Cowichan Locomotion and Locavotion
Photo by: Joan Boxall
The author and her husband Ken pause along the path. 
Our
first stop is Seahorses Restaurant where a warm hedgehog (a soft
unbaked chocolate biscuit) wiles our wait time for the Brentwood to Mill
Bay ferry. Boaters dally in the sparkling bay. Being first aboard to
relish the lithographic blues of ocean and sky, we chat with fellow
passengers who perch like gulls along the rail.The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine. –John Howard
A refreshment stop awaits at Merridale Ciderworks Bistro and Spa. With an orchard brochure in hand, the cider house, orchard spa, English and French apple trees, all spread out before us. Making room for panier-sized bottles of award-winning Merri Berri Cider is easy.
Shelagh John of Marifield Manor has rhubarb cake and a steaming pot of tea ready for us in her Edwardian Marifield Manor salon. We’ll pace ourselves for a
morning
feast given Shelagh’s 20-year experience as restaurateur at the popular
eatery, The Pioneer House. That pacing comes by way of the
fully-licensed Village Chippery with its cod, halibut and salmon 'n'
chips, Fanny Bay Oysters, chili or chowder.Shelagh wears her starched chef’s apron and offers starters of granola, yogurt, fruit salad and freshly-brewed coffee. Pancakes follow with egg dishes served sunny-side up, down or sideways.
From Marifield Manor, it’s an easy road-ride to the Kinsol Trestle on the Trans Canada Trail: the world’s longest multi-use recreational trail spanning 16,000 kilometres. By 2017, Canada’s 150th birthday and the trail’s 25th, it will span more than 22,500 kilometres linking 1,000 communities nation-wide.
*When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race*. –H.G. Wells
Back
in the saddle, we fall under the trail’s spell. Green pools of light
meld and mottle to a gush-gurgle on the watershed’s edge. After a
Holt-Creek-Trestle snack, we marvel at an NGO trio who’ve floated
downriver counting Cowichan River trout. The river is one of the
island’s healthiest for fishing and floating enthusiasts.Kidd’s B&B hospitality greets us with a pontoon tour of Cowichan Lake. A dip cools while a blanket, Comox Valley Brie and a beverage warms, and we putter around the second-largest fresh water lake on Vancouver Island, after Kennedy Lake near Ucluelet. It is a dazzling centerpiece for small communities like Mesachie Lake, Honeymoon Bay, Youbou and the town of Lake Cowichan itself.
The region is resplendent in recreation: boating, golfing, fishing, canoeing, wind surfing, water skiing, whitewater kayaking, hiking and biking. We, and the other guest pontooners, can’t cover all the bases, but we talk it up… over a veggie curry rice bowl at the Cow Café.
After a stroll along Cowichan Lake’s floating boardwalk, Kidd’s muffin-tin frittatas set us up for a marvelous morning ride. The wheels go ’round and the region’s flavours flood through us.
Next to a leisurely walk, I enjoy a spin on my tandem bicycle… a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing. –Helen Keller
Duncan’s stately totems point the way up Maple Bay Road to the Quamichan Inn where landscaped grounds once traversed 300 acres. Set well back from the road, the 100-year-old heritage house pairs beautifully with rare Garry oaks, the only native oak in Western Canada.
The Cowichan Valley is brewing culture. One never knows where it might bubble up: Cowichan Theatre, Cowichan Valley Arts (fine arts, music, dance), Cowichan Valley Museum and the nation-wide September Culture Days which spawns initiatives like the Mushroom and Salmon Festival in Lake Cowichan. Home to over 76,000 residents in nearly 20 Native reserves and as many small communities, the Cowichan Valley Regional District offers cultural events where visitors take in what's on offer. That's a fine roast of food and culture.
Two options for the return trip to Tsawwassen are via the Gulf Islands ferry from Crofton to Salt Spring Island, or the Southern Vancouver Island Rotary Route to Chemainus.
Marking the 100th anniversary of Rotary International, six Cowichan Valley clubs delivered a scenic route spanning 110 kilometres.
Option One: Salt Spring Island and its Fall Fair. We catch the Fulford Harbour ferry and mosey on to Harbour House Hotel, Restaurant & Organic Farm. Proximate to the Long Harbour Ferry to Tsawwassen, and walking distance to Ganges Village, we hop the shuttle bus to take in a fall fair extraordinaire.
Stemming back to 1896, this fiesta includes hobbies, crafts, food, zucchini races, livestock and organic-farm shows, along with demonstrations of sheep-shearing, maple syrup making and bee-keeping. It’s all there from rooster calling to muffin madness: the Rotary Club’s fundraiser where you guess the grid where the cow-patty drops.
Option Two: Follow the Rotary Route from Maple Bay Road to Chemainus.
We listen to an open-air dulcimer/concertina serenade after seeing murals depicting mill-town occupations and hunter-gatherer cultures of old. Lovely Ladysmith tempts with charming storefronts and coffee shops.
Destination Kiwi Cove Lodge at the head of Ladysmith Harbour. Nearby is the Marina Bistro patio. Merridale ciders revive and roasted veggie and gruyere flatbreads refresh. We saunter through the kiwi grove to watch Purple Martins, North America’s largest swallow, swoop into their boxes. Canada Geese honk sunset salutations. Peggy Kolosof’s steaming scones with sumptuous kiwi jam motivate a morning get-away.
Pedal push north to the Duke Point ferry along Cedar Road unless you relish Yellow Point Road searing a lasting impression on your thighs. Either way, a return to the Cowichan Valley can’t be far off. We locavores love to linger and lollygag… while we locomote.
Life is like riding a bicycle — in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. –Albert Einstein
Getting there:
(Day One, 40-50 km: flat to rolling): Vancouver via BC Ferry’s Tsawwassen terminal to Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island onto Lochside Trail to Mt. Newton Cross Road (or from Victoria along West Saanich Road) to Brentwood Bay-Mill Bay ferry onto Mill Bay Road past the shopping mall and left onto Shawnigan Lake-Mill Bay Road (watch for the sign on the right onto Cameron Taggert Road with a four-kilometre round-trip detour to Merridale Cidery) then Shawnigan Lake-Mill Bay Road to Marifield Manor off of Shawnigan Lake Road.
(Day Two, 40 km: rolling road then flat rail trail) From Marifield Manor, five kilometres on road to Cowichan Valley Rail Trail (Trans Canada Trail) via the Kinsol Trestle, 30 kilometers to Lake Cowichan, Kidd’s B&B, another five kilometers.
(Day Three, 36 km: flat rail trail for 26 km, then 10 km, rolling) Trans Canada Trail parallels Highway 18 to Duncan and then, via Maple Bay Road to the Quamichan Inn. *
(Day Four, 38 km: rolling with a one-kilometre stretch along Island Highway to Brenton Page Road exit) Rotary Route from Maple Bay to Crofton, Chemainus and Ladysmith to Kiwi Cove Lodge off Brenton Page Road. (Option Two)
(Day Five, 10 km: rolling) Duke Point Ferry terminal via Cedar Road to Duke Point ferry to Tsawwassen.
*Note: (Day Three, 61 km: flat rail trail for 26 km, then hilly to Crofton ferry, 20 km, and from Vesuvius to Ganges, 15 km, rolling.) Crofton ferry terminal to Vesuvius and Ganges on Salt Spring Island. Overnight on Day Three or return to Tsawwassen via Long Harbour. (Option One)
1-888-BCFERRY (223-3779) www.bcferries.com
Marifield Manor Bed & Breakfast www.marifieldmanor.ca
Merridale Cidery www.merridalecider.com
Kidd’s B&B www.kiddsbb.com
The Quamichan Inn www.thequamichaninn.com
Kiwi Cove Lodge www.kiwicovelodge.com
Salt Spring Harbour House http://saltspringharbourhouse.com
MARCH 2014 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE
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