The last time I was in the Cowichan Bay area, I was playing high school rugby. Since I’m spending so much time here this week I thought it would be neat to share some of the history of this area.
The Cowichan Valley is between Victoria and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. You can get here by taking a ferry, or plane to either and driving over. The resort where we’re currently also has a heli-pad in case you’d want to explore in rockstar fashion.
Aside from their prime rugby talent, Cowichan is also world-famous for their sweaters made by the Cowichan band of the Coast Salish First Nation.
The town of Duncan is pretty much the hub of the Cowichan valley. It was the last stop south on a trail from Nanaimo after which people would take a boat over to Victoria [source]. In 1886 when the railway was completed between Nanaimo and Esquilmalt, a Mr Duncan was asked to if they could put a stop on his farmland. The site of this farm and stop are now a part of downtown Duncan. [source]
Cowichan River delta – Photo credit:
GerryT on Flickr
Quick facts:
Rugby truly is huge here and dare I say this is probably the rugby capital of Canada.
Cowichan is home to the second oldest grass tennis courts, the oldest aside from Wimbledon.
The original mission is a stone structure called “Butter Church” built in 1870. Its construction was financed by the local farm that produced butter, hence the name. There’s a neat blog about the building along with old and modern photos here.
There are a few museums to check out, from the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives to the really neat-looking Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre.
I learned last night that the historic Kinsol Trestle (below) was named after King Solomon.
Cowichan Bay was recently named North America’s first “Slow Food” (or “Cittaslow”) city. [source] [source]
White Rock, south of Surrey, has a connection to the Cowichan, “According to romantic legend, the boulder was tossed onto the beach by the son of a Salish sea-god who fell in love with a Cowichan princess.” [source]
Photo credit:
gdbate on Flickr
From salmon fishing, hiking, resorts and B&Bs to fertile farmlands and a strong agricultural past, this area is definitely worth exploring. I’ll be heading out to a cidery today along with a few wineries and then stopping in with a cheese maker. The whole idea of a Tourism BC trip is so that they can introduce us to people and places in the hopes that we’ll tell their stories. I’m looking forward to all that is in store.
I recently toured the South East portion of Vancouver Island with Tourism BC. You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
This morning I took a Harbour Air plane over to Victoria to spend a few days exploring the Island and all of its wonderful offerings alongside Tourism BC.
If you haven’t done the sea-plane thing to the Island I highly recommend it. The Harbour Air flight was great (and they have wifi in both terminals) but there’s also Westcoast Air (with whom I had a quick tour earlier this summer), as well as a few others like Saltspring Air and HeliJet.
Arriving on in Victoria’s inner harbour we took a water taxi with Holly from Tourism Victoria to Fisherman’s Wharf. The pier was packed with families and folks on their lunch breaks enjoying some fish & chips in the sunshine.
The next stop was Spinnakers where our small group ate. I’ve been to Spinnakers before but I’ll have a post up about our particular menu later on this week.
From there we hopped in a van and ended up at the Aerie Resort, which is along the Malahat Highway between Victoria and Nanaimo. We’ll be here for two nights before heading up to Courtenay and Comox (a few places I’ve explored a bit before with Keira).
I’ve never really visited this particular region (the Cowichan Valley) so I’m really looking forward to learning more about the wineries, farmers, and artisans that we’ll be visiting.
I hope to share information with my readers about BC-fresh products as well as a few ideas for weekend getaways. The itinerary says we’re even going to see some water buffalo before they get milked — can’t wait.
You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
Last week my Vancouver History: Before and After Photos received such a great response that I’m making this a weekly feature. I started thinking of themes so this week’s series will feature bridges. As with last week, the original images are available through the City of Vancouver Archives.
Burrard Bridge
1932
Major Matthews collection
2007
Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Since before I could walk, I’ve been going to the Pacific National Exhibition with my family. I remember piling into the family van, driving for what seemed to be all morning, then taking the Hastings exit of Highway 1 past Empire Stadium and into the fair parking lots. Then, from my stroller, I would watch as my big brother and sister rode the rides that I was too small to enjoy.
When the helicopter ride (which I thought simply went in circles) lifted itself off the ground I cried so hard that I was promptly returned to my stroller. I was only to be consoled with a warm, fresh, blueberry scone from the food pavilion.
The log ride was a staple, as were the bumper cars and when I was older (err… taller) the Coaster was the ultimate rush. I rode the Super Big Gulp and dozens of other rides that have come and gone over the years.
Our family would walk through the stables, get our Polaroids taken in front of green-screened combat equipment at the Armed Forces pavilion, and point out where we lived on the giant relief map of the province in the BC Pavilion. When we would return to the van after an action-packed day we’d have swag bags full of stickers, brochures, and our PNE buttons (which we made sure to collect every single year from guest services).
Of course my teenage years at Playland and the PNE with friends garnered different experiences. These involved ogling axe-swingers at the lumberjack competition or demolition derby, riding the Enterprise in a car all by yourself, playing mini golf like Happy Gilmore, and heading to the Petro-Can to get someone’s queasy stomach a dose of Pepto Bismol.
Each trip with friends, family, and familiar faces made for new memories, which at this point are endless. Now in its 99th year, the Fair at the PNE is offering up even more “free with admission” fun for all while celebrating 50 years of the old wooden (world famous) coaster.
Some PNE and Playland fast facts:
Playland is currently running a 2-for-1 promotion for ride passes on Tuesday after 3:00pm (valid until August 18th)
With a recent investment from the Government of Canada, the PNE can now offer over 800 “free with admission” shows, the most of any year in its history.
Included concerts feature Barney Bentall & the Legendary Hearts, April Wine, Randy Bachman, En Vogue, Rick Springfield, Tom Cochrane with Red Rider, Chris Isaak, and more.
In order to help you create and pass on the joy of a day out at the PNE, I approached them to put together this contest. I’m giving away a family pack of tickets which includes 4 gate admission tickets along with 4 all-day ride passes for Playland.
To enter to win the family pack, leave a comment below including one of your favourite PNE or Playland memories. If you can fit all of that into 140 characters, re-tweets will also be accepted. Alternatively, if you’ve never been, you can just explain why you would want to go. I’ll draw the winner on Friday August 21st. The winner will have 24 hours to confirm as the passes, and the Fair, will only be around from August 22nd until September 7th, 2009.
Update: I drew the winner and it’s maria b – thanks to everyone for sharing some great memories and if you’re up for a tweetup or group day at Playland or the PNE, I’m in!
During our weekend visit to Whistler, we decided to walk over to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. John and I love feeding our brains, learning about different cultures and learning more about the history of the places we call home.
The Squamish and Lil’wat Nations are two very distinct cultures that have always lived side by side. Whistler is actually situation in shared territory.
“In 1997 the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) met with the Lil’wat Nation to consult about opportunities for the Nation’s participation and presence in Whistler BC. Out of these discussions, the idea of a world-class cultural centre was born and a relationship in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation evolved.
Mindful of the historic precedence of shared lands and the overlapping interests in land stewardship, the Lil’wat Nation met with the Squamish Nation in 1999 to discuss land use and planning in areas of traditional territory overlap. As a result, in 2001 the two Nations signed a Protocol Agreement, which formalized our mutual relationship. This historic Protocol Agreement commits us to continued co-operation in matters of cultural and economic development, and co-management of shared territory.” [Tale of Two Nations]
The Cultural Centre is a gorgeous new building with traditional touches and features. At the start of our tour we watched a movie about the land and the people, which was beautifully made.
We were guided by our Ambassador through galleries, taught some amazing facts, and told several twists on ancient stories. We learned about things such as how you should only take two hand-widths of bark from a tree (so it doesn’t go into shock) when using it for weaving and how it took them 6-10 years to complete a wool blanket. The First Nations people were the ultimate masters in sustainability. They knew how to use the land, plants, and animals respectfully and so that they would be able to enjoy the resources for generations.
Outside the centre there is an underground pit house, a long house, and a forest walk. In the long house our Ambassador taught us how to make bracelets from Cedar bark and along the walk we learned about how various vegetation was used in everyday life.
On the top level of the centre is an impressive gallery with items for sale, such as works by Maynard Johnny Jr who did the gift boxes that were presented at the Juno Awards this year. Various other artists were showcased through their work with masks, paddles, paintings, and even snowboards.
We also learned that the reason why it took so long to make the impressive wool blankets, as our Ambassador explained, is that they collected wool from mountain goats that was caught on plant life or tree bark — they didn’t actually pull it right from the animal as they did not believe in harming it. They would also use hair from a special breed of dog for the wool. With each stitch and knitted loop they would also say a prayer or blessing. They have an impressive collection of items in their galleries including the blanket Chief Joe Capilano took all the way to England in 1906 when he met with King Edward VII.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Cultural Centre and have been wearing our hand-made Cedar bark bracelets ever since. It’s a small token of our time there but it packs a lot of meaning behind each twist of the bark. I’m a first generation Canadian and through the education, passion and thousands of years of heritage that these cultures take the time to share with us, I feel even more of a connection with my home and ever-more respectful of theirs.
There was so much to do in Whistler this weekend, from village shops and restaurants, to gondolas, hikes, bikes, and cheese rolling. However taking that quick stroll over to the Cultural Centre next to the river is definitely something I would recommend for others. On your way up to Whistler you may also want to consult the Cultural Journey map for points of interest along the way.
The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre is open daily from 9:30am – 5:00pm and is located at 4584 Blackcomb Way in Whistler, BC. The admission rate for adults is $18 although they do have an annual membership program, which would be your best value.
