Today was absolutely amazing, starting with a morning swim in the Pacific Ocean from a beach just steps from our campsite. There may be another one tomorrow since we were lucky enough to secure one more night in this campground.

We spent the day walking to and around the Old Town area, getting there by a trail that used to be a logging railway line. There are a number of old pieces of machinery along the way documenting the history and importance of logging and paper making in the area. Many signs taught us about the different types of trees and the equipment used to harvest them.

Huge numbers of blackberry bushes lined the trail and we each picked and ate a couple of handfuls. They were so sweet and delicious. Turns out bears like them too and Ruth saw a black bear just a few metres away. Ruth began singing and the bear left us in peace.

The paper mill is closed now, but a breakwater made up of floating concrete ships known as The Hulk next to the old mill is an interesting Powell River landmark.

The historic downtown has many old buildings worth visiting. One, a former general store, now houses a couple of coffee shops, locally made clothing shops, craft shops and an art gallery.

The current Patricia Theatre was built in 1928 and is the second building to house the oldest continuously operating cinema and vaudeville business in Canada. The movie of the night was called Joy Ride and we decided we wanted to see the inside of the theatre. We needed to wait until 7PM for the show to start.

Since we had a bit of time to kill we had dinner at the Royal Zayka Indian restaurant. Lots of good food!

After dinner we walked across the street to the theatre and spent some time talking to the employees to learn more about the theatre. It may even be the case that the ticket collector and Martin share a common acquaintance from Squamish.

The movie itself told a good story, albeit somewhat crude, but funny and we laughed a lot while enjoying our popcorn and a Coke.

After the movie we didn’t want to risk any more bear encounters or drunk drivers so we splurged on a taxi to take us back to the campground. We arrived just in time for a beautiful sunset over the ocean.

No map today.