Duffey Lake Rollercoaster

Duffey Lake Rd/Hwy 99

If Hwy 16 between Jasper and Prince George, aka the Yellowhead Route, was as 'dull as ditchwater', the road between Cache Creek and Whistler, mostly Hwy 99, was more 'seat-of-the-pants' stuff. I'm not sure I'd want to drive it again with an 8500lb trailer behind me.

With significant changes in elevation and direction (there were quite a few switchbacks/hairpin bends) and a speed restriction of 60 kmh max, down to as low as 10 kmh on the tight turns on the steepest sections, the focus for me was on the driving, not the scenery. It was though a stunning drive if not hard work.

Spotted Sandpiper

We started this 2nd leg of our Grand Tour 2026 in Prince George. Not a town we'd rush back to, though we had a good campsite out of town.

Spotlessly clean with manicured gardens, friendly and well-planned individual campsites. The campsite ponds had a lovely collection of wildlife including Spotted Sandpipers and Killdear.

A local Coast friend said "I've avoided that town for last 5O years; pulp mills, crime, pollution and rednecks".

There are apparently two mills still operating, but we saw no crime, red-necks or pollution; though we did see lots of strip malls, business parks and shopping centres. There appears to be no historic old town, or pleasant cafe culture to hang out in as he had hoped there would be. Time to move on.

Incongruously out of costume in Barkerville

Our next stop was the delightful Barkerville. An historic living 'Gold Rush' settlement where costumes, roleplay, and stage shows are part of the pageant. The two sons of good friends on the Coast are working there during the summer... both in theatrical/musical roles.

We switched camping spots a day ahead to have an overnight in Barkerville, so we could break the long drive to Clearwater, and maximise our time there.

Dogs are not allowed in Barkerville, so Jack was relegated to a kennels outside the gate to the village, where he was actually quite content.... much to our surprise! He has developed quite a good singing voice!

We wandered through town, being greeted by the various period 'residents'. I stayed to watch one of the musical shows in the theatre, where the amazingly talented Matthew was playing piano and performing.

Me, Fred, Jamie and Matthew

Sadly we missed the courtroom production where he plays Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie: British Columbia’s famous first Chief Judge (often referred to as the "Hanging Judge").

His brother Jamie had a day off, so we didn't get to see him in action. It was really well done, but a tough gig for them living in temporary accommodation for the summer. Hats off to them both.

That evening they swung by to say hello as their accommodation adjoined our campsite, and they joined us for a BBQ supper. We planned to eat outside - but for the rain.

We spent a happy few hours talking music, reforestation initiatives, the environment and much else. It was great to catch up with them.

The heavens then opened.... thank goodness we had a dry visit to Barkerville otherwise it would have been a mud bath!

Moul Falls - with hiker at the bottom

The following morning we headed off between showers to Clearwater, where we had one night, rather than the two planned. They offered us a late checkout as we had paid for, but not used a night, so the following morning we hiked to Moul Falls.

A 5.5km out and back trail with some steep parts towards the end. We saw one person hiking out as we hiked in. "Two bears, one in the carpark and one by the falls" he reported. We saw none, though a second set of hikers gave us the same warning about the small black bear at the falls.

On the way back to the carpark we met a British Couple honeymooning in BC and stopped to chat to them for about ten minutes. Methinks they might be back as they were asking how Jack faired on his flight to Canada. They have a Spaniel back in the UK. Jack just lay down and waited, bored. We still saw no bears.

We would have liked more time to explore the beautiful Wells Grey Provincial Park, known as Canada's waterfall park with over 40 named falls. If nothing else this trip has started a list of places we want to go back to, Wells Grey being one of them.

As we headed to our next destination (Cache Creek) we pulled over on Highway 1 to enjoy the views across Kamloops Lake at Tobiano, an area where there is definite Italian influence in the community names.

Below us a freight train was passing through. It was long (as most freight trains in Canada are). From the
photo I calculated that it was 3km long (+/-) - as the crow flies!

Kamloops Lake - Long freight train

Rather than a five hour drive to Whistler, we broke the journey in Cache Creek. Great campsite, but a half-horse town.

We fuelled up and made a quick visit to the general store, where I came away with one of the twenty items on the shopping list, we were glad it was only one night! A good break in an otherwise long drive. In hindsight a good decision.

Jack meets Jack

The one highlight of the camp was that Jack met Jack - a fellow Spaniel from Seattle. Jack was on good behaviour and didn't ask about their politics. Jack 2 was also a working bird (gun) dog.

Leaving Cache Creek with a three hour drive to Whistler ..... WOW! One of the most stunning, if not challenging drives we have ever had in our travels across and around Canada, and with 8500 lbs of trailer behind us! The stretch from Lillooet to Whistler is called the Duffey Lake Rd.

Aside from the ups and downs and hairpin bends, the road was rough. Fred suggested it would be great in a sports car. She has 'rose-tinted-spectacles' memories of 60's and 70's movies with fast cars whipping around Mediterranean mountain roads and possibly our trips as newly weds to the south of France in our yellow TR7.

Personally I think a hovercraft might have been more appropriate given the appalling road surface; if only you could keep it on the correct side of the road!

One good friend seeing my Instagram post noted when they first drove it, there were no barriers and it was a dirt road! Eek!! Even today only 50,000km of BC's roads are paved, 22,900 km remain unpaved. If you include all the service roads (logging and other resources) the total road network is 719,000 kms

The road has an elevation gain of over 1000m. The views when we stopped in the pull-outs (laybys to the Brits reading this), were stunning. It was worth the challenging drive. I am though going to need to get my brakes checked which have become rather spongy on the way down. Now booked to be done early next week in Comox.

A day after we drove through Pemberton, just North of Whistler, a wildfire broke out on Signal Hill.

It was a relief to get down to a 'normal' road as we descended to Whistler, where we had one night in a very familiar town, before we drove down to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal for our boat across to Vancouver Island.

Signal Hill wildfire - BC Wildfire Service

Checking in we were told they get four or five bears through the camp a day. They must have heard we were coming and gone into hiding.

The following day it was an early start for Horseshoe Bay for the ferry to Vancouver Island. All went like clockwork and we enjoyed the outside deck in sunshine as we made the crossing.

Then the bombshell dropped in the middle of the crossing. We could not have had worse news as we embarked on this leg of the trip.

The Canadian Government announced it was pausing all further Parent and Grandparent sponsored Permanent Residency. This was for those whose offspring had registered an Expression of Interest in 2020 and all future "Invitations to Apply". We had been part of the annual lottery since 2020 and failed to get through each year since.

Now future lotteries have been "paused". We suspect this is a precursor to the end of sponsored Parent
and Grandparent PR scheme. The government has been pushing Super Visas (which we already have) and we think this is the way they want to take this forward.

We fear this is an end to our current route to PR. Although we can renew our Super Visas, they come with a significant disadvantage. No healthcare provision, mandatory costly annual health insurance, even getting a driving licence renewed is difficult. The irony is that we pay all our taxes, property and personal in Canada, and are net contributors to the Canadian economy.

BC and the Sunshine Coast has been our home and our community for over five years. We have a huge number of friends here, are involved in many local groups and do our bit for the community. It's difficult to describe the feeling with which the hugely disappointing news has been received. It is so, very, very frustrating.

On Vancouver Island it's raining.

On our first day we explored the beach at Rathtrevor Provincial Park only to find the tide was so far out and so shallow had we walked out to it, we abandoned that plan.

Instead drove over to Moorecroft Regional Park where we enjoyed a nice trail hike, could look out over the Salish Sea towards Texada and other islands towards the Sunshine Coast. Jack had a dip in Arab Cove.

Another highlight was our walk into the Englishman River Park which flowed through the middle, with rock scoured potholes, a suspension bridge (yikes!), a diving spot and clear water that was clearly popular with the locals. Jack had another swim!