Homfray Lodge is now Klahoose Wilderness Resort in Desolation Sound
I spent summers on the Sunshine Coast as a kid, going to camp in Roberts Creek, so maybe that’s why it makes my heart ever so happy when I get to set sail on the Queen of Surrey from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and leave work behind for a few days. My destination on this adventure was Homfray Lodge, located at the very top of the Sunshine Coast (aka the upper 604 region).
Getting to Homfray Lodge
- Take the 2 ferry route, Horseshoe Bay to Langdale (Gibsons) then drive up the coast to Earls Cove passing Jervis Inlet and arriving at Saltery Bay (Powell River). Park at the Historic Lund Hotel and the Pacific Coastal Cruises team will be there to transfer you to the lodge in the Pacific Bear.
- Fly with Pacific Coastal airlines from YVR South to Powell River, then transfer to Lund to catch your boat to the lodge.
John and I decided on the two ferry route, to make some stops along the way in Gibsons and Powell River (including lunch at Coastal Cookery, tastings at Townsite Brewing, and provisions from the Gibsons Public Market).
Desolation Sound with Pacific Coastal Cruises
Arriving in Lund, at the end of Highway 101 – the longest continuous stretch of road in the world – we parked at the Historic Lund Hotel and waited for our Pacific Bear crew to meet us in the lobby. Lund was bustling with activity on a late August weekday. Campers requesting change for laundry, picnickers asking for directions to Nancy’s Bakery, guests checking into the hotel, and boaters making their way up from the marina for a pint in the pub.
We met Lance and Greig from the Pacific Bear and made our way to the Little Blue Boat in the marina where our luggage was loaded on and we climbed the stairs to the top deck where cold beer and wine we waiting for us next to the sun-kissed lounge chairs. We were on our way to Homfray Lodge! Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
The 2nd annual Nanaimo International Jazz Festival will have the city’s downtown hopping for three days and nights with the beats and grooves of live jazz September 21-23, 2018.
Nanaimo International Jazz Festival
Favourites happening again this year are the Friday night Jazz & Swing Dance featuring the NMA Band and Saturday afternoon’s New Orleans-style secondline parade starting off in the Old City Quarter – both of which you don’t want to miss!
Traveling all the way from New York City is the Charles Mingus Dynasty Quintet to headline the Festival’s main attraction at the Port Theatre Saturday night.
Kicking off Sunday morning’s program is the Freedom Gospel Choir featuring Shalema Gantt.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Free: Music Students Workshop with Mingus Dynasty at VIU Theatre
Free: Arrowsmith Big Band at Diana Krall Plaza
Ticketed Show: NMA Big Band at The Dorchester Hotel
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Free: Natasha Hoskins’ Stompers, New Orleans Second Line Street Parade
Free: Connor Stewart Quintet at Pioneer Plaza
Free: Astrid Lyre Quartet at McGregor Park
Free: Sympatico at Diana Krall Plaza
Headline Concert: The Charles Mingus Dynasty Quintet at The Port Theatre
Midnight Jam: Marty Steele and Guests at The Dorchester Hotel
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Free: Freedom Gospel Choir at Diana Krall Plaza
Free: David Essig’s Blues Story at Diana Krall Plaza
Closing Gala: Victoria Jazz Orchestra at The Port Theatre
Win Tickets
I have a pair of Nanaimo Jazz Festival passes to give away that will give the lucky Miss604 winner and a guest access to all festival events! Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Like Miss604 & the Nanaimo Jazz Festival on Facebook (1 entry)
- Click below to get another entry by posting on Twitter:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to the Nanaimo Jazz Festival http://ow.ly/gKN430lAUic” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 9:00am on Wednesday, September 5, 2018.
Update The winner is Iris!
Contributed by Doc Pow of ZenSeekers
Staying on the Edge of Epic at the Historic Lund Hotel
When you get to Lund, you’ve hit the end of the road — or the end of Hwy 101, the world’s longest highway, which stretches south to the tip of South America. The town hugs the rugged coastline of British Columbia’s mainland coast and truly lives up to its original Tla’amin First Nations’ name of Klah-ah-men. Klah-ah-men translates into “a place of refuge, a place to relax,” and that it is.
Photo by Chris Istace for ZenSeekers
The Historic Lund Hotel, now under full ownership by the Tla’amin Nation, sits at the entrance to Desolation Sound along the north end of the Sunshine Coast. Here, you’re challenged to leave the road, paddle north of Klah-ah-men and within 40 minute, you will witness 6,000-year-old petroglyphs.
“For our people,” Tla’amin elder, Elsie Paul explains, “Klah-ah-men was a place where we would fish and live off the land.”
Read more about Lund on ZenSeekers.com »
Klah-ah-men (Lund), with its oceanside boardwalk, seaside accommodations, dining and adventure options allows you to reflect on what life might have been like those many years ago. Now the Tla’amin is sharing its culture and practices, so everyone can learn how the Tla’amin not only lived here for years, but thrived.
Historians and story tellers describe how BC’s west coast was populated by thousands of First Nation peoples living within bustling villages and communities. Klah-ah-men is a place to come together, to celebrate and to respect nature.
Photo by Chris Istace for ZenSeekers
Tla’amin Experience Package
The Tla’amin Nation Experience package, offered by the hotel and members of the Nations’ creative class, welcomes everyone to Klah-ah-men, October 12-14, 2018.
“This is an opportunity for our people to share our stories and for those visiting, to immerse themselves in our culture, to learn our traditional way of life,” explains Lund Hotel manager, Marlane Christensen, a proud Tla’amin Nations member. As part of the two-night accommodation package, guests learn to weave their own cedar basket, take language classes, be a part of an indigenous-led blanket ceremony and much more.
Photo by Chris Istace for ZenSeekers
“Blanket ceremonies provide an understanding of how colonization has impacted ancient civilizations and how they have survived,” explains Taxumajehjeh founder, Koosen Pielle, a cultural coordinator and Tla’amin member.
Looking for a piece of real West Coast adventure as part of your Tla’amin Nation experience? Become an honorary member of the Tla’amin canoe family and paddle out into history.
If weather allows, guests of the Tla’amin Nation package will head out on the water this October with members of the Tla’amin Nation, to learn more of their ways of life, this time through their passion for the water.
“Canoeing is an integral part to our culture,” explains Tla’amin Nation Cultural Advisor Drew Blaney, “Canoes not only gave us travel and trading potentials, but was also the life blood to sustaining ourselves through fishing and access to the ocean’s bounty.”
Photo by Chris Istace for ZenSeekers
Book in for a trip to Lund and know you are going to get a retreat to a refuge.
All guests of the package will receive an autographed copy from Tla’amin elder Elsie Paul, co-author of the book, Written As I Remember It – showcasing the Tla’amin’s way of life and learnings.
For more on, click over to this ZenSeekers story, showcasing Chris Istace, the Mindful Explorer’s take on the Tla’amin Nation Experience.
If You Go
- BC Ferries leaves from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast with around 10 sailings daily, plus sailings from Vancouver Island to the northern Sunshine Coast (Powell River). Or, take advantage of the many other transportation services, including float planes, passenger ferry service, and more.
- Learn more about the Historic Lund Hotel on ZenSeekers.com
- Full details on the upcoming Tla’amin Experience package are here. Many of the details in this story will be bundled into a weekend of learning and appreciation of the Tla’amin Nation’s story, October 12 to 14, 2018.
- Tag #ExploreLund and #ZenSeekers on your travels and you might be featured on one of their social media channels.
Fall is one of the best times to visit Fort Langley National Historic Site! From the deliciously fun and seasonal Cranberry Festival, to spooky tours and tales around Halloween…and event zombies. There’s something for the whole family at this heritage attraction.
Fort Langley National Historic Site Fall Events
A Survivalist’s Guide to a Zombie Apocalypse
When: Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 6:00pm
Admission: Tickets are Available online
Details: It could happen: Fort Langley may one day find itself in the midst of a zombie apocalypse! But are you ready? In this after-hours event, learn essential survival skills through four fascinating activities including wilderness first aid, musket-firing, fire-starting, and blacksmithing. Discover why the fort would be the prime location for survival.
Fort Langley Cranberry Festival
When: Saturday, October 6, 2018
Admission: Free admission day
Details: Celebrate cranberries at Fort Langley National Historic Site while learning the history of local uses of native cranberries by Indigenous people. Did you know the Hudson’s Bay Company exported cranberries to California during the gold rush? Put on rubber boots and jump into the popular cranberry stomp, as well as other farm-related games. Stroll over to the wonderful Cranberry Festival market in the village.
Grave Tales
When: October 7, 12-14, 17-21, 24-30, 2018
Admission: Advance tickets go on sale September 3, 2018
Details: Join expert storytellers for a two- or three-hour program of spine-chilling stories, as you walk through the Fort Langley village at night.
Halloween at Fort Langley
When: Sunday, October 28, 2018
Admission: Regular admission rates apply (17 and under are always FREE!)
Details: Trick-or-treat at Fort Langley National Historic Site! Make a craft, visit the Spooky Servants quarters and get an airbrush tattoo. Geared toward young families. Wear your costumes for great photos.
Follow Fort Langley National Historic Site on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
