Category: Canada

Trans Canada Highway

Onwards south to Victoria today after a wonderful breakfast of lemon waffles with mixed berries and warm maple syrup and freshly ground coffee. If you do get to Canada it is well worth seeking out the B&Bs to stay in rather than hotels or motels as in my experience they provide a great place to stay with some wonderful hosts and extremely inventive breakfasts – much more interesting than the “full English”. Actually one of the best places we have stayed in was a tiny B&B in Toronto  with a brilliant chef where I first experienced the Canada blend of sweet and savoury for breakfast – omelette with a slice of watermelon on the side!

We awoke to grey skies but fortunately it was still dry. We had considered crossing over from Crofton to Vesuvius on Salt Spring Island and driving down to Fulford for the ferry over to Swartz Bay. The island is unique in the Gulf Island chain with diverse and fascinating artists’ studios, bakeries – Salt Spring Bread and Laughing Daughters Bakery – cheese factories, a lavender farm, a vineyard, textiles, potters, jewellery makers, glass art, wood turners and many, many artists.

But given that most places appear to be open by appointment only and some close from the end of September, we decided to drive straight down the Trans Canada Highway 1 through the Cowichan Valley from where it becomes Malahat Drive named after the Malahat First Nation.

The Malahat Drive is one of the most beautiful roadways in the world with viewpoints providing scenic vistas of the Saanich Inlet, the Saanich Peninsula, Salt Spring Island and the Gulf Islands in the distance. It begins just south of Mill Bay and takes a 25 km winding and steep route over the 365m Malahat Summit to end in the Goldstream Provincial Park which is very busy during November’s salmon spawning run. The park has several hiking trails and is best between April and June when the wildflowers are in evidence.

We drove all the way without stopping so there are no photos from this stage of the journey, but in August 2005 we diverted off the highway onto the 1A to Chemainus, a small town snuggled in between a mountain range and the Stuart Channel. Mining, fishing and forestry were the original industries that gave work to many Chinese who worked in “bull gangs”. Later they were joined by Japanese, Scots and Germans looking for riches in the mines and staying to work the forests and on fishing boats. And the Cowichan Valley has been home to The Original First Nations peoples and their ancestors for generations. When the lands’ natural resources started to dwindle and Chemainus was in danger of becoming a ghost town it found a new lease by inviting artists from around the world to paint huge murals on the sides of buildings. Thus becoming a famous tourist-attraction. Although quite kitsch, there is a kind of wonderment that makes you want to see more. And many of the murals have very interesting tales to accompany them.

Click on a photo to see the slide show and more information about each mural.

Bicycle Shop

Central Coast

In 2005 we stayed in the Comox Valley, slightly further to the north of Coombs where we stayed on our 2010 journey. It seems fitting to write about it now since I am already describing Vancouver Island. The Valley stretches some 50 km along the eastern side of Vancouver Island from Fanny Bay to Saratoga Beach. It is a collection of rolling mountains, delicate alpine meadows, rushing rivers, pristine lakes, lush forests, fertile farms and more than 40 green parks. It is a perfect base for exploring further afield and easy to get to with its own airport and regular ferry crossings to Powell’s River on the Sunshine Coast which is the way we approached it. Note to self: Remember to write about the Sunshine Coast when I finish with the island.

Looking across to the mainland.

Continue reading Central Coast

Englishman River Falls

Little Qualicum Falls and Englishman River Falls offer well-maintained trails, Rathtrevor Provincial Park offers a 5 km riverside walk and for more intrepid explorers there is a five-hour journey deep below the surface at Horne Lake Caves which includes a seven-storey underground waterfall called the Rain Barrel. For those of us less brave there is Milner Gardens to explore which is rated one of the ten best public gardens in Canada – sadly for me who loves to visit any garden it was only open Thurs – Sun in October. Oh well, another excuse to re-visit the Island. Continue reading Englishman River Falls

Canadian ‘Riviera’

On to Coombs and our next B&B which was very close to the Country Market and its famous goats on the roof– also the best ice cream on the island, but ask for a child’s portion because they are huge! Our comfortable B&B was a smallholding in Coombs which had three gorgeous looking alpacas named Willie, Alonso and Jack. There are often other wildlife visitors to the farm including black bears and deer. Unfortunately we didn’t see a bear, but we did see a visiting stag and several deer that I almost ran over as we drove out one evening to visit Parksville. Continue reading Canadian ‘Riviera’

Cathedral Grove

We didn’t want to leave the Pacific Rim side of the Island and could easily have spent another week here, especially as the weather was being so good to us. There was just enough time to squeeze in a little more after breakfast.

schooner trail

A hike down the Schooner trail was a good wake-up hike as it leads through a lovely mature rainforest with moss-draped trees and a golden light filtering through: the boardwalk with its series of steps and ramps leads to the very scenic Schooner Cove.

schooner cove

This is at the northern end of the very long aptly named Long Beach. By the time we’d walked back to the car our knees had definitely had a thorough work-out and reminded me about it for the rest of the day!

sun dance

Driving back across the Island towards Coombs we stopped at the famous Cathedral Grove where you can wander around a trail through large Douglas Fir and Red Cedar trees. The trees are massive in MacMillan Park and some are over 800 years old with The Big Tree in Cathedral Grove being 76 m tall (which is 20 m taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and 9 m in diameter. It is an opportunity to see a west coast rainforest, but I must admit walking through forests is not my most favourite thing, although I do seem to do an awful lot of it and I much prefer the ones that lead to a beach!