Tetrahedron: A Trail of Blueberries and a Blanket of Stars

As the Labour Day long weekend was approaching there was a feeling in the air that summer was coming to an end. Although the days were still warm and sunny we could feel that there might be a shift soon. The forecast for the weekend was generally good especially towards the end of it. I was absolutely exhausted since we had just finished a very busy season of Kids on Wheels and all I wanted to do was to catch up on some sleep. But since September is always a gamble with the weather in this area we decided to do a two day trip leaving on the Monday of the long weekend. It allowed us to avoid the crowds and traffic and also gave us some time to relax at home before. I suggested Tetrahedron Provincial Park on the Sunshine Coast and after looking into it we decided it would be a good destination.

It’s pretty rare for me to find a place that I’ve been to but Gili hasn’t but since I was there on a stagette years ago, I for once had this advantage. We decided to go to the same cabin I had been to, Edwards Cabin, but we were hoping we wouldn’t come across a stagette this time, and in general we hoped to find an empty cabin at the end of the long weekend. We lucked out on this one.

We reserved the 12:10pm ferry so we weren’t due for an early start. The trail is not long though, and after we successfully managed to drive to the upper parking lot and had lunch number 2 we were on our way. Just like on our last trip, Neil was a bit slow and kept on complaining. We stopped for snacks and as soon as we left the logging road and started hiking through the forest things improved. It also helped that there were bushes of blueberries and huckleberries full of berries all the way to the cabin. The first berries we found were sour, but as we got farther up the taste got a lot better and we just couldn’t stop eating them.

Our end-of-the-long-weekend timing was perfect as we only saw people coming out and nobody coming in. We arrived to an empty cabin indeed, in great shape and very spacious. We ate dinner outside since there weren’t any bugs which was really nice. Then we settled in for the night upstairs on the very comfy mattresses that were already there. This trip was almost too spoiling.

Once the kids were asleep Gili and I stepped out to the balcony (yes, this cabin actually has a balcony!) and watched the millions of stars above us. There was no moon and the sky was just a blanket full of stars. We even saw a shooting star above our heads. With the long days in summer we are usually inside our tent and sometimes already sleeping when the stars appear, so we often miss out on them.

In the morning we took our time having a leisurely breakfast and playing around by the cabin. We weren’t in a rush because the only ferry I was able to reserve was at 8pm. The way back was uneventful – we stopped by the bridge near the lake for lunch and for Kai to explore the wooden bridge above the swamp.

Neil hiked out really nicely and once we were driving back we were debating what to do, if to try to catch an earlier ferry or to go with our 8pm one and hang out a bit on the beach. In the end Kai decided for us, since he didn’t fall asleep and we had to stop to change his diaper. Since we already stopped by the nice looking Davis Bay Beach (most beaches on the Sunshine Coast are nice looking) and it was nice and sunny we decided we’d go for a swim. I think Kai had it all planned out since he just loves the ocean so much and had so much fun crawling around the shallow water and the tide pools. Neil on the other hand was a bit grumpy and didn’t want to change into his bathing suit. Only when were already ready to leave did he remember he wanted to get his feet wet.

The real reason for his grumpiness was hunger though, so we decided to head immediately for dinner. We discovered on awesome Fish n’ Chips place called Sharkey’s Fish Locker only a few minutes away in Robert’s Creek. We managed to keep Kai awake and both kids dug right in as soon as the food arrived, I guess everyone was hungry. It was definitely the best Fish n’ Chips we ever had, especially the juicy salmon pieces.

The 8pm ferry was pretty empty and most kids at the Kids Zone just sat like zombies and watched TV. We got home just after 9pm and got organized quickly to go to bed. We had a few more sunny days later that week, but then the weather completely changed so it might have been our last summer hike for the season. In any case it was pretty awesome – blueberries, a private cabin, star gazing as well as ocean swimming and Fish n’ Chips. Not too bad for a couple of days and for a wonderful summer finale.