Quadra

Going up-island: from Parksville to Quadra

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Moody beaches Photo - Vancouver Island, British Columbia

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We drive "up island" from Parksville to Campbell River and Quadra Island. We take the "Oceanside route" rather than the main highway. You can't really see the coast from the road, but it's never far away and in most cases just parking the car and peeking through the trees will take you to the water's edge. It's raining, mostly, but we are still tempted to stop at several moody, pretty much deserted, misty beaches. Oyster shells, colourful seaweed and driftwood - piles of driftwood - cover the shores. In the water, occasional wrecks, and in the distance the mountains of the mainland are just about possible to make out. It's raining, but strangely beautiful.Courtney and Campbell ...Read More

We drive "up island" from Parksville to Campbell River and Quadra Island. We take the "Oceanside route" rather than the main highway. You can't really see the coast from the road, but it's never far away and in most cases just parking the car and peeking through the trees will take you to the water's edge. It's raining, mostly, but we are still tempted to stop at several moody, pretty much deserted, misty beaches.

Oyster shells, colourful seaweed and driftwood - piles of driftwood - cover the shores. In the water, occasional wrecks, and in the distance the mountains of the mainland are just about possible to make out. It's raining, but strangely beautiful.

Courtney and Campbell River are a come-down, as any town would b, but soon we are on a ferry, making a short hop across to Quadra Island. We keep the windscreen wipers going during the crossing which is obviously a mistake as the car refuses to start on our arrival on the other side. The ferry staff seem pretty used to such an occurrence, as an efficient person with a jump-starting device appears immediately and soon, despite mysterious ways the automatic cars operate, we are on our way.

Our host family are on the other side of the island , but it's not a big place and we should be there in a few minutes. Or so we think. Unfortunately, the piece of paper with the address has ended up in the footwell, trod on by at least two pairs of muddy boots and is now impossible to decipher. My phone doesn't have any coverage, but I remember – vaguely – the directions. We end up driving round in something resembling a circle, getting lost in what seems like magic woods of Quadra. Eventually, we stop by a walker on the roadside, and ask, reasoning that people here might just know each other. She doesn't quite, as she is a new resident – a poet, actually - but she takes us home and searches in a local directory and soon we are on our way. We eventually manage to find our host and her brood in a big, ramshackle house full of children, animals, toys, nice food and animated conversation.
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Chinese Mountain on a Canadian Island

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The view from the Chinese Mountain Photo - Quadra Island, British Columbia

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Quadra is a small island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, across the Discovery Channel from Campbell River. Its population is about 2,000, a tad strange but enchanting mixture so typical for many of those small places between Vancouver Island and the mainland: half-hippie-half -lumberjack, half-feral-half-art-professional. Our first full day on Quadra is also the Older Child's birthday, but we are mean to her and decide to hike up the Chinese Mountain, a local hill of 320 or so meters. The kids race up - even the Younger Child is not demanding carrying, spurred I think by the presence of other two boys. It's not a long hike, but a steep one, with a touch of a mild scramble at o...Read More

Quadra is a small island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, across the Discovery Channel from Campbell River. Its population is about 2,000, a tad strange but enchanting mixture so typical for many of those small places between Vancouver Island and the mainland: half-hippie-half -lumberjack, half-feral-half-art-professional.

Our first full day on Quadra is also the Older Child's birthday, but we are mean to her and decide to hike up the Chinese Mountain, a local hill of 320 or so meters. The kids race up - even the Younger Child is not demanding carrying, spurred I think by the presence of other two boys. It's not a long hike, but a steep one, with a touch of a mild scramble at one point. Still, a four year old and an adult carrying a child in a backpack can make it with no particular problems.

Eventually, we emerge on the top, and it proves very much worth it. It's sunny; clear skies with just a couple of white clouds; and the views are fantastic. To the east, we can see the mainland - though the tops of the mountains are hidden in the clouds - and more Discovery Islands to the south and east: Cortes, Read, Maurelle and others. The sea is blue and green and silver, the islands the lushest of dark greens.

We sit on the exposed rocks on the top and stare. Below us, a bald eagle soaring on the thermals.

Or rather, the adults stare. The children run about, climb trees, jump over rocks, throw banana skins down precipitous cliffs and do everything to induce a heart attack in an unaccustomed adult. But they survive, somehow, and so do we.

We climb down the other side of the hill, a different and more overgrown route, partly running along – and even in - a stream bed. The forest at the bottom is mossy, very green and strangely quiet, at least when the kids are not there.

Afterwards it's time for ice-cream and, after accidentally finding a tick on our host, a somewhat manic search for others - luckily only two adults are bitten. Early removal apparently reduces the probability of infection to pretty much zero, so we don't fret too much (the two oldest children do, though, both being prone to hysterics, and clearly bonding on these grounds).

On return, a cake made by our host for the Older Child follows the Happy Birthday we sang on top of the Chinese Mountain.

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Nuyumbalees Culture Centre

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Attraction | "Returned Treasures"

The Nuyumabales Cultural Centre Photo - Nuyumbalees Culture Centre, Quadra Island, British Columbia

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The Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre, located in Cape Mudge village on the British Columbia island of Quadra, combines the functions of an important cultural centre for the local community of the Kwa'Kwa'Ka'Wa'Kw (Kwagiulth) People and a museum open to all visitors, displaying the artefacts gathered at the centre. The Nuyumbalees Society was founded in over 30 years ago to work towards the aim of achieving the return of Potlatch regalia, which has now been accomplished. The objects have been now returned on the condition that they are displayed to the public, which is lucky for visitors but somewhat against the spirit of the rituals for which the artefacts were originally used as some of the r...Read More

The Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre, located in Cape Mudge village on the British Columbia island of Quadra, combines the functions of an important cultural centre for the local community of the Kwa'Kwa'Ka'Wa'Kw (Kwagiulth) People and a museum open to all visitors, displaying the artefacts gathered at the centre.

The Nuyumbalees Society was founded in over 30 years ago to work towards the aim of achieving the return of Potlatch regalia, which has now been accomplished. The objects have been now returned on the condition that they are displayed to the public, which is lucky for visitors but somewhat against the spirit of the rituals for which the artefacts were originally used as some of the regalia would have only been seen very rarely on the occasion of ceremonial dances. The regalia exhibited in the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre have been returned from the National Museum of Man in Ottawa, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Heye Foundation, the National Museum of the American Indian, New York.

Still, the artefacts are displayed now for everybody to see in an excellent gallery that is large enough to show a variety of objects and small enough for a visitor to be able to devote some attention to individual objects, their role and meaning.

The building of the centre is an attractive one of wooden construction, and on the opposite side of the road there is a new meeting area (a roof supported by four poles decorated with fabulous carvings by local artists) with a fire pit: Ah-Wah-Qwa-Dzas - A Place to Relax & Tell Stories.

The collection is displayed inside the main building, in two galleries. There are masks, carvings, musical instruments and ceremonial weapons that would have been used during the Potlatch ceremonies, especially dances, that played a core role in the spiritual and social life of the North-West Pacific Indians.

Alas, potlatch was banned in the late 19th century as the ritualised practice of giving away most of one's hard-earned possessions was seen as an anathema to the Capitalist-Protestant values of the European colonial rulers and as a block in the process of cultural assimilation of the native peoples.

The potlatch regalia sit in glass display cases in what is for all purposes a museum, objects of anthropological interest and historical fascination rather than being used and alive in cultural space of the society. Still, nowadays the cultural traditions of the original owners of the land, including the potlatch, are – at least in principle – supported and efforts are made to reclaim the lost culture and revive what can be revived. Native artists and craftsmen are still active and in fact a whole tradition of art inspired by traditional motifs and techniques has grown in the North-Western Pacific area.

Viewing the Nuyumbalees collection is a moving and fascinating experience, and the Centre is well worth a visit for anybody staying on Quadra or in Campbell River.

The entrance ticket costs 10 CAD for an adult, 25 CAD for a family. Allow at least 45 minutes for a visit, more if you want to watch films that are frequently shown. The gift shop has a good selection of native crafts and art. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 7, 2011

Nuyumbalees Culture Centre
Cape Mudge
Quadra Island, British Columbia

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Cape Mudge

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The Nuyumabales Cultural Centre Photo - Quadra Island, British Columbia

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Discovery Passage is the strait between the Vancouver Island and the group of islands towards the British Columbia mainland, connecting the Strait of Georgia and the Johnstone Strait. As it's a fairly narrow waterway, the coastal beaches are frequently strewn with driftwood, from large logs to small branches and roots. Most of it is a result of logging that goes on heavily on Vancouver Island and Quadra alike, but the result is a very atmospheric, if often hard to negotiate. We walk along the beach from Cape Mudge village to Cape Mudge lighthouse – itself an attractive building on the southern edge of the Quadra Island and further on along a pebble beach full of amassed driftwood. The sea...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 7, 2011

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Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge

Hotel | "Perfect Lodge"

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Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge is a First-Nation run resort on Qaudra near Cape Mudge. We did not stay there but we had coffee and cakes there and it was lovely! The whole building is constructed as a giant log house in the Pacific Coast Kwagiult style, located on a coast of the Discovery Passage and on the edge of a massive area of woodland. There is native art visible all around the building, and the feeling of the cafe/lobby area is spacious, airy and very comfortable. The coffee was very decent (for Canada :-) and the cakes were huge and tasty. I also asked for a room price (which seemed very reasonable for the place) and to see the room (which appeared comfortable and spa...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 7, 2011

Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge
1 Lighthouse Road
Quathiaski Cove, British Columbia

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Quadra

Going up-island: from Parksville to Quadra

Chinese Mountain on a Canadian Island

Nuyumbalees Culture Centre

Cape Mudge

Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge

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