Museums
Antiques in a window (David Gluns photo)
Gibsons and the surrounding area offer several compact, intriguing museums that bring the Sunshine Coast's culture and history to life.
Sunshine Coast Museum
Founded in 2002, the Sunshine Coast Museum (716 Winn Rd) sits in the historic Gibsons Landing section of town overlooking the harbour. Beyond the gift shop, loaded with books on BC history, the two-floor museum teems with intriguing memorabilia.
Visitors can learn about local maritime history spanning from explorer Captain George Vancouver to the 19th-century Union Steamships. They can also admire a model of a Coast Salish village, pore over vintage logging equipment, and get their pop culture kicks from exhibits on the hit CBC TV series, The Beachcombers (filmed in Gibsons for 19 years). Housing 9,000-plus documents and photographs, the on-site archives are worth checking out too.
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House of Chiefs
Located about 23km/14mi from Gibsons in Sechelt, the House of Héwhíwus, or House of Chiefs (5555 Sunshine Coast Hwy) proudly documents the culture of the Sechelt Nation that first resided on the lower Sunshine Coast. Exhibits showcase traditional weaving and salmon-smoking methods, colourful masks and paddles, stone carvings, and more. Performances with live singing and dancing take place in the adjacent Raven's Cry Theatre. Ask museum staffers about Talaysay Tours, which offers customized kayaking tours in Porpoise Bay Provincial Park, viewing Aboriginal pictographs and enjoying traditional meals.
More Sunshine Coast Museums
In the seaside village of Egmont, 74km/46mi north of Gibsons, the Egmont Heritage Centre has welcomed visitors since 2006. The 279sq m/3,000sq ft museum is situated across the road from the entrance to Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park, and displays everything from native artifacts to ship steering wheels to old salmon can labels.
Nature lovers and families with children are well-advised to visit the Iris Griffith Interpretive Centre (15386 Sunshine Coast Hwy). It's housed in an environmentally friendly building next to the Denise Cargill Wildlife Sanctuary, which burgeons with dragonflies, turtles, and various bird species. Learn about the nesting habits of marbled murrelets in old-growth forests, check out salamanders in aquariums, or view samples of the ancient yellow cedar trees in the nearby Caren Range.
For more details about museums on the Sunshine Coast check out the Gibsons Visitor Centre.
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