A Cottage Hideaway Blog

This Charming Cottage has been such a blessing to so many people over the years. Guests visiting the area have thoroughly enjoyed it’s rustic simple back to nature design. Sandy Hook Getaway is hidden in the trees overlooking incredible ocean scenery and is situated on Sandy Hook Rd on Sechelt Inlet past the provincial park on Porpoise Bay Rd. There were many highlights mentioned by cottage visitors regarding their stays.

First, Sandy Hook Getaway creates a space for guests to fully relax and think about their true values. “We’ve connected as a family and spent quality time together.” “My partners last wish was to spend time in nature with his loved ones.” “I needed to withdraw and just simply sit in the chair and stare at the ocean for 2 weeks.”

Second, guests at Sandy Hook love the wildlife. Although some are a little apprehensive about the possibility of meeting the neighbourhood bear face to face, by the end of their stay they are excited about how wonderful it was to watch the surrounding eagles, chipmunks, racoons and the bear. Some guests even name their new friends. Birdwatching guests are delighted with the number of species they see while sitting on the deck.

Sandy Hook Getaway is a cedar cottage, simple design, simple furnishings, very comfortable. There’s no cable tv so guests must bring their cards or board games or a dvd to watch during their stay. The kitchen is fully equipped and the cabin is set with enough linens and towels for each guest. Each set of visitors leave a little part of their vacation memories behind to share with the next travellers … not only comments in the guest book but also in the form of momentos in the cupboard or kitchen (aromatherapy oils, candles, games, even unused cans of soup etc). The cabin brims with cheery connectedness and continuity between guests arrivals and departures.  

I’m still looking for wood. The fellow who is milling the wood on my property gave me the name of someone who lives in Bonniebrook who is selling his milled fir beams. Another opportunity to meet some interesting people. We spoke on the phone and he told me to come by to look at the beams and enjoy a glass of wine with them. You’ve got to love the Sunshine Coast of BC.

I met an amazing woman yesterday. I drove along lower road in Robert’s Creek to try to find some milled wood I heard about for my retreat project. I knocked on the door and immediately we connected. Her small 4 month old puppy was very excited to have a visitor providing a segway into friendly conversation. We ended up sitting on the plank flooring in the charming post and beam house. The owner had milled the wood to build the home and there was extra wood left over.

What I enjoyed about our conversation was our openness to share life experiences and journeys. It appears we have travelled similar paths in life which helped to reinforce my reason and desire to have the retreat center. She was researching a new paper for her studies in eco psychology. Also a strong believer in lifelong and experiencial learning she hopes to have a retreat one day as well. There are alot of us out there wanting to connect with others to share, learn and grow together. We just need common ground, a place to meet, a place where we can rub shoulders with others to encourage us to continue in our journeys with greater awareness and sense of purpose.

Check out one of the researchers I discovered while in my masters program in adult education at UBC

http://www.livedlearning.net/index.htm

The spring has been busy on the Sunshine Coast this 2008. More and more visitors are discovering the Gibsons and Sechelt areas. Many of the guests at Whispering Cedars Retreat in Gibsons mention that it is their first visit to Gibsons, BC. It’s no wonder more and more people are visiting when it’s so conveniently located just a 40 minute ferry sailing from Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal near Vancouver.
I remember my first visits to the Sunshine Coast in the early 1990s before I moved here. At the time I wondered why more people hadn’t heard about this beautiful place. Well, they are certainly hearing now. The community on the Sunshine Coast recognizes the importance of tourism and many people are promoting this destination.  Bed and Breakfast and Cottage accommodations are very popular for our visiting tourists.

I’ve had a dream for many years to have a welcoming retreat place where guests can come and share ideas, visions, goals, develop creativity and relax. Finally in 2002 I moved to the Sunshine Coast, an area where I knew this goal could become reality. For 2 years I enjoyed the Sunshine Coast and worked on my masters degree in adult education at UBC.

In 2004 after searching extensively for 2 years for the property that could facilitate the retreat I purchased the land where I planned to build the facility. In 2005 I completed the main home with accommodation suites for the retreat. In 2006 I proceeded to make plans for the building of the creative and spa studios.

It’s been a long haul trying to get the studios finished. There has been one challenge after the other. Broken equipment, winter storms, rain, mud, trees falling down on the acreage…lots of work to accomplish the goal. On the positive side, it’s been fun to design and build the dream. There’s been enough time to revise the studio cabins over and over prior to building them without incurring additional costs.

So now to reveal the plan. There are 4 studios on the 2 1/2 acre retreat site. Well almost 4…actually 2 1/2 are standing. I guess I see them standing even if no one else does. And the mud…did I mention the mud. Equipment, rain and soil do not go together very well. It is taking forever to get the studios up!!

The names:
The spa….Fawn Memories Spa Studio
The art studio…Ocean View Art Studio*
The music studio…Fox Glove Studio
My office/Massage Studio*

*subject to change

Each studio is about 350 - 400 sq ft inside with covered patio areas outside.

I do get the odd person giving their input into myvision for the Retreat. I’d really appreciate more input.

Questions I have:
1) If I build it will they come? I have alot invested in this!
2) I know everyone comes to the Sunshine Coast in July and August on holidays when the weather’s good but will they come for a creative retreat year round?
3) Would guests prefer me to set up programs for them or just have a facility they could use for their own programs?
4) What’s the best way to structure rates for the use of the studios and the use of the whole retreat facility?

These are some of the many thoughts that go through my mind.

Please interact with me if you have ideas or have seen or participated in retreats similar to this. Or if you have any suggestions about other uses for this facility I’d appreciate your input. I’d be honored if Whispering Cedars Retreat could be a warm place where people find rest, grow, learn, connect with others and develop their creative side.

I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Brenda Thomas. I landed here on the Sunshine Coast for good at the end of July 2005. I travelled a round about route but I arrived in the most beautiful place in the World. This is my home and I LOVE IT!

I first visited the Sunshine Coast in 1990 when my sister and her husband lived near Bonniebrook Beach in Gibsons. Then, I visited again with a boyfriend in 1992. However, I didn’t consider a moving to the Sunshine Coast until 1994 when I was surfing the net looking at properties across BC and trying to figure out where to move to next. There were several factors that contributed to this new direction.

I was tired of city living. I had been living in Vancouver from 1987 and was ready for a change. I wanted a lifestyle more similar to my childhood years in Armstrong BC. At that time I had my own business in interior design called Interior Environments in Vancouver. I was doing really well but hated the rat race of the city and business. There had to be more to life than that!

Between 1990 and 1995 I was taking holidays in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico for several weeks per year. My parents purchased a piece of land and built a home there during those dates. I loved the simple lifestyle of the Mexican people. It was so completely converse to my Vancouver lifestyle. It reminded me of the simplicity of my childhood.

In 1994 my sister, Terri Hamilton, was diagnosed at 28 years old with breast cancer. It was during the year of her downhill slide of health that I made a decision to change my lifestyle. In surfing the net for new areas to reside I narrowed the search to Trail, Nelson, Naniamo, Shuswap and the Sunshine Coast. I decided that I would like to live on the Sunshine Coast, which was closer to Vancouver yet still had the small community feel that I longed for.

However, on my holiday with Terri and her husband Gary, to my parents house in Mexico in March 1995 a seed was planted…a diversion. A neighbour had popped by my parents place announcing that she was selling her home just across the road in the Ranchitos. I mulled it over subconsciously at first then it popped up in a conversation with my parents that I may like to purchase the home and live in Mexico. I did!

But, when I returned to Canada my previous thoughts about the Sunshine Coast kept surfacing even though I was in the middle of a major renovation of my Mexican home. I picked up a real estate paper from West Vancouver so that I could review the properties available on the Sunshine Coast. I chose my realtor, Jon McRae (gut feeling-great choice!) and asked him to prepare a tour of properties in my price range in the spring/summer 1995. I found my new cottage that day. I couldn’t let it go. It was the only place I saw that day that was “out of my price range” but I was determined I would arrange financing. I almost gave up on the last day before closing. I had tried all the banks and several mortgage brokers in Vancouver with no luck. Then, in the last hour (literally) the bank manager of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union in Sechelt told me he’d take a drive by and see if they would lend me 50% of the money. I had the other 50% lined up at TD Canada Trust. I received the call and the go ahead. I was absolutely thrilled!

My dream for the future…my “alternative to Mexico” …my just in case “backup plan”…the place I knew I could live in and love.

Check out what’s happening to my little Sechlet waterfront cabin now….
http://www.sandyhookgetaway.com/

But oh, does my cabin have stories to tell about adventures along the way. There’ll be some postings from Sandy Hook Getaway Waterfront Cottage to come.