ISSN 0826-0135 |
Volume 21 No. 2 April 1997 |
Travel the Island With Us
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The lure of the north and the north island lies ahead. Campbell River is the start of our last journey. The city is renowned as the ‘Salmon Capital of the World’. Fishing guides and fishing lodges are located nearby. Guests come from afar to catch the Tyee salmon, a minimum of 30 pounds, and thus qualify for membership in the Tyee Club. They must use the traditional methods of tackle and a row boat, no mean feat in the whirlpools of Discovery Passage. For fly fishing persons the Haig-Brown House on the Campbell River is a mecca. The original home of Roderick Haig-Brown, a BC Conservationist and writer, has been turned into a bed and breakfast and one can wander through the delightful 20 acres of garden and woods.
At this point we take a jog west to view the spectacular scenery of Strathcona Provincial Park. A wide range of activities and programs are available from the lodge in the park including wilderness camping, hiking, swimming and fishing. Travelling further west to the coast we reach Gold River, home of a large pulp mill. From there one can board the MV Uchuck III which provides year round passenger and freight service to Nootka and Kyuquot Sound ports. They offer two day trips, one to Tahsis and one into Nootka Sound which includes a stopover at Friendly Cove, where Captain Cook first visited the west coast. The Kyuquot trip includes an overnight stay in the village of Kyuquot. During the voyage one experiences visits to remote logging camps and marine outposts where supplies and equipment are loaded and unloaded. Along the way you may see grey whales, sea otters, bears on the beaches and multitudes of sea birds. Leaving Gold River you will pass the gravel road to Tahsis, site of the longest walkathon in North America. In early June hundreds of people walk the 42 miles to raise money for charity. Back to Campbell River we continue our journey northward along Highway 19. A few miles north is Ripple Rock lookout. This was the site of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosion in 1958. The underwater mountain destroyed in Seymour Narrows had caused more that 100 shipwrecks before the blast. Sayward, overlooking Johnstone Strait, is worth a visit if for nothing but to savour a piece of one of the 17 fresh varieties of pies baked daily at the Cable House Restaurant. Further north the Nimpkish Valley unfolds its rugged beauty. Take time to visit the logging community of Woss. There you can take a ride on the logging steam locomotive built in the 1920s. The community of Telegraph Cove has become an attractive tourist site with its quaint homes and shops along the boardwalk. This is a perfect place to take a killer whale watching tour into Johnstone Strait. On leaving Telegraph Cove take time to stop and observe the world’s largest log sort at Beaver Cove. All the logging equipment used to sort the raw logs into various sized piles look like busy little ants scurrying about. The historic fishing village of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, is accessed by ferry from Port McNeil. A must visit is to the U’Mista Cultural Centre. The centre was built to house the return of the collection of objects seized from the last potlatch on the coast in 1921. The masks and coppers were returned from museums in Ottawa and Toronto in 1980. Overlooking the harbour, in the Nimpkish Burial Grounds, are poles carved by the Kwagu’l people. Return on the ferry and carry on to Sointula, located on Malcolm Island. Sointula was founded in the early 1990’s as a Finnish co-operative colony - ‘sointula’ is the Finnish word for ‘harmony’. By 1905 only half the settlers remained but even today many of the descendants have the blue eyes and blond hair of the original members. This is one of my favorite places on the north island. I love spending a few days here relaxing and exploring the beaches and the turn-of-the-century farms after sailing across Queen Charlotte Sound. Returning to Port McNeil and traveling north west one can visit Port Alice, a pulp mill town built around 1917 at the end of a long inlet on Quatsino Sound. Port Hardy is the northern terminus of the island highway. BC Ferries has 2 vessels sailing from this port. One travels to Prince Rupert along the inside passage and the other on the ‘Discovery Passage’ voyage traveling to various points of call in the inside passage to Bella Coola. From Port Hardy one may choose to travel the gravel roads to Holberg, Winter Harbour, San Josef Bay and Cape Scott park. Holberg, formerly one of the world’s largest float camps and an armed forces base of 500 people, now houses a population of approximately 200 people. Winter Harbour, a refuge from the Pacific winter storms, is home to the Pacific tuna fleet in September. Cape Scott Provincial Park is the end of the road on the northwest tip of Vancouver Island. One can do a 2 day hike to the cape or take an easy 45 minute hike through rain forest to San Josef Bay and the wide sandy beach. And so ends our journey of Vancouver Island from the southern tip and civilization to the northern tip of wilderness rain forest and white sand beaches of the Pacific. Truly there is something for everyone to explore and enjoy.
Vol. 21 No. 2 1997 Issue Contents 
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Updated: 5/7/97 |