you can only reach the Sunshine Coast by ferry or seaplane.
So on Friday 22 December, the four of us drove up to Horseshoe Bay, a ferry terminal just 25 minutes away from our place. I should say five of us though, because Anienke and Smit’s cat Tauriel came along too! At 7:50 PM, the ferry brought us to Langdale on the Sunshine Coast in just 40 minutes. Located in Gibsons, our Airbnb was just 10 more minutes away once we got off the boat. It was dark, but there were Christmas lights and decorations everywhere on the way there. We got settled in at the Airbnb and had a cozy evening with a glass of red South African wine. The best.
Saturday, day one
The next morning we finally got to see our surroundings, as we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. Our first floor apartment had an ocean view from the kitchen, with those cute little mini islands in the distance. The living room windows revealed a stretch of snow-topped mountains. Aside from what we saw outside, we were also pleasantly surprised by how well equipped the place was. Courtesy of our Airbnb host, we found Anienke grinding fresh coffee beans and frothing milk in the kitchen. Nothing like a cup of cappuccino first thing in the morning!
With caffeine in our systems, we freshened up and went on a mission: to get groceries for the entire Christmas weekend.
If there’s one thing we all have in common it’s that we love food. Coincidentally, Tom and Smit both like to cook, and Anienke and I both don’t mind helping (read: eating what they make). So here was the deal: on Christmas Eve, couple 1 makes the main dish and couple 2 makes the appetizer and dessert. On Christmas day, we switch roles.
The local supermarket didn’t know what hit them.
Just kidding, it was fine. We had already bought our meats back in Vancouver, ensuring the center pieces of our dinners were covered. We also brought spices, wines, snacks, and whatnot. The Gibsons supermarket provided the remaining ingredients. For breakfast, we bought some eggs, and stopped at Sheer Bliss Bakery Cafe to score some fresh bread. Back at the Airbnb, we made my mom’s signature vegetable omelette and baked some bacon. Can’t go wrong with that, but it was the ciabatta bread that totally made it. The bread definitely honoured the bakery’s name!
Bellies full and the kitchen cleared, we hopped in the car to go and explore the Sunshine Coast! The weather was fantastic, so we scrolled through some hike options on the AllTrails app and decided to drive to Madeira Park, a small community in the north. In summer, it’s a popular spot for its beaches, swimming, diving, fishing, and other water activities. At 9 degrees in ‘winter’, we were much more comfortable on dry land, so we picked an easy out-and-back hike along the coast to the Francis Point Lighthouse.
The lighthouse was… underwhelming. But the way there was beautiful! We drove around a bit more before making our way back to Gibsons. On the way, we stopped in Sechelt to pick up a few more groceries, including some festive champagne for tomorrow night. The big Christmas cook-off was coming closer, but for Saturday night, Tom had made us a dinner reservation at a local restaurant so we could have one night without a hot mess in our own kitchen 😉
And boy, what a meal that was! We had dinner at Drift Cafe and Bistro, a cute little brunch and dinner restaurant in Gibsons. It was clear that it was not peak season on the Sunshine Coast – one couple was just finishing their meal when we arrived. After that, we had the place all to ourselves. Chatting with the waiter, we learned that the island has 70% of its business between May and September. The rest of the year, everything is slow and quiet, and Christmas time is no exception. The average age on the Sunshine Coast is 58 – it’s a retirement paradise, for good reason – and it’s quite the challenge for the area to find staff to keep businesses open.
Once we were back home, our attempt at starting a movie was stopped short when we realized we couldn’t keep our eyes open after that very filling dinner. So it was an early but very satisfying night 🙂
Sunday, day two, Christmas Eve
Sunday morning, we woke up to yet another fragrant cup of fresh coffee to start the day. We went out to find the local public market. We spent some time there and had another coffee before taking in more of our ocean and mountain surroundings at the Gibsons Harbour and a bit further out at Georgia Beach.
Monday, day three, Christmas Day
Inspired by yesterday’s sunrise view from the apartment, we got up early on Christmas Day and drove out to a lookout point to see the sunrise. Though it was too cloudy to really see it, it sure was a pretty sight. Coffee in hand, we looked over the ocean and waited for the horizon to light up.
And also shook from the cold and complained about how it’s quite windy this morning. And Tom spilled some of his coffee when Smit drove over a little bump. Plus, we started at Georgia Beach but realized we needed to be higher up, so we drove up to another spot. Just giving you the full Instagram versus reality picture here! 😉
From there, Christmas Day was a blissful continuation of building the 1000-piece puzzle we had started, cooking, playing Dutch and South African music, playing more games, and finishing the movie (De Slag om de Schelde, or “The Forgotten Battle”)… and more cooking!
On the menu that day: we devoured Tom’s famous ossobucco and risotto in between Anienke and Smits puff pastry flatbread-ish appetizer with leftover lamb, and their delicious malva pudding and custard dessert.
Tuesday, back to Vancouver
After sleeping in a bit, we cleaned up the Airbnb and packed up the car. Unfortunately, it was time to go home! With our 10.50 AM departure time and good weather conditions, it was promising to be a beautiful ferry ride with amazing views.
We went home with:
- sadness that this weekend came and went so fast
- stronger abs from laughing
- wonderful gifts
- a ton of new memories
- a well-travelled cat
- and what feels like an additional 5 kgs in the mid-section
1 Comment
Merry Christmas! Sounds like a perfect Christmas celebration, enjoying a home-away-from-home setting. Jealous of all these delicious Dutch and South African treats you got to devour!! And indeed, crackers are not a thing in the NL…but definitely in the UK! So if you like them, make sure to come visit us before your next Christmas 😉 Miss you two! Big hugs & have a great NYE!