Canada Travel Stories

Dawson City Lives Its History – Where the old is new and the new is old

by Katherine McIntyre

With a wild and turbulent history behind it, Dawson City mines for tourist gold these days.

But, it was mining for real gold that turned this First Nation fishing village, on a piece of swampy permafrost, in the Canadian Yukon into an instant ramshackle city of 40,000 miners and hangers on.

It happened in 1896 when George Carmack, a local prospector found gold in neighbouring Rabbit Creek (now named Bonanza Creek). When the news of his discovery spread across the world; thousands of ‘stampeders’ answered the siren call of riches. They headed north to make their fortune scrabbling for gold.

At the same time, slick entrepreneurs with another vision discovered an easier way to mine for gold. They opened sawmills and built casinos, dance halls, hotels, saloons, restaurants, and houses for the successful.

Then in 1899, it stopped. The Gold Rush was over, the miners moved on. Dawson City reverted into a sub-Arctic community with a difference – a ghostly aura of the dancing girls and fast living hovers over the town.

The wooden sidewalks and dirt roads resemble the town the miners vacated at the end of the gold rush.

Buildings restored by Parks Canada with false facades, painted yellow, blue, green, or buff line the streets. Their windows display the same items that were on show in the glory days when Dawson City was known as the Paris of the North. Mme.

Emilie (Fortin) Tremblay gave up prospecting for high-end fashion. Her store window displays a white cotton blouse with huge leg -o-mutton sleeves. Ruby’s Place, combined a laundry and the last legal brothel in Canada. There is only tin washtub in her window. Other buildings lie empty and forlorn,

Bombay Peggy’s Inn and Tavern is one old house that didn’t want to die. Standing vacant and sinking into a swamp, it flashed a signal to two Klondike women, Kim Bouzane and Wendy Cairns. They interacted with its elegant lines, peeking out from a sorry façade, and envisioned a restored Victorian style inn. Not easy in Dawson City where building by-laws dictate that all renovations must conform to the total historic appearance of the city.

But these were two determined women who met about fifteen years ago. “I was passing through at the time,” said Kim, “and Wendy was a dancer at Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall.” As they got the feel of the historic town with its wooden sidewalks, dirt roads and historic buildings, the lure of the Yukon seduced them and they determined to stay.

Uta Reilly and Leslie Chapman have each turned their historic old timers into boutique and craft studios. At her Fortymile Gold Shop, Leslie works natural unalloyed 20-carat gold nuggets, mined from her family’s claim on the Forty Mile River, into unique pieces.

Uta’s jewellery includes diamonds from northern Canada’s booming diamond mines with her Klondike gold at her Klondike Nugget and Ivory Shop. Both shops feature ivory, carved from tusks of the ancient mastodons that roamed the Yukon in ancient times. Now an extinct species, trade in their ivory is legal. Dawson City Museum dramatically explains why mastodons roamed the area thousands of years ago.

Formerly the Old Territorial Administration Building, the impressive stone building is now a National Historic Site,. No one visiting the building should miss seeing the documentary City of Gold in which Pierre Berton recounts the ‘stampeders’ agonizing journey to the fabled gold fields through steep mountain passes on freezing winter trails.

But what makes the whole story of Dawson come together involves a trip outside Dawson, to Claim #6 on Bonanza Creek just about a half mile downstream from where George Carmack found the first gold nuggets in 1896.

Anyone can try their luck with a pick axe, shovel and gold pan provided by the Klondike Visitors Association – and if they find gold they can keep it. Is there gold? Yolanda, our server at Klondike Kate’s Restaurant points to six gold nuggets dangling from a chain around her neck “There’s gold, I found these on my own claim.”

At night, in the eerie glow of the midnight sun, the sparkling lights, the can can girls and the roulette tables at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall beckon.

Named after a dance hall queen, who distinguished herself with a sparkling diamond wedged between her two front teeth, the hall rocks with the jangle of slot machines, and the pounding honky-tonk beat of the musical extravaganza.

On the other side of town Bombay Peggy’s Pub serves up twenty-two varieties of martinis, or twelve different single malt whiskies to the twanging music of a local band.

But no show can compete with the Northern Lights. By late August, when the sun drops below the horizon, they ripple into the night sky in shimmering greens, reds, purples and blues.

Then, in their mystical ghostly glow Dawson City reverts to its mystical ghostly past.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes Katherine McIntyre a freelance travel writer who lives in Toronto, Canada.

About the photos:
1. Searching for gold in Bonanza Creek. Katherine McIntyre photo.
2. “J.A. Greene Establishment” undertaker and embalmer c.1900. Anton Vogee, fonds.
Yukon Archives photo.
3. Where can can girls kicked up their heels. Katherine McIntyre photo.

How to get there:
By Air from Vancouver or Edmonton to Whitehorse
By Car via the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse and then the Klondike Highway, or from Skagway, Alaska via the Klondike Highway

Dawson City Tourism
www.DawsonCity.ca

Places to Stay in Dawson City
Bombay Peggy’s Pub and Inn
2nd and Princess St. 867 993 6969,
info@bombaypeggys.com, www.bombaypeggys.com

The Aurora Inn and Pub
5th Street, Dawson City www.aurorainn.ca

Klondike Kate’s Cabins and Restaurant
3rd Avenue and King Street
www.klondikekates.ca

Things to Do:
Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall
Queen St. and 4th Ave. www.DawsonCity.ca

Dawson City Museum
5th Ave between Hanson and Turner

Claim #6:
Turn off the Klondike Highway and follow Bonanza Creek Road past Dredge #4 and the historic Discovery Claim. Watch for signs on the left hand side of the road – about 14 km

Jack London’s Interpretive Centre
Corner of 8th Ave. and Firth Street

Dznojz Zho Cultural Centre Of the Klondike’s First People
Front St. Dawson City

Visiting the Past: Montreal’s Historic Heart

by Chris Millikan

History buffs love sauntering along old Montreal’s cobbled European-style streets…or wandering her public squares surrounded by grand cathedrals, historic homes and museums.

My hubby Rick and I recently join the curious throng and probe this cosmopolitan city’s earliest days.

At Musee Pointe-a-Calliere’s theatre, a multi-media journey through six centuries kicks off our exploration of Montreal’s birthplace between the St. Lawrence and Little St. Pierre Rivers.

This innovative three-story archaeological museum rises sleekly above the original town site where Paul de Chomedey and thirty-five French colonists settled in 1642.

A stroll through Fort Ville-Marie’s subterranean remains reveals traces of the early palisade, first Catholic cemetery, base of the old customs square…even experiencing the sights and sounds of a lively market day, circa 1750.

And from the third floor open-air Lookout, we view panoramic Vieux-Port’s busy quayside, nowadays a landscaped 2.5-kilometer-long linear park complete with flowers, sparkling water fountains and pools.

Nearby, Place Royale (now Place d’Youville) developed later atop Little Saint-Pierre River. Here a soaring granite obelisk recalls those plucky settlers beginning new lives on this strategic point of land at the foot of Mount Royal.

Two blocks away, an old fire station encloses Centre d’Histoire de Montreal, a small but charming museum reflecting city history through stories of celebrated personalities.

Northward along Rue St. Jacques, the sparkling Trade Center dwarfs sober financial institutions left from Montreal’s early financial Wall Street days, notably the Bank of Montreal, Canada’s oldest bank and the New York Life building, once North America’s tallest skyscraper at 10 stories.

Nearby we encounter Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde whose unexpected grandeur resembles Saint Peter’s in Rome. But here, patron saints of parishes grace the facade rather than apostles as on the famed Basilica.

And elaborate interiors reflect new world history, except for the marble altar canopy imitating Bernini’s work in St Peter’s. In the distance we spot McCord Museum, permanently chronicling Canada’s momentous past in McGill University’s oldest part.

Amid Place d’Armes, a central monument commemorates Montreal’s founders: Maisonneuve, who fought a battle here; Jeanne Mance, founder of Hotel-Dieu-de-Montreal, first hospital; trader and soldier, Charles Lemoyne; major Lambert Closse with his faithful dog Pilote and an unidentified Iroquois brave.

But the magnificent Basilica de Notre-Dame dominates this historic square, her spectacular interiors sculpted in wood and gold leaf. Inspiring stained glass windows illustrate biblical passages as well as parish history. And for over two centuries, seigneurs resided next door at St-Sulpice Seminary, still topped by a clock dating to 1701.

Stretching from Vieux-Port to Rue Notre-Dame, fine 19th-century townhouses and mansions surround Place-Jacques Cartier.

Though Admiral Nelson’s monument towers over this cobbled square, it carries the French explorer’s name. Once a large public market, Victorian streetlamps, tubs of red and yellow flowers, buskers and artists now create a lively ambience in this hillside square, day and night.

Along with locals and hoards of others, we toast Old Port’s panoramas from beneath flamboyant red awnings at one of its many sidewalk cafes.

At the top of the plaza, Hotel-de-Ville outshines a somber cluster of early courthouses.

From the grand balcony of this City Hall, French President General Charles de Gaulle once shouted, “Vive le Quebec libre!” causing quite a stir during his 1967 visit. Behind, we find remnants of a 6.4-meter high wall once stretching three kilometers around old town.

Across the street, Chateau de Ramezay awaits; attendants in ruffled blue dresses, white aprons and poke bonnets greet us.

Built in 1705 for Montreal’s Governor, 15 connecting rooms housed his family of 16 children. With remarkable 17th-century artifacts and furnishings this stone, peak-roofed mansion exemplifies the gracious lifestyle of its esteemed residents.

Behind the house we wander the French-style Governor’s Garden, tranquil and fragrant. Inspired by gardens at Versailles, this spot replicates former seigneurial gardens flourishing with fruit trees, flowers, vegetables and medicinal plants…but on a much smaller scale. “

Then, everyone had gardens; large ones like this covered nearly two-thirds of the old fortified town,” explains the gardener, harvesting pungent chives, young carrots and emerald sprigs of parsley.

Within blocks, dramatized audiotapes guide us through another nineteenth century residence. Fashions and authentically restored, lavishly furnished interiors allow peeks into Sir George Etienne-Cartier’s influential life and glitzy high society of his day.

Fondly remembered as Father of Canadian Confederation, his considerable achievements also included creation of Quebec’s civil code and development of the Grand Trunk Railroad, all documented in his faithfully restored office.

Looping back, we pass Maison-de-Pierre Calvert from 1725, possibly the most photographed of all the heritage houses.

Currently a first rate inn and restaurant, striking wine-red doors and window frames contrast with massive grey rock walls, chimneys and steeply sloped roof.

The original homeowner collaborated with rebels during the American Revolution, holding clandestine meetings here with Ben Franklin, an envoy sent in 1775-76.

In the same neighborhood…and fondly nicknamed the Sailor’s Church, Montreal’s oldest chapel is immortalized in Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne.

Notre-Dame-de-bon-Secours has been a place of pilgrimage since 1665. Mariners believed the 10-meter rooftop Virgin Mary and her glorious angels safeguarded them at sea; some donated tiny ships in appreciation, many of which we notice hanging in the chapel.

Up 92 winding steps, we gaze over old town and harbor. Adjacent, Ecole Bonsecours school was replaced with a small museum chronicling first teacher Marguerite Bourgeoy’s life.

A leisurely walk westward takes us past silver-domed Marche Bonsecours, Montreal’s major agricultural market for over a century. Restored for its 150th anniversary, her long 100,000-square-foot limestone building has been re-established as a modern marketplace featuring specialty shops, exhibitions and sidewalk cafes…

By strolling Montreal’s historic streets and acquainting ourselves with early personalities, we’d traced the development of this little French fur-trading town into today’s happening metropolis.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer Chris Millikan who lives in North Delta, a suburb of Vancouver B.C.

About the photos:
1: Vieux-Port’s busy quayside. Rick Millikan photo.
2: Montreal’s old city hall. Chris Millikan photo.
3: Montreal’s old wall. Chris Millikan photo.

If you go:

www.tourisme-montreal.org Tourism Montreal provides detailed information for all travel needs.
www.bonaparte.com In the heart of the historic district, this jewel offers cozy rooms and out-of-this-world complimentary breakfasts.
www.hotelxixsiecle.com A renovated1870 bank, this beautiful boutique hotel provides stylish rooms and comfort.
www.borisbistro.com One of the old city’s most charming bistros offers great food with terrace seating.

In the Wake of the Voyageurs

by Glen Cowley

It is a long way from the St. Lawrence to the Fraser River n’est pas?

History is the foundation upon which the present exists and the future unfolds. Barely visible and little known are the roots of French Canada in the Province of British Columbia in general and the Vancouver Lower Mainland area in particular. Yet, they are here and they are deep.

In May 1808 Simon Fraser, of the North West Fur Trade Company, departed Fort George, today’s Prince George, on the river destined to carry his name, in hopes it would prove a navigable route to the Pacific.

With him were twenty four men, nineteen of whom were voyageurs. History records the names of ; La Chapelle, D’Alaire, La Certe, Jean Baptiste Boucher, Bourbone’, Gagnier, La Garde, Baptiste Proveau and clerk, Jules Maurice Quesnel.

The journey, which proved the waterway ill suited to the fur trade at the time, made them the first white men to see the Fraser Valley. The Nor Westers would not return but the voyageurs would, one in particular.

Sixteen years later, fearing the Oregon Territory would be ceded to the United States, the Hudson Bay Company (which took over the Nor Westers in 1821) sent an expedition north to check the Fraser Valley as a possible site for a post.

Amongst them were Baptiste Proveau who had paddled with Simon Fraser those many years before, Micheal Laframbois and Francis Noel Annance. Three years later the construction of Fort Langley began.

As at other posts, French Canadians provided the bulk of the population and the working language. Metis, Louis Langley, became the first child born at the post. In 1839 the fort was moved several miles upstream to present day Fort Langley. Here Etienne Pepin is said to have been the first man to plow the soil of Langley Prairie.

The restored fort, a National Historic Park, reflects the 1850’s period complete with the only remaining original building, the storehouse, which was rebuilt after the fort burned down in 1840.
Interpretive guides, in period costume, are spread about the various buildings including the blacksmith shop, cooperage, big house, and servants quarters offering detailed information about life and times at the fort. Theatre venues, a fur press, bateau, bake oven, bastions and interactive gold panning sites compliment the sense of realism.

The modern visitor centre, provides further information and a theatre presentation on the history of the fort. The nearby town of Fort Langley, a destination in its own right, offers shopping, dining and relaxing at bistros and ice cream outlets. The cairn-marked original fort site may be accessed by road or by the riverside Fort to Fort Trail.

From here in 1848 Jason Ovid Allard was dispatched upriver to found posts at Hope and Yale little knowing these communities would gain their fame in the 1858 gold rush which spelled the death knell of fur trade dominance and, eventually, Fort Langley.
But the French influence was not to disappear.

In Victoria, on Vancouver Island, Jesuit Bishop Demers began the first newspaper, Le Courier, and the Sisters of St. Anne from Quebec opened the first schools. The church was no less active in the Fraser Valley as St. Mary’s Mission arose under the hand of the Oblate Fathers, an order largely drawn from continental Francophones. And where the church went throughout B.C. it drew upon the legacy of the French Canadian voyageurs.

The population tide moved relentlessly against the French influence, especially in the burgeoning lower Fraser Valley, but not without an important interruption.

In 1909 prospering Fraser Mills sent night watchman Theodore Thereaux to Quebec with an Oblate Father to recruit experienced workers. Recruits were offered free passage by CPR, better wages, cheap accommodation in cottages which they could purchase, 1/2 acre lots and lumber to build their own homes. And, a church with a French speaking cure’. (priest).

On Sept. 27, 1909, 250 French Canadians arrived. The following year the two agents returned with another 166. Maillardville, the largest French Canadian enclave in B.C., was born.

For many years the community, huddled around its central church, Notre Dame de Lourdes, focused upon the mill and benefitted from its isolation in maintaining its unique French Canadian culture. It was not until the tidal swell of greater Vancouver pushed deeper inland that the culture integrity of the community began to be threatened. Yet the community persists and is experiencing a proud rebirth.

The old homes and streets still converge around Notre Dame de Lourdes at Laval Carre’ where Mass continues to be offered in French, street names recall the French heritage and Foyer Maillardville, the seniors home, rises high above it all. And it is a dynamic community.

Every year, in March, the two day Festival du Bois celebrates French Canadian culture and numerous associations and groups have banded together under the umbrella of the Societe Francophone de Maillardville to promote and maintain French language and culture in the community.

Bright new Heritage Carre’ at Brunette and King Edward Streets houses Place Des Arts and the community Musee (museum) along with historical mementoes set in a pedestrian friendly environment. Bilingual interpretive signs dot the Maillardville area of Coquitlam and a colourful brochure, Maillardville Toujours,, complete with photos, provides for a self-guided walking tour of the old town.

The National Historic Park of Fort Langley, lying next to the modern community, is easily reached by car off the 401 highway east of the Port Mann Bridge.

Maillardville spreads north of Brunette Avenue east of Blue Mountain Road in Coquitlam just off the 401.

Neither is far from the Fraser River which first met the voyageurs in song and regalia plying its waters in adventure almost 200 years ago.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer and author Glen Cowley, who lives in Chemainus, on Vancouver Island.

About the photos:
1: The whitewashed storehouse at the Fort. The only remaining original building.
2: Notre Dame de Lourdes in the centre of the old town of Maillardville..
3: The Place des Arts, a focal point in the town.

For more information:

Fort Langley – www.pc.gc.ca/fortlangley
Maillardville – Societe Francophone de Maillardville – www.maillardville.com
Festival du Bois – www.festivaldubois.ca
Mackin House Musee – www.mackinhouse.citysoup.ca

Whistler For Non Skiers

by Lauren Kramer

My first ski lesson, some 13 years ago, saw me clinging to my ski instructor on a Banff bunny hill, sinking my nails into his sleeve lest he try to escape.

His parting words are memorable to this day. “In all my years of teaching skiing, I’ve never seen anyone as afraid as you,” he said flatly. That was it. I headed to the Clubhouse, removed those skis and never ventured back.

But after years of listening longingly to the stories of powdery snow and perfect conditions from skiers just back from the runs, I determined there must be another way to experience the majesty of the mountains.

I headed to Whistler (site of the 2010 Winter Olympics), to find out, and discovered the answer was a resounding yes. Other options abound-many of them a whole lot safer than skiing and snowboarding.

Take snow tubing, for example. With no skill or equipment required, the only prerequisite is that you can get your bum into the middle of an inflated tube and hold on tight. Gravity takes care of the rest.

At Whistler’s Coca Cola Tube Park, which opened in 2006, you pick up your tube and board an escalator-like contraption that escorts you to the tubing summit.

Here, you sit down and with a brisk shove from an attendant, you’re off, hurtling down the slope at phenomenal speed-with no prospect of injury. At the bottom of the slope, everyone wears the same exhilarated grin on their faces, be they six or sixty.

For a more serene glide down the mountainside alongside skiers and snowboarders, you can’t beat the Sno-Limo for comfort, ingenuity and convenience. Just a year old, the Sno- Limo is like a ski stroller for adults.

Strapped securely into a seat on skis, passengers are escorted down the slopes by their limo driver – an experienced skier who knows precisely how to manoeuver the contraption in order to control its speed, angle and the smoothness of its commute.

The day I boarded, snow flurries were everywhere, while a thick fog covered the mountains in a ghostly mist. Still, the mountain was magnificent, and I relaxed beneath a warm blanket in the limo chair, enthralled by the speed, the proud evergreens, their branches heavy with pure white snow, and the remarkable agility of the many skiers we passed.

Trusting entirely in the skill of my chauffeur-driver, there was nothing for me to do but appreciate the scenery. And in a place like Whistler, that’s never hard to do.

“We invented the Sno-Limo as a way to get our mom on the slopes, so she could see how well her grandkids were skiing,” explains co-owner Guy Auger. “Research shows that at least fifteen percent of visitors to Whistler don’t ski. With Sno-Limo, these individuals can participate in on-slope, on-snow activities without learning any new skills.”

Some of the best ways to travel through the snow are those that have been around the longest-like dog sledding. Though not typically available in relatively warm climates like Whistler, local entrepreneur Bob Fawcett decided to give Whistler visitors a chance to experience this ancient form of transportation.

He opened Whistler Dogsledding in 1999 with a team of Alaskan Huskies, a crossbreed of Huskies, Greyhounds and Pointers that function well in the area’s relatively warm temperatures. Today, his team of 282 canines are slightly smaller their Siberian Husky counterparts, but just as eager to run.

While my six-year-old and I cuddled up in the sled, our team of six excited dogs, all yelping and jumping with excitement, was harnessed. The driver, known in dogsled terms as a ‘musher’, hopped on the back, and with a single whistle, the dogs were off, tearing along a snow-covered path with energy that didn’t wane throughout their 14-kilometer journey.

The air was crisp, and once their run began the barking ceased and the canines focused entirely on the job of pulling their three-person cargo, kicking the snow behind them as they raced along a trail in the Soo Valley, twenty minutes from Whistler.

In the absence of gondolas, ski lifts and trendily dressed skiers, the surroundings were pristine, devoid of human fingerprints. Mountains soared from the valley, while glacier-fed rivers tumbled over the rocks, and lakes still wore their icy winter coats.

We bumped along the trail at terrific speed, and as the chilly breeze added a pink glow to our cold cheeks, I couldn’t help but think that this story would trump the skiers-for one night, anyway.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer Lauren Kramer who lives in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.

About the photos:

1: Snow Tubing offers an exhilarating, fun ride down the slope for people age 6 through 60. Lauren Kramer photo.
2: Six-year-old Jason Aginsky gets strapped into the Sno-Limo in preparation for a trip down the Whistler mountainside. Lauren Kramer photo.
3: A musher directs a team of Huskies, along a track in the Soo Valley, just outside of Whistler. Whistler Dog Sledding photo..

If You Go:

Dog Sledding tours operate late November through May, costing $298 per couple, and $75 per child accompanied by two paying adults. For more information call (604) 932-0647 or visit www.adventureswhistler.com
Accommodation: Whistler’s trendiest new hotel is the adara, located in the heart of the village. Call (866) 502-3272. Or visit www.adarahotel.com
Sno-Limo excursions operate as long as the mountains are open, and range in duration from one to five hours. Prices start at $90 per person; for more information visit www.sno-limo.com or call (888) 568-5466.
The Coca Cola Tube Park, accessible via the Excalibur Gondola at Whistler, is open 10am until 8pm Sunday through Wednesday, and until 9pm Thursday through Saturday. Tickets start at $15 for adults, $12 for youths and $10 for children.
For more information on Whistler, contact www.tourismwhistler.com or call (800)WHISTLER.

Living History in Redcoat And Blackfoot Country

by Irene Butler

As if in a time-warp we walked the ‘downtown’ streets lined with historic buildings in Fort MacLeod. Some date back to the late 1800’s; many are sandstone structures of the 1920 era.

Locals greeted us, a few stopping to chat; traffic moved at a snail’s pace. My husband, Rick, and I were swept back into the past while experiencing today’s unhurried life in this small south-western Alberta town.

An arched walkway veered off Main Street, and led to The Fort Museum of the North West Mounted Police. Red-coated riders on sleek prancing steeds entered the grounds, their white pith helmets bobbing to the rhythm of “This land is your land, this land is my land….” My chest swelled with pride as we watched a musical ride performed by young equestrians, in replica uniforms of our Canadian icons.

The ‘Mounties’ trooped into this area in 1874 when Sir John A. MacDonald saw the need for law and order in the frontier.

Their newly constructed Fort and burgeoning town site was named after James F. MacLeod, their leader on the arduous trek west from Manitoba. MacLeod in turn was greatly aided by the legendary Métis guide and interpreter, Jerry Potts, who spoke many Native languages.

“After quashing the illegal whiskey trade that was destroying the lives of Blackfoot,” said Gordon, a local historian, “the NWMP had to deal with 4,000 men infiltrating the area to build the Canadian National Railway.”

Further challenges involved deterring horse thieves, minimizing strikes, and appeasing the First Nations Peoples’ fear of changes the “iron horse” would bring.

King Edward VII bestowed the appellation “Royal” on the NWMP for their part in the Boer War. They later joined the Dominion force to become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Gordon then led us to the filming locations of “Brokeback Mountain” – Academy Award “Best Movie” in 2005. Being movie buffs, Rick and I gleefully recognized the backdrop of many scenes.

The gleaming hardwood floors of the Empress Theatre creaked as we made our way down the isle. This grand lady first swung open her doors in 1912, and has since played host to a continual flow of live theatre, concerts and films.

Sinking down into the red velvet seats, we looked up at a giant neon tulip adorning the ceiling. The only additions since the last renovation by Dan Boyle in the 1940’s are large wall paintings of old movie classics, the work of Dan’s son, Neil.

“This theatre has been haunted for many years,” said Jamie, our guide. “Recently we had a medium tell us it is a ghostly “Ed” who is to blame for what happens in balcony seat “FF1”, also known as Ed’s seat.” Ushers surreptitiously watch patrons sitting in FF1, as they almost always squirm uncomfortably and end up moving over a seat or two. I do hope Ed enjoyed the evening’s side-splitting live performance of “Johnny Chinook” as much as we did (from our main-floor seats).

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a short drive north and west of Fort MacLeod. We were greeted by resounding drum beats and the chanting of singers recounting 6,000 years of history. Nimble dancers dressed in beads, porcupine roaches and eagle feathers enacted ancient traditions to the delight of the audience.

The Interpretive Centre tells about the evolution of the Blackfoot culture. Our guide, Quinton Crowfoot, explained that the original name of their tribe was “Niitsapii” meaning “Keepers of the Prairies”.

The tribe’s method to lure the buffalo to a particular area was to burn the grass thereby promoting new lush growth. Europeans attributed the name Blackfoot because of their soot imbedded moccasins.

The Buffalo Jump itself is at the end of a path leading away from the Centre. As we stood near the edge of the cliff, I envisioned thundering hooves and clouds of dust as stampeding buffalo plunged to their death.

The ingenious strategy entailed mimicking a strayed calf or encroaching wolf and directing the buffalo into a funnel of stone cairns. Hunters, shouting and waving skins, then came from behind and drove the panicked herd over the then eighteen-metre precipice.

I’d initially thought the name “Head-Smashed-In” referred to a buffalo cranium, but its folklore origin is much more intriguing. The story goes that hundreds of years ago a young brave decided it would be awesome to watch the falling buffalo from under an overhang at the bottom of the cliff. The hunt was unusually good that day and regrettably the boy’s head was smashed in by the weight of the carcasses.

At the time of Europeans arrival, an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains. With the aid of guns the species was nearly extinct by the late 1800’s. It meant the end of a way of life for the prairie tribes.

Like a time-capsule journey, our walk through the dramatic history of the early law enforcers, pioneers and Blackfoot was both enlightening and enriching.

In addition, the community’s friendly hospitality left us feeling warmer than the Chinook winds that turn the winter snows of Fort MacLeod into puddles.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer Irene Butler, who lives in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver on Canada’s west coast.

If You Go:
Town of Fort MacLeod: www.fortmacleodd.com
The Fort – Museum of the North West Mounted Police: www.nwmpmuseum.com
May 20 – Aug.31 – Open 7 days/week Ph: 403 553-4703
July & Aug. – 4 Musical Rides Daily at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump:
UNESCO World Heritage Site -One of the oldest and best-preserved buffalo jumps in
North America. www.head-smashed-in.com
-Open all yr round – 16 km N & W of Fort Macleod: Ph: 403 553-2731-July & Aug – Drumming and Dancing Wed 11:00 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.-May 12 – Sept 7 – “Sleep in a Tepee” Reservations

Photos by Rick Butler:
1. Fort MacLeod Main Street.
2. NWMP in The Fort.
3. Blackfoot Dancers entertain visitors.

Okanagan Get-A-Way: Some of Kelowna’s Many Sides

by Chris Millikan

Electric bikes kick off our whirlwind Okanagan escapade in style. On the first glorious day, my hubby and I mount these steely chargers and blissfully explore along Kelowna’s scenic bench lands.

Up the street from our lakeside resort we turn onto meandering Mission Creek Greenway, joining joggers, dog-walkers and fellow cyclists along a peaceful wooded creek. Although these electric bikes can get up to 32 kilometers an hour on the flat, we start out pedaling exactly like other cyclists until eventually emerging onto paved roadways.

Snaking upward past luxuriant hillside vineyards, the E-bikes render grinding climbs painless. With a flick-of-my thumb, one of three power levels magically engages; wheeling smoothly into the lead with pert waves and triumphant “Waaa-hooos” becomes highly irresistible to me; keeping up the pace without strain simply sublime!

Ascending to Okanagan Lavender Farm, delicately scented breezes announce our first stop. Exercising the U-pick option there, we gather up handfuls of purple, pink and creamy-white stalks from a fragrant field overlooking lush vineyards.

Owner Andrea explains, “Our farm grows 60 lavender varieties over 3-and-a-half acres.”
And strolling over to her country store brimming with handcrafted products, she impishly whispers, “Roman men thought lavender head-wreaths made them smarter…” In case they’d been onto something, we poke the aromatic stems into our helmets!

Chilled lavender lemonade fuels us as we ‘fly’ joyfully downward, landing at one of BC’s oldest continuously producing vineyards.

Slightly off the beaten track, this fifty-acre winery originally named Pioneer Vineyards…and Tantalus since 2004…was planted with grapes in 1927.

“This winery targets wine lovers with small-batch specialty wines, handmade from 30-year-old vines,” Jane tells us. “And world-renowned Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob’s mask adorns our new labels…signifying elegance, like our wines.

” Visualizing numb but nimble fingers picking frozen grapes, we savor premium Riesling Ice Wine 2005, the first under new ownership. Motoring easily back up the corkscrew driveway, we charge swiftly downhill to one of Canada’s most visited wineries, generating reserve energy to replenish the bike’s batteries as we go…

Largest to be certified organic, Summerhill Pyramid Winery specializes in sparkling wines aged in a unique four-storey concrete Egyptian-style pyramid. Touring it, Casey reveals, “Facing true north, this fuse frame structure has no metals or electricity…but its spiritual energy positively affects liquids, proven in 14-year experiments and three years of taste-testing. Now, all our wines are pyramid-aged in this sacred geometry.”

Amid million dollar patio views, we sip fruity, food-friendly wines while munching gourmet pizzas topped with some of 66 heirloom tomato varieties from flourishing organic gardens below…and luscious local goat cheeses from Carmelis Alpine Goat Cheese Farm, the afternoon’s final and longest uphill chug.

After visiting with lady-goats gathered in milking barns there, we enter the visitor center displaying 20 handmade cheeses.

Although tempted by farm tours demonstrating traditional artisan cheese-making methods, we freewheel back downtown with several scrumptious samples for nibbling later…perhaps with robust local wines…on our balcony overlooking Okanagan Lake…while sunset reds, pinks and purples signal the first day’s end.

For a change of pace the next morning we join others sauntering…and cycling…along the restful lakeside walkway in Waterfront Park.

After strolling we past the pretty marina, feathery willows, trickling waterfalls in floral gardens, golden beaches and captivating artworks, an arching bridge leads us into a transformed six-block area, Kelowna’s award-winning cultural district.

Once the center of the Okanagan’s fruit packing industry, heritage warehouses now offer thirty intimate galleries, museums, theaters and artist studios to investigate.

A park-like common there hosts seasonal festivals and concerts; the vine-shaded Artwalk connects pedestrians with a revitalized downtown. One of eleven permanent sculptures, the monumental Fruit Stand stretches along this walkway, recapturing history with gigantic stylized peaches, pears and mosaics of early packing labels.

At the busy bus loop, the Running Man sculpture comments whimsically on our hectic lives; the Bennett Clock with merrily splashing fountain honors BC’s longtime Premier. Tucked behind, we wander the soothing Kasugai Gardens pathways, established in recognition of friendship with a Japanese sister city.

Cycling the Myra Canyon portion of the Kettle Valley Trail launches our last day.

The Kettle Valley Railway crisscrossed southwestern BC between 1916 and 1964, its eighteen abandoned trestles later providing spectacular hiking and cycling routes through rugged splendor. Glad that more destroyed trestles will be rebuilt in 2007 we tackle six newly reconstructed trestles amid stark, still-charred pines from the devastating wildfires of 2003.

Driving onward, we investigate a 150-acre orchard, operating since 1904. The Kelowna Land & Orchard Company provides regularly scheduled orchard tours, but we’re too late for this informative wagon ride. Instead, we explore the farm store overflowing with golden honey, jams, jellies, crisp red apples, succulent purple table grapes and fresh garden vegetables.

Inside, at the Raven Ridge Cidery taste-testing unique specialties made from premium apples harvested during the first big freeze, another keen sampler leans over with a toast, “Try this ice cider once…you’ll be back!” Our little dessert glasses clink affirmation.
Slim bottles of Granny Smith Ice Cider stowed, our final stop beckons ten-minutes away.

Carved from a lovely old apple orchard and tended organically, 4-acre Elysium Gardens has provided a tranquil place for locals and visitors since 1999.

Throughout this paradise for birds, butterflies and garden buffs like us, owner Jacquie points out native plants, hardy perennials, golden ornamental grasses, English roses and multitudes of variegated hostas.

She observes, “Some areas reflect the formality typical of ‘proper gardens’…others feel more natural, free flowing…” Backstopped by unobstructed mountain views, Lavender Lane leads to the threshold of a magnificent gazebo, a popular wedding spot.

In visiting a revitalized historic center, thriving family farms, famed wineries and beautiful gardens over three fun-filled days, we’d only just begun to discover Kelowna’s many sides.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer Chris Millikan who lives in Delta, a suburb of Vancouver BC.

About the photos:
1: A productive lavender farm stretches above a Kelowna vineyard. Rick Millikan
photo.
2: A local vintner “empowers” his wine in this pyramid. Rick Millikan photo.
3: A multi-use pathway runs along Kelowna’s Waterfront Park. Rick Millikan
photo.

If you go:
Contact Kelowna Tourism www.tourismkelowna.com for all travel needs.
Manteo refresh@manteo.com features lakefront amenities and superb accommodation in spacious guestrooms, suites and villas.
Enjoy an al fresco gourmet lunch, unique tour and tasting at Summerhill Pyramid Winery www.summerhill.bc.ca
Elysium Gardens www.elysiumgardennursery.com offers peaceful strolls and panoramic views in a former apple orchard.

Galiano – The Gem of the Gulf Islands

by Lauren Kramer

Just a puddle-jump away from the Lower Mainland, Galiano is magnificently undeveloped and pristine, its island charm unblemished by the tarnish of tourism.

Don’t come for the shopping – though you may enjoy browsing through the island’s handful of art galleries and gift stores. Rather, come for serenity, desolate beaches with nary a footprint and vistas that inspire honest, eloquent confessions of love.

We arrived on a summer evening, stopping for dinner at the Galiano Inn & Spa’s Atrevida Restaurant. Here, with no frowns at our casual attire, we dined on exquisitely prepared and presented beet-cured salmon with pomegranate reduction, and halibut cheeks on a warm cedar plank. Classical music played in the background as the nearby gulf islands disappeared into the dusk.

I was back at the inn the next day, this time for a love of blackberries. The Galiano Spa makes a habit of emphasizing the sensuousness of food – and not just in the kitchen. “Would you prefer a blueberry smoothie, a blackberry vino or a chocolate butter crème?” I’m asked when I arrive at the spa.

Bored with the typical array of spa choices, I’m thrilled to find that inn owner Connie Nordin and her spa team have spiced it up a notch by taking local, island delicacies and creating from them an innovative selection of body wraps and massage lotions using ingredients that add a sensuous, sumptuous and uniquely Galianan touch to the spa experience.

I chose the Blackberry Vinotherapy, a massage in which the sweet, sticky fruit whose thorns leave my skin shredded and blush-red each summer, are reincarnated into blackberry wine and slathered over my body by deft, soothing hands. The experience is aromatic, deeply relaxing and utterly sublime.

I needed it, especially after venturing to the island with a bicycle. Within minutes of clambering onto my mountain bike, I discovered that the downhills did not compensate for the brutal uphill climbs around every turn. Still, in-between the huffing and puffing, I noted that you definitely experience the landscape differently when you travel by bike.

For one, the rustle of deer along the road was a pleasant surprise, as were the many hummingbirds that darted between the treetops. At an infinitely slower speed than vehicular travel, pedaling on a bike gives you more time to appreciate the island’s many vistas and its range of landscapes, from pastoral to ocean view.

But I was relieved to hop off the bike and explore the rest of Galiano by car. Journeying north, we stopped to explore Retreat Cove, where the elements and crashing waves have carved a cave from the smooth rock face.

We window-shopped in the pottery gallery of Sandra Dolf and marveled at the magnificent glass dishes created by Marcie deVicque, a talented island artist whose gallery was open but unmanned when we arrived.

It is clear, however, that trust is in the air at Galiano, and theft is virtually a non-issue. DeVicque’s gallery had a note to customers, instructing them that if they wanted to purchase an item, they could leave a cheque or use the credit card machine to process the amount. “I’ve returned home to some pretty sizable cheques,” one artist noted, adding that she had never experienced theft.

I saw it again at Galiano Boat & Moped Rentals, where Ralph Moyle, once a teacher in North Vancouver, rents out 15 mopeds and four boats to visitors. “Just leave the keys inside the moped when you return it, if I’m not here,” he said casually to couple on their way out the door of his rental hut.

He may not be worried about theft, but there are other concerns specific to island living that keep Moyle up at night since he became a full-time Galiano resident nine years ago. “A lot of island property is going to people with lots of money, who become absentee owners,” he said, pointing out a mansion as his boat puttered around Parker Island.

The population was 800-odd when he first purchased property on the island in 1978; now it sits at just over 1,000. “The people who want to live here year-round can’t afford to buy property anymore,” he says. With less than 50 kids in Galiano’s elementary school, Moyle worries that in future years, the island’s school and medical clinic may be forced to permanently close their doors.

There is some young blood on Galiano, though. Jesse Keefer is one example, an ex-professional cyclist from Vancouver who moved to the island in 2002 and purchased Bodega Ridge Lodge & Cabins. “I can be in Vancouver in an hour-and-a-half,” he says. “But I really love living here.”

Part of it is the interesting cast of characters that constitute Galiano’s population. I caught a smattering of it on a quick visit. There’s Jane Rule, the well-known novelist whose work deals with gay and lesbianism, and Steve Ocsko, a Hungarian-born stone carver who lives and works up a steep hill on Manastee road, chiseling rocks into a veritable canvas of shapes and figures.

In the heat of the afternoon, we retire to a beach of crushed shells at Montague Harbour Provincial Park, lounging beneath the shade of orange-hued arbutus trees, whose trunks lean like Hawaiian palms towards the ocean. It is low tide on this long stretch of beach, and I can hear squeals of excitement as my children fill their buckets with translucent jellyfish and bright, purple starfish.

Above the distant cliffs, bald eagles are soaring in the thermals and the deep baritone of the BC Ferries horn pierces the stillness briefly before disappearing like a phantom into the gulf.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes freelance travel writer Lauren Kramer who lives in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver B.C.

About the photos:
1: Kids explore the huge cave at Retreat Cove. Lauren Kramer photo.
2: The un-attended galleries of Sandra Rolf and Marcie de Vicque. Lauren Kramer photo.
3: A BC Ferry departs for the mainland. Photo submitted.

If You Go:
Galiano is a 55-minute ferry ride from Tsawwassen on BC Ferries (www.bcferries.com; 888-BCFERRY), and is also accessible via sea plane. For general island information, call the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce at (866) 539-2233 or visit www.galianoisland.com.

Accommodation: for family travel, Bodega Ridge Lodge & Cabins offers seven fully-equipped cabins ranging from $150-$275 per night and open year-round. For more information call (604) 306-8160. For couples seeking romantic accommodation, the Galiano Inn & Spa rates range from $249 to $299 per night, including hot breakfast, fine linens, beautiful views and a hot tub. For more information call (877) 5303939.

For boat and kayak rentals visit call (250) 539-3443.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: A stop in the Port Alberni area has all the bases covered

by Margo Malcolm

Rushing on your way to Long Beach or lazing on the beaches of Parksville/Qualicum Beach, you might easily miss a visit to the town of Port Alberni. But that would be a mistake. This town is shrugging off the economic highs and lows it’s had over the years due to the changing fortunes of the logging industry, and is looking to a bold tourism-related future by reclaiming its past.

The town is representative of Vancouver Island’s modern history. Situated close to the island’s sheltered east coast beaches, it is really a west coast deep sea port located on the Alberni Inlet that stretches 40 km east to the open waters at Ucluelet.

Surrounded by wilderness recreational area and spectacular natural scenery, Port Alberni also offers fascinating heritage and cultural attractions for visitors who take the time to stop. However the crowning jewel in their tourism offering can be relived at the McLean Mill National Historic Site, the only remaining steam-driven sawmill still operational in Canada. Train enthusiasts will be enthralled at the prospect of being able to hop aboard the Alberni Pacific Railway steam train for the 35 minute ride from Port Alberni to the mill.

Steam Train Thrills

The steam engine is a restored 1929 Baldwin ex-logging locomotive. This engine pulls three open coaches and two covered. The train coaches are rebuilt CN transfer cabooses fitted with seats.

Old train buffs will also be interested in the 2-Spot, a 1912 Shay logging locomotive and a 1928 Westminster Iron Works ‘Buda’ Lima 42 ton 2-truck Shay (a gas powered switching engine), currently being restored by the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society.

Step into the Past

Troubadours roam the McLean Mill site bringing the Mill’s and Port Alberni’s long logging and sawmilling history to life. Close your eyes and the smell of freshly cut timber being hewn in a steam-driven mill will take you back to the early life-blood industry of Vancouver Island. The vibrant actors/musicians guide you through the mill as if you were just starting work there, touring the logging/sawmill camp buildings.

Designated a National Historic Site in 1989, the mill currently cuts wood for demonstrations and for sales. A restoration of the original lumber camp and sawmill which R.B. McLean and his three sons ran from 1926 to 1965, the site is typical of Vancouver Island sawmills in use during the 20th century.

Children will enjoy collecting stamps on the Stamp Tour, and being rewarded when completing the collection. Loggers and historic equipment enthusiasts will be fascinated by the restored logging equipment, which include a steam donkey, grader, A-frame (log dump), lumber carriers and logging trucks.

Wander the site visiting the logger’s bunkhouse, the cookhouse and the blacksmith shop, or see the mill’s troupe, the Tin Pants Theatre Company, performing stage shows in the Nikkei Theatre. If you get hungry or thirsty during your visit, an onsite café, Steam Pot Café, offers light lunches and snacks. Along with the usual souvenirs, the Mill Store gift shop also offers local art, classic and retro children’s toys, books, clothing, and the ever popular Alberni Pacific Railway’s engineer cap.

Winery Whistlestop

Wine lovers will be forgiven for hopping off the train along the way to or from the mill for a sip at the Chase and Warren Estate Winery. Just request the stop when you purchase your ticket at the 1912 CPR Station in Port Alberni. You can then proceed to the mill later by train, or the winery will provide transportation to the mill or back to town for a small fee if the train schedule doesn’t work out for you.

There is nothing quite like sipping wine at a local vineyard where the grapes are grown and the wine is made on site. While you take in the dramatic views of the surrounding mountains, sample the winery’s Pinot and German varietals.

Alberni Valley Adventure – trees, trails and fishing tales

Port Alberni’s unique location at the end of the Alberni Inlet, or the Alberni Canal as locals call it, makes it a world-renowned place for salmon and halibut fishing. Also out on the canal, the MV Lady Rose or MV Frances Barkley can take you on an unforgettable 40 kilometer journey to Bamfield or Ucluelet with some of the most incredible scenery and wildlife viewing in the world.

Sproat Lake is also a popular place for fishing, waterskiing, and windsurfing, but be careful you don’t get swallowed up by the huge Martin Mars water bombers, the largest in the world, that reside in the lake and can scoop up 27,276 litres (7,200 US gallons) of water to douse forest fires. These flying tankers have been fighting fires for over forty years in BC.

Outdoor adventurers can find enough in the Alberni Valley to keep them busy for days. The Log Train Trail is excellent for hikers and mountain bikers; Mount Arrowsmith offers hiking and rock climbing; Stamp River Provincial Park is a great for swimming or tubing; at Sproat Lake Provincial Park there are campgrounds and a boat launch; and Cathedral Grove is home to the ancient old-growth giant Douglas fir trees.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes Margo Malcolm, a professional freelance writer and communications consultant living in Victoria, B.C.

Photos courtesy of McLean “Steam” Sawmaill:
:1: All aboard! The train prepares to leave the station.
2: An operator demonstrates how lumber is cut from raw logs.
3: The troupe of the Tin Pants Theatre Company with a vintage Hayes logging truck.

If you go:

McLean Steam Sawmill
Phone Number: 250-723-1376
Alberni Valley Heritage Network (including Alberni Pacific Railway)
Website: www.alberniheritage.com
Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce
Phone Number: 250-724-6535
Website: www.avcoc.com
The Hospitality Inn offers special packages with tickets to the McLean Mill and the Alberni Pacific Railway
Reservations: toll-free 1-877-723-8111
Phone: 250-723-8111
Website: www.hospitalityinnportalberni.com
McLean Mill Package: www.hospitalityinnportalberni.com/pkg_mcleans.htm
Batstar Adventure Tours offers guided bike tours in partnership with McLean Mill and Alberni Pacific Railway
Phone toll-free 1-877-449-1230
Website: www.batstar.com

The Heart of Halifax

by Margaret Deefholts

Nova Scotia smells of the Atlantic Ocean—there’s a tangy freshness to the air that is different from the pine-scented summer breezes off the Pacific coast. Even though I know that the open sea is quite a long way off, the feeling persists as I stroll the boardwalk overlooking the harbour in Halifax.

I’m heading over to what I’ve been told is the place to be on a Saturday morning: the Farmers’ Market at the historic Alexander Keith’s Brewery—reputedly the oldest farmers’ market in North America.

As I descend a flight of steps into the 19th century brick building, the central courtyard is seething with activity.

I squeeze past a little girl riding on her dad’s shoulders, and stand aside for an elderly matron striding purposefully towards the fruit and vegetable stalls. A young couple stroll hand in hand, she pausing to try out a beaded hand-crafted necklace, he stopping to take in a display of fresh fish.

Conversation rises and falls across the courtyard, while over to one side, a string quartet plays Vivaldi—the violin singing the melody of Summer from The Four Seasons perhaps a shade wistfully as this season now draws to a close.

The market is a warren of rooms, passages, nooks and crannies. Stalls display Nova Scotian crafts—miniature watercolours of Halifax, stained glass candleholders glowing with Maritime emblems and designs, appliquéd aprons and eye catching pottery.

I pause now and then to put my MasterCard to work, and chat with the friendliest of merchants. “From British Columbia eh?” they exclaim. “It rains a lot there, I hear.” Or “Vancouver! Ah…that’s a beautiful city!”

Out on the street again, I make my way along the waterfront to the Maritime Museum, walking past street musicians, and kids playing in an adjacent park. The waters of the harbour glitter in the sunlight and a mild breeze ruffles the Canadian flag on the masthead of a passing sailboat.

The Atlantic has been the life-blood of Nova Scotians over the centuries and, like the ebb and flow of its tides, it has brought both prosperity and adversity to its sons and daughters. There is nothing more fitting to Halifax’s lifestyle, culture and history than the exhibits in the Maritime Museum.

Berthed alongside the Museum is the “Acadia” a retired hydrographical survey vessel built in 1913, and a white-haired gentleman with two young boys in tow is examining with keen interest the various instruments on deck. The old man then leads the youngsters to another vessel on the quay.

This is the HMCS “Sackville”, Canada’s last surviving vessel from a fleet of 269 gallant little corvettes that saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. The boys nod attentively as their grandfather points out some of the ship’s special characteristics.

More than just a round up of facts, this is also an affirmation of his life as a naval officer and his years at sea—a legacy he is now passing on to his grandsons.

Halifax has had its share of tragedy, and the Maritime Museum pays tribute to the memory of people who lost their lives in the worst explosion of the 20th century (other than the atomic blast that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki) which took place in the harbour in December 1917.

The French freighter, Mont Blanc, loaded with 200 tons of TNT and other explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel, Imo and caught fire. Citizens, fascinated at the sight, stood agog on the foreshore or their balconies, not knowing that this would be their last conscious spectacle as the city blew up, engulfing them in a thunderous roar of flames.

Shaped by their sea-faring life-style, Maritimers are as rugged as their coastline. Fierce winter storms, knife-edged winds and cruel seas demand tremendous reserves of courage in the face of disasters that can strike without warning or mercy.

Canada’s eastern seaboard is littered with shipwrecks engulfed by the greedy waters of the Atlantic. None is more dramatic than the sinking of the Titanic.

Two Canadian vessels, the Minia and the Mackay Bennett, retrieved 209 bodies and brought them to Halifax where, whether identified or not, they were taken to three churches.

Shocked parishioners attended memorial services, unwilling to let these unknown souls be buried alone and without ceremony. The victims were then moved to their final resting places in three Halifax cemeteries.

The disaster of the Titanic happened almost a century ago, but emotions of loss and grief aren’t altered by the passage of time, or by divisions of race or creed. It is a universal mourning that we all know and understand.

Later, as part of a city tour of Halifax, I visit the Fairview Lawn Cemetery. The headstones of the Titanic plot cast long afternoon shadows across the grassy knoll.

I am deeply moved by a small tablet which reads: “Erected to the memory of an unknown child whose remains were recovered after the disaster to the Titanic.” A miniature Raggedy Ann doll, a spray of wildflowers and a small teddy bear lie in front of the headstone—touching evidence of the sadness that continues to pervade the minds and hearts of Haligonians even to this day.

The coroner’s records subsequently revealed that the “unknown” child was actually a 2-year old toddler, Gösta Leonard who, with his Swedish mother, Alma Pålsson and three older siblings, boarded the ill-fated ship in Southampton.

The tablet is now a symbolic memorial to all those Unknown Children who perished in the waters off our Atlantic seaboard almost a century ago.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes author and freelance travel writer Margaret Deefholts who lives in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver B.C.

If You Go:

Ambassatours (Gray Line) offer an entertaining and informative 3-hour tour of Halifax which includes a visit to the imposing Citadel and a walk through the city’s Victorian Public Gardens in the wake of a skirling bagpiper. Follow the links from their website at http://www.ambassatours.com/INDEX/tabid/729/Default.aspx

For more information and upcoming events at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic go to http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/events/events.html

The “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” is on display at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria until October 14th 2007. It provides visitors with fascinating insights into the stories and lives of people (some of whom were British Columbians) who perished, or survived the disaster. For more details visit: http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/titanic/default.aspx

About the photos:
1: Street view of Halifax Harbour.
2: A little girl enjoys the Halifax Saturday Market.
3: HMCS “Sackville” berthed near the Maritime Museum of The Atlantic.

The Titanic: Forever Lost, Forever Remembered!

by Margaret Deefholts

When tense I’m inclined to clench my teeth, and right now I’m grinding my molars big time. The reason? I’m travelling on MIR I, a submersible that is searching through the debris of the sunken wreck of the Titanic.

Should the razor sharp edges of the ship’s rusty skeleton pierce the MIR I’s steel shell, it would be game over. At a depth of 12,500 feet the pressure of water shooting through the puncture could slice through the human body as if it was butter.

Garlands of barnacle-covered cables drift by the window, we skim past a ghostly orange hull, and float above the ribbed railings of the foredeck.

I’m safely seated in the IMAX theatre of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, with no danger of being sent to a watery grave, but the movie Titanica is eerily realistic, and the underwater images loom up close.

The lens probes the debris around the hulk of the Titanic, picking out a set of china plates embossed with the White Star shipping company’s emblem. A fish goggles at the camera as it flits by a large leather trunk. Half buried in the sand is a cluster of corked wine and champagne bottles. The labels have melted away but their contents are intact.

The film intersperses the undersea exploration with old photographs of the Titanic and its passengers.

It also features a vignette of one of the survivors, Eva Hart. Now an old lady, she sits in her English garden and shares her memories as a seven-year-old on board the Titanic along with her parents, their beloved dog and her favourite teddy bear. Told with restraint and gentle irony, her story brings a lump to the throat.

Without wanting to give too much away, the Titanica is a powerful and deeply moving film and is worth seeing before visiting the exhibit galleries.

The artifacts recovered from the debris on the ocean floor range from perfume vials (visitors can sniff the scent) to one of the 3 million (possibly defective) rivets that held together the steel plates of the hull.

A massive reproduction of the rust-encrusted hull dominates the entire wall of one room, while several exhibits, in true Royal Museum style, are interactive—replicas of toys that the children on board once played with, Edwardian-era ship-board games and specially designed life-jackets. All of which visitors are invited to touch, don or handle.

The sheer size of the Titanic lived up to its name. It was, at the time, the largest moving object built by man—nearly four city blocks long and eleven stories high.

Each of the first four compartments of the hull was watertight, so that if the ship had hit the iceberg head on, it probably would have survived. In a frantic last minute effort to avoid the towering wall of ice, the first officer ordered the ship to be swung “hard a-starboard.”

The iceberg ripped through the fifth and sixth non-watertight compartments of the hull, and from then on it was only two hours and forty minutes before the doomed Titanic sank to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean with an estimated 1,500 people still on board. As a Titanica commentator remarks, “The ‘unsinkable’ had become the ‘unthinkable’.”

A combination of unusual circumstances and human error contributed to the tragedy. The decision to scrap the usual Sunday morning safety drill, and the lack of sufficient lifeboats might have been dismissed as trivial details. The Titanic was, after all, “practically unsinkable”.

The newly invented Marconi wireless radio system had technical problems and although several warnings about icebergs floating further south than usual went out to the Titanic, only one was delivered to the Captain on the bridge.

It was a still, but very dark night, and visibility was poor. As bitter fate would have it, the binoculars, which should have been available in the crow’s nest lookout, had gone missing.

Finally, even after the alarm was sounded, many passengers didn’t believe that the Titanic was actually going down, so only 19 people boarded the first lifeboat although it could have accommodated 65.

RMS Titanic Inc. is authorized to recover the artifacts of the Titanic on display at the Royal B.C. Museum, while John Zaller, of Premier Exhibitions (the parent company of RMS Titanic) heads up the design team of this unique and ambitious exhibition.

“There’s the excitement of constructing each of the artifact galleries, the ship’s grandeur, and the incredible drama of those final hours,” says Zaller, “but it’s the stories behind these one-of-a-kind irreplaceable objects that truly fire the imagination.”

As I move through the galleries, those stories unfold. This is the human face of the Titanic disaster—in narrative, memoir and photographs.

And as personified by actors dressed in period costumes, all of whom, like ghosts from the doomed ship, share with visitors the thoughts, the hopes and dreams of those long lost passengers and crew.

Through their descriptions and recollections I, too, am awed at the size and beauty of the ship, and am caught up in the excitement of boarding her. I’m also witness to the terror and grief of women and children who, in taking the lifeboats, embraced fathers, brothers, husbands, and lovers in what would be for many of them, a final farewell.

It is those men, women and children of the Titanic that continue to haunt us, their voices echoing down the corridors of time.

The Royal B.C. Museum’s exhibition opens April 14th exactly 95 years after the Titanic plummeted to the ocean floor. It recognizes the fragility of mankind’s overweening ambition, and is a moving tribute to the memory of those who perished as a result of it.

About the author:

This week Traveling Tales welcomes Margaret Deefholts, Canadian author and freelance travel writer who lives near Vancouver on Canada’s West Coast.

About the photos:
1: These dishes on the ocean floor were probably in a crate which rotted away leaving this display. Photo: Courtesy RMS Titanic Inc.
2: A first class luxury suite like this one would have cost $4,350 or $85,000 today. Margaret Deefholts photo.
3: This historic photograph demonstrates the size of the Titanic. Photo: Courtesy RMS Titanic Inc.

If you go:

For more information on ticket prices, IMAX show timings etc., go to www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/titanic/default.aspx

Several hotels are offering Titanic themed packages, culinary delights and tours.
For more information go to:

Abigail’s Hotel at www.abigailshotel.com/specials.html
Hotel Grand Pacific at www.hotelgrandpacific.com/index.html Click on their ‘promotions and packages’ link
The Fairmont Empress at www.fairmont.com/Empress/
The Irish Times Pub at www.irishtimespub.ca /
Magnolia Hotel & Spa at www.magnoliahotel.com/packages.html
Spinnakers Gastro Brew Pub & Guesthouses at www.spinnakers.com/specials/default.aspx#1