Living Well: Off the beaten path
The undiscovered vacation gems of British Columbia

by Kate Nichols

When the snows of winter thaw, Whistler remains a great place to recreate. Trails abound for hikers and bikers alike.

As summer draws near and vacation floods the minds of Northwest Washingtonians, British Columbia beckons to many with the exoticism of a different country on our very doorsteps. Cross the border and you feel like you’re truly in a new place. True, the topography is much the same, and the lakes are just as cold as ours, but there is something undeniably attractive about a visit to BC, and an exploration of its many new accommodations, exciting attractions and neat towns.
Take the Sunshine Coast, for example. Long known as a sleepy strip of land where many an older couple has aired out the kids’ empty rooms and hung a “Bed & Breakfast” shingle out front, B.C.’s Sunshine Coast is finally coming into its own and delivering new or upgraded accommodations that offer luxury, serenity and proximity to the elements.

Luxury tents
Mistakenly considered an island by many, the Sunshine Coast is in fact connected to Vancouver’s Lower Mainland – only problem is, there are no roads that lead to it. The only way to get there is by boarding a 40-minute ferry from Vancouver, a trip that lends this strip of land an isle-like sense of blissful isolation.
The Coast’s activities are many – from terrific hikes to kayaking, fishing, wildlife viewing, or visiting the galleries and eclectic mom-and-pop stores that pepper its major centers. The Sunshine Coast offers plenty to do, the only question is this: When it comes to bedtime, how close to the elements do you want to get?
One option lies in Ole’s Cove, a quiet inlet 45 minutes from the ferry terminal in Langdale, home to Rockwater Secret Cove Resort. Entrepreneurs Kevin Toth and Peter Rubin purchased the resort previously known as Lord Jim’s in 2004, knowing all too well that with its tired seaside cabins, it needed a new lease on life if it was to survive far into this century. One of its best vantage points was the peninsula, a rocky outcropping where old growth trees, their roots covered with reindeer lichen, cling defiantly to the hillside, offering an extraordinary view of the cove.
Worried about the destructive environmental impact of building hillside cottages, they came up with a better solution: tenthouse suites. The creative pair designed and patented aluminum-framed tents, complete with fire-retardant canvas, luxurious interiors, plumbing, hot water and electricity, and set up 13 of them overlooking the water, at CAD $87,000 a pop.
Deluxe-style camping, the suites offer a tent-like experience, but without the penalties of having to “rough it,” even for a second. Inside the canvas walls of a 320-square-foot enclosure, expect slate floors with radiant heat, a Jacuzzi bathtub for two, flush toilets, a comfy king-size bed with down comforter and plumped up pillows and securely locked doors. There’s a propane fireplace to warm the cozy room, hot water in the slate-tiled shower and every luxury – with the exception of a television – you’d anticipate from a five-star hotel, even down to the room service.
Only thing is, you’re in a tent – sort of. That means, when the rain comes down, you hear every last drop. Bring on a storm and you get an orchestra of sound at night. Though you’re ensconced in the lap of luxury, you can’t help but feel that in the tenthouse suite you’re on an exciting adventure, a grand gesture of defiance against the elements.

Floating orbs
Another way to spend the night in the treetops lies on Vancouver Island, in the forests not far from the small seaside community of Qualicum Beach. Here, in a nondescript workshop, Tom Chudleigh, a former technical writer, has been toiling away at his Free Spirit Spheres, orb-like dwellings complete with beds, galleys, heat and electricity that are suspended, web-like, from the trees. The Tree Spheres B&B is accessed via a spiral staircase and tiny suspension bridge, giving visitors a unique vantage point on the forest, a squirrels-eye view, as it were.
The spheres, made of fiberglass or Sitka spruce, take three months to make and are hoisted into the forest canopy. Chudleigh is prepared to make them on demand for those interested in having a tree sphere in their backyard, at a cost of CAD $50,000 for those made of fiberglass and CAD $150,000 for those made of wood. Ultimately, this innovator envisions a group of spheres connected to a common sphere, hung together in an eco-conscious forest retreat.

By the numbers
Most visitors to B.C. spend their time in Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler, particularly in winter, says Tourism B.C. Travel Media Specialist Janice Greenwood. “We see a huge number of visitors from Washington, Oregon and California, and one region they’re starting to discover more and more is the Thompson Okanagan, great for winery touring and family vacations.”
“There’s started to be a number of condominium resorts developed in the Okanagan, such as Spirit Ridge Resort and The Cove Lakeside Resort, that give families the flexibility of a week-long, full-service, self-catered stay at a destination,” she says.
In Whistler, more advertising dollars are spent in Washington state than in any other market, according to Michele Comeau Thompson, director of communications for Tourism Whistler. “Last winter Washingtonians represented 13.5 percent of our overnight visitors, which is very significant,” she says. Some are second homeowners in this ski resort village, others frequent the 115 hotels, condos and B&Bs in the area. “It’s the top market in terms of overnight visitors, after British Columbia,” Thompson says.

Olympic prep
There’s an audible, almost tactile buzz in Whistler as the preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics are well under way. The 2 million visitors this village hosts annually will witness a sharp spike in numbers during the Olympics, and as a result the Sea-To-Sky Highway is being widened and several construction projects are on the go.
Projects include the Athletes Village, where the athletes will stay, an area that will later be reincarnated into local housing. The Nordic Center in the Callaghan Valley, just south of Whistler, will be home to the Nordic Center for cross country skiing, ski jump and other Nordic events, and the Celebration Plaza will host the official medal ceremonies.

Peace & quiet
For a quieter vacation, try Campbell River and Quadra Island. To reach the two communities, you catch a ferry to Vancouver Island and drive north until you reach Campbell River. To get to Quadra, you board another ferry from Campbell River, this one only 10 minutes in duration.
It can be a schlep to get there, but once there, the beauty of this magnificent location can virtually sweep you away. April Point Resort offers self catering cabins on the water, complete with decks, hot tubs and outdoor dining furniture. The view from here is perfect and idyllic: a rocky, heavily forested coastline hugs the shore, while in the distance the Discovery Islands dot the horizon. The ocean is calm as it gently rocks the pier, and occasionally the silvery head of a seal glints in the fading light.
Many resorts in the gulf try hard to be sophisticated retreats for a demanding, big-city clientele, but April Point brushes all that pretentiousness aside. It is what it is: rustic, friendly, gracefully weathered and deeply tranquil. At the resort’s restaurant, shorts and T-shirt-clad visitors enjoy West Coast cuisine, and a jovial atmosphere prevails as serious fishermen rub shoulders with families and honeymooners.
One advantage of coming here, aside from the serenity and perfect island vantage point, is the fact that you get to take advantage of two resorts for the price of one. Just across the bay in Campbell River lies Painter’s Lodge, owned by the same parent company, the Oak Bay Marine Group. Getting there is easy, as all spring and summer long a small water shuttle runs ferries visitors between the two resorts. If you’re in the mood for a change of scene, you just hop aboard and are quickly escorted to a different lodge, with swimming pool, another menu, tennis courts and a variety of amenities that provide ample variety – should you require it.
You may not, for April Point has an abundance of recreational activities, which include exploring the island on mopeds or bikes, chartering a fishing boat or boarding a wildlife viewing trip on the resort’s speedy Zodiac. There’s a first-class spa if you feel like some pampering, and Quathiaski Cove, one of Quadra Island’s hubs, is a few minutes from the resort with a smattering of gift shops, vegan restaurants and a supermarket.

Take a swim – with salmon
If you’re at all adventurous, you won’t want to miss out on swimming with the salmon in Campbell River. Visitors don a thick neoprene wetsuit, mask and snorkel before lying face down in the water, arms outstretched Superman-style. The fast, rippling current carries them six miles downstream like a leaf in the breeze, while they check out the scenery below.
Relax your body and the current does the work, but try to stand or swim in this brisk river and your limbs get bruised on the sharp rocks that line its floor. Some are tiny, and pose no harm. Others are the size of a vehicle, and can cause serious damage should you careen into them.
The Campbell River is unique in that it shelters five different salmon species at various times of the year: chinook, coho, chum, sockeye and pink. After spending anywhere from two to six years in the open sea, they’re now swimming against the current of a freshwater stream with one thing on their minds: spawning. Once they’ve laid their eggs, they will give up the fight and expire in the same eddies and crevices where they entered the world.
Between July and October, the river swarms with salmon, some weighing up to 60 pounds. In July alone, 165,000 salmon will thrash through the water, surrounding the few snorkelers who venture this way. If you are used to the soft, pink texture of their meat, you’ll be amazed by their beauty in the water – the rainbow-like color of their scales reflected in the sunlight, the litheness with which they move and their virtual oblivion to the clumsy humans floating above them.
It would be downright hazardous to venture into this water alone, which is why Campbell River Snorkel Tours leads two groups a day on its snorkeling excursions, ensuring that there is one guide for every four snorkelers, armed with a boogie board and swiftwater rescue skills.
Catherine Temple, the previous company owner, searched long and hard before she found Brad Brock to take over her growing business in January 2006. “I interviewed other possible buyers, but I had to find someone who actually cared about the health of the river and its salmon more than they cared about making a fast buck,” she explained.
Brock shares her convictions that the snorkeling groups be kept no larger than 15 and restricted to twice-a-day excursions to limit their impact on the salmon. “We don’t want to scare the fish,” he insists.
The trips are focused on salmon appreciation and guides show participants how to distinguish between the salmon species and relay the challenges they face as their numbers decline.
Brave the cold river as the salmon weave their way through the water beside you, you find yourself humbled by its timeless beauty. This journey to spawn that ends, inevitably, in death, is one these fish have taken since time immemorial. All ready, the bald eagles are circling, waiting expectantly for their salmon-on-the-rocks, meals that will move down the food chain and keep the circle of life intact – for now at least. Thrust yourself into the current and you catch a brief glimpse of that precious circle in motion.

Painter’s Lodge is a full-service resort offering first-class salmon fishing.




Water shuttles ferry visitors between the Painter’s Lodge (pictured) and April Point Resort.




Vacation adventures await down the road less traveled in British Columbia.



Visitors can revel in the sunset from April Point Resort. The casual, serene resort is the perfect setting to get away from it all.