More of Our Island Story

Vancouver Island is big (32,134 km² (12,407 sq. mi) 460 kilometres (290 mi) in length, 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width at its widest point. There are about a dozen or so inhabited islands in the Strait of Georgia and all sorts of ferries that transport people and things between and among the islands and over to the Mainland of BC.

 Nanaimo is the hub for shopping. It is reputed to have more shopping centres per capita than any other place in Canada. So it is the place to go.

 I was surprised to find out that the ferry coming into Nanaimo is considered part of the Trans Canada Highway and if you go south to Victoria it continues as the Trans Canada but if you go north it becomes highway 19. All kinds of things surprise me, the speed on that highway is 120 km/hr – imagine!!

Mind you, there is a lesser traveled road called the Oceanside Route that wanders in and around the many settlements and villages along the shore.

French Creek is one of those places between Parksville and Qualicum Beach. It is where many of the fishing boats bring in their catch and where you take the walk-on ferry to Lasqueti Island (home to a small population of farmers and artisans). We wandered down there to see the eagles when the herring was supposed to be running but the run never happened there this year.

 When we were at the French Creek Marina, we were talking to Dorothy and her Mom who run the store on Lesqueti Island. They were taking supplies over on the walk-on ferry. We talked about Lesqueti being off the grid and, darn it, they wouldn’t want it any other way!! “Come and visit”, they said.

BTW French Creek has the best hidden Seafood Shop on the Island.

The weather hasn’t been the greatest but one cold and windy day, we checked into Rathtrevor Beach and just happened to see this brave and crazy fellow set up his para-sail and cruise into the icy water.

There really is nothing like the west side of the Island and our visit to Tofino and Ulculet reinforced the allure of the rage and serenity of the ocean.

We toured many of the beaches along the coast and realized we probably have as many photos of the ocean as we do of sunsets. And like sunsets, the ocean is always fascinating, intriguing and never the same twice.

Qualicum Beach - Out and About

My brother told me that the locals call Qualicum Beach, Q Beach so I will too. We'll be here for over six weeks, so we're not residents but we do feel more like locals than strangers. Q Beach has a population of between 8000 and 9000 and is reputed to have the oldest average age (around 61) of any place in Canada.

Historically the Salish people had inhabited the Qualicum Beach area for hundreds of years. The word Qualicum means "Where the Dog (chubb) Salmon Run" in the Pentlach language. It is considered within the traditional territory of the Qualicum First Nation.

In 1886 a road reached Parksville and was extended to Qualicum in 1894 and the arrival of rail service in 1914 boosted the tourist trade.
BuenaVista by the Sea, the place we are staying, is one of the oldest still-operating resorts was built in 1937.

I'm not sure if we fit in but we have been out and about almost every day doing what we usually do – tour around and find sights that interest us. It is definitely different from the desert!! 

Everywhere you look there is special manicured garden spots and invitations to beautify.

Downtown is filled with specialty shops of all sizes and descriptions and coffee shops in almost every nook and cranny.

The aisles in the local grocery store are extra wide to accommodate the numerous walkers and over at the hardware store, they have a special place for customers to park their scooters. 

 

As with most smaller communities, Q Beach has its Farmers Market filled with home-style type products. 

 

 

I was so tickled when we discovered the Salvation Army Thrift Store Boutique. 

Doesn't that say it all - a trendy senior community!

Qualicum Beach – Our Home Away from Home

We actually left Victoria much sooner than we anticipated. Change in circumstances - brother and sister-in-law came home a couple of weeks earlier than they expected. Lucky for us, the place we had reserved Buena Vista by the Sea could squeeze us in for that extra two week.

So we spent a few days with Stan (my brother) and Patty (his wife) and then headed up the east coast of Vancouver Island to Qualicum Beach and (Buena Vista by the Sea).

The Island Highway #1 comes out of Victoria and becomes the infamous 'Malahat' - a 25 km (15.5 mi) portion of the Trans Canada Highway 1 running along the west side of Saanich Inlet. It climbs to a summit of 356 m (1,156 ft), and the mountain is considered one of the most sacred sites on southern Vancouver Island. Its name comes from the Malahat First Nation, whose ancestors used the caves for spiritual enhancement.

There are many things to see and do along the 3 hour trip to Qualicum Beach but right then we wanted to get unpacked and settled.

Aw-w-w, it was not to be. The folks who were in the suite we were supposed to go into had been in a car accident and Claire (the owner) being Claire, offered us an upgrade for two weeks to let them stay there until the lady healed enough to move. So that was our introductions to the place. We were assigned the Red Room and it is more than comfortable.

We had a stone patio that led into the backyard and the gate out to the beach and the ocean.

 
Buena Vista by the Sea was built in 1937 and is considered one of the oldest still-operating resorts in the area. It was scheduled to be torn down when when Robbie and Claire took it over about 25 years ago.
As one of the housekeepers said, “you wouldn't believe these rooms when you see it from the front.” They are so inviting and warm. It is built right on the old Oceanside Highway with barely enough room to park a car, let alone the kind of trucks people drive today.
It took us a few days to discover Qualicum Beach (QB) because somewhere along the way, the screen on my laptop cracked (we have no idea how that happened). As Sheila would say, “just give her a computer and she is happy.” Needless to say, I was not a happy camper and nothing else was going to get done until my computer was up and running. I am now the proud owner of a brand new computer but it took a lot of travel time to and from Nanaimo to get that together.
We have become mesmerized by the ever-changing ocean: the waves; the birds and the people who constantly stalk the beaches.

 The Ocean

 

 The Birds

The People

 

Our First Venture Out

Most striking about the island is the lush greenery, the moss, and the ever-present dampness. Suddenly you realize that this is the Rain Forest. The best saying I heard was “if your feet aren't in salt water, then you are probably in the rain forest.”

The trees are so twisted and stunted they look like broccoli, reaching up from a mass of thick, wet moss. Some trees are so big the hobbits could live in them. The vivid greens of the moss covered soil; the ferns that arch up towards the overhanging layers of green vegetation; the impenetrable canopy that blocks out the light can only inspire the imagination.

Our first destination was a small village called Mill Bay just northeast of Victoria. 

We were lucky enough to arrive on the first day of the Chinese New Year and enjoy the Dragon Dance Celebration put on by children in the community.

  Mill Bay was established in the 1860s, twenty years after Victoria was founded. 

Many of the settlers in Mill Bay arrived in 1862, when the HMS Hecate came to the 

Cowichan Bay area from England. 

According to written records, the standard payment to the natives for settlement land was two blankets. 

Mill Bay was the location of a power-generating station for Henry Shepard's sawmill. 

An American industrialist named W. Sayward turned the mill into one of the major industries in the area. 

Cowichan Lake was too far into the wilderness at the time, but eventually logging spread into the area as well. Mill Bay continued to be the hub of the industry for a number of years. 

Logs had to be dragged by oxen in a process called 'skidding'. 

http://www.travel-british-columbia.com/vancouver-gulf-islands/cowichan/mill-bay/ 

The road we took wandered in and amongst the ever present overhanging of vegetation . . . sometimes sunny and sometimes socked-in by mist or low-lying clouds . . . but always surrounded by shadows.

Like always, we wanted to get back before dark but there was just so much to see:

 The Salish Bear Pole

 The creek rushing through the woods

The Marina at Cowichan Bay

Bless the GPS

Mary voiced our last GPS. She did mislead us a few times and we ended up calling her “the navigator bitch”. Jill is our ever-faithful voice of direction now and she does a wonderful job. We have only experienced one failure and that was because they closed off the road.

I am so-o-o glad she is with us. The drive from the ferry to my brother’s place was rather uneventful because of her.

I forgot how green and lush the island is, even in the middle of winter.

It’s funny, when Sheila and I were driving down a street in Lethbridge a couple weeks ago, there was one lawn, in particular, that was very green and we joked about it being artificial turf. Lo and behold, on our way back, we discovered that it was artificial.

Our stay in Victoria was shortened by a couple of weeks so we didn’t do all we had planned. We mostly beach strolled and ate in wonderful places  - - - we had East Indian food, wonderful seafood and Dim Sum – treats we haven’t had for years.

Beach strolling is a marvellous past time and people watching, of course.

Victoria must be a wonderful place to live but as a visitor, it is a difficult place to find your way around.

The Fisherman’s Wharf is amazing with all it’s colourful boats and begging seals.

 

 

The one thing I wanted to share with you-all was something we had never seen before and I just had to get a picture of it. There is a huge 2-story Walmart in a large shopping centre. It has a cart escalator!! No, really, you put your cart on the escalator and it will take it to the next floor – fascinating!!

 

Not being city type people we were anxious to find our way out of the city and onto roads less travelled. 

 

We left!

To my great relief, we are on the road. Our plan was to leave Wednesday, but the promise of mild weather and little snow prompted the early departure.
In his usual manner (saying he felt great) Fred put in a long, hard day travelling through the mountains.
I remember a time when he drove a straight 24 hours before he stopped and another time we drove all night to get to Wyoming for the weekend and then back for work. But he is getting older – this time we did manage to stop at Salmon Arm, just before it got dark.
Nothing can compare with a trip through the Rocky Mountains especially in the winter. 

From a distance, the mountains don’t seem like much but as you get closer and closer, you realize how massive and majestic they really are.

I was surprised just how little snow there was on the upper parts of the mountains. And yet, in spots the branches of the trees were so heavy with snow, they nearly touched the ground.

 

We took the Trans Canada Highway right through Banff National Park. Banff hosts about 3.5 million visitors every year and an additional 4.5 million that drive the Trans Canada and never stop in the Park. All this traffic takes it’s toll on the abundant wildlife that populates the Park so when they decided to expand the road from two to four lanes, they decided that something must be done to protect the animals.
Since 1996, they’ve opened six wildlife overpasses and 38 underpasses, which has allowed for more than 140,000 documented wildlife crossings. You don’t see the underpasses but the overpasses are fascinating.

 Rather than take the Trans Canada through the Fraser Canyon, we took Highway 5 over the Coquilalla (el. 1,244 m or 4,081 ft) and dropped into the green, green fields of Hope. It’s amazing to see green fields this time of year. We stopped in to a grocery store and they were selling petunia bedding out plants. I couldn’t believe it – the first of February!!

Ferry to Vancouver Island
We left Langley early in the morning (we accidentally left our pillows there, too) and caught the ferry with no wait time.
I don’t think we have ever taken the ferry when it was sunny and warm. This was no exception but I still feel a sense of warmth and excitement each time we cross the straits from the Mainland to Vancouver Island.
When we drove up the ramp, the counter told us we were the 80th vehicle in that line to go up the ramp. There was another ramp beside us and two more on the other side of the ship.
I couldn’t find out how many vehicles or passengers each ferry holds but it runs into the hundreds. They can load a ferry within 15 minutes. It is quite a process.

 

We spent about an hour and a half wandering in and out amongst about a dozen small island as we wend our way from Vancouver to Victoria.

 I’m not sure about spending so much time in the city but we will do our best!!

Yes, We are Going!

2015 was our on-again-off-again-on-again travel year.
Now, in 2016, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I am able to announce we are in our On-Again Phase again! And this time it feels closer.
We found a place in Qualicum Beach that we hope FAR exceeds last year’s fiasco.
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Being true to their usual form, RV Lifestyle did a fantastic job of publishing the California Dreaming piece – then go up to where it says CONTENT and click on RV touring - California Dreaming. That should get you there!!page 26.
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The Weather
They tell us that so far, we have had a wonderful weather winter here.
I must say it hasn’t been nearly as bad as I expected. Even though we have resided here in Lethbridge since 2001, this is the first winter we have spent here.
I think the thing that has struck me most is how early it got dark in the afternoon (around 4pm) and how late it got light (9ish am) in the morning. It’s slowly improving. I noticed yesterday that it was still light at 5pm – yahoo!
BUT THE WINDS!
In Lethbridge, the warmer weather is generally accompanied by the rather strong Chinook Winds. Those are warm winds that swoop down on the east side of the Rocky Mountains. We always used to say “anywhere else, it might be called a hurricane, but here we just call it a ‘Sunny South Alberta Breeze’.
We have our own personal wind gage. It is the Tin Man that is suspended from a special spot on the deck.

When he does his jig we avoid going out. It may be warm, but the winds would blow you away. Sometimes he just sits there and everything is okay.
The Tin Man was exchanged for a Jacob’s Tails book many years ago with a wonderful woman we met on the road. She was a full-time RVer and originally from Minnesota. Mia travelled in her own Class A Motorhome and spent most of the winter in Laughlin at one of the Casinos. The Tin Men were made completely from various sized tin cans by her brother. She sold them for him and the proceeds added to her own existence.
The resident weather-man says we need to leave by the middle of next week so there is lots to do.
Posting will come as things progress.