After a little over a week of "work" we had banked enough time to take a couple of days off. (Our WorkAway program asks for 20-25 hours of work per week.) Bryce and Myra have generously insisted that we take time on nicer weather days to explore so we've worked some longer days to make up for it - not that Bryce or Myra care at all.
On Wednesday, after feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, we packed the car with camping gear and food we raided from Myra's pantry and headed off to tour a couple of nearby islands. The east coast of Vancouver Island is dotted with small towns that have ferry service to many islands in the Queen Charlotte Strait. We made the 50 minute drive to Port MacNeill, grabbed a little more food (ok, mostly just chips), parked and walked onto the ferry to Alert Bay. (Honestly, we just made it - not enough experience reading ferry schedules, I guess).
The ferry service is routine, consistent and a normal part of life for Islanders. School children, commuters, travelers and service trucks travel back and forth daily. The 8:25 ferry had about 20 cars and a few pedestrians. It was only about 9C so we opted to sit inside hoping to see some sea life over the next 40 minutes.
Our destination was Alert Bay, a small fishing village and gateway to Cormorant Island. It is the home of the 'Namgis First Nation and members of serval other Kwakwakaʼwakw bands also live on the island. Our primary goal was to explore the U'mista Cultural Centre, as it was touted as an excellent experience by several people.
It was amazing! Built on the site of the former St. Michael's residential school that operated until the 1970's, U'mista shares the history, culture and traditions of the First Nation's people. We were able to learn so much about the Potlatch ceremonies - which were banned in Canada from 1885 to 1951. In 1921, community members were jailed and the ceremonial masks, clothing and other items were confiscated by police in a raid. These items have been since returned and the Potlatch ceremonies, which are held in the "Big House" continue to be part of the community today.
After U'mista, we had time for a short hike to the board walk in a bog that we learned was created by a damn. (A failed attempted to provide a consistent water source for a fish cannery.) We stopped briefly at the visitor's centre to get a post card and the very informative host told us so much more about the buildings along the shoreline. We walked back to the ferry terminal to catch a ride back to Port MacNeill, where we hustled to get the car and jump back on the ferry which was headed to Sointula on Malcom Island.
Sointula was founded in 1901 by a group of Finnish settlers who had been working in the coal mines in Nanaimo. They formed a company and made a deal with the BC government to settle Malcolm Island. Their leader inspired them to create utopian cooperative community that shared everything. (Today, we'd probably describe it as a cult.) By 1905 the operation went out of business and the leader left with some of his followers. Many of the original settlers remained and the community has a strong and proud Finnish heritage. Many Finnish people come to visit the island each year!
After landing we had lunch at what seemed like the one picnic table in town - in front of the post office. I am sure we were a bit of spectacle eating our sandwiches outside with our toques on! After a stop at the visitor's centre to get some local details, we got a coffee and warmed up a little. (the only coffee shop / restaurant closed at 2:30). Undaunted by the cool, wet weather, we found ourselves on a long hike in the woods to a lake and managed to avoid the rain.
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| Mal's Bog - Mal was Finnish, we ate a Danish - close enough? |
We camped at Bere park on the north side of the island. Our goal was to have some whales come and say hi, but none of them got the memo so they missed us. We had another wonderful hike and found a whale viewing research station on the beach.
The night was wet and cold - nothing like packing up a wet tent at 8C! Expecting rain, we visited the Sointula museum which has much of the history of the town and island. The community is now strongly arts focused with galleries, visitors and lots of retired folks who are taking on the slow island life. The oldest Coop store in Western Canada still operates there today. The rain stopped long enough for us to have another hike, but we got back too late for the coffee shop and ended up in the library as we waited for the ferry ride back to Vancouver Island.
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We had a very nice two days of learning and hiking. We were quite happy to be back home in our warm and dry trailer - exhausted from not working!
