Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
online Gourmet
(970ShoppersRow,250/286-6521,8am-4pmMon.-Sat.),whereyoucan
check your email for a small charge. The
hospital
(250/287-7111) is at 375 2nd Avenue.
A 10-minute ferry ride across Discovery Passage from downtown Campbell River takes
you to Quadra Island (pop. 2,700), which blends beautiful scenery, native culture, and up-
scale fishing lodges to create a unique and worthwhile detour from your up-island travels.
The ferry docks in the south of the island, where most of the population resides. This nar-
row peninsula widens in the north to an unpopulated area where provincial and marine
parksprotectawealthofwildlife.Marinelifearoundtheentireshorelineiswidespread;or-
cas cruise Discovery Passage, and seals and sea lions are commonly spied in surrounding
waters.
Captain Vancouver may have been the first European to step onto the island when he
made landfall at
Cape Mudge
in 1792, but the island had been inhabited by native people
for many centuries before.
At the island's southern tip,
Cape Mudge Lighthouse
was built in 1898 to prevent
shipwrecks in the wild, surging waters around the point. On the east coast is
Heriot Bay,
the name of both a cove and the island's largest community. Narrow Rebecca Spit, site
of
Rebecca Spit Marine Park,
protects a beach-lined bay from the elements. Roads lead
north from Heriot Bay to the island's wild northern reaches, where you can go hiking to
the low summit of
Chinese Mountain
(3 kilometers/1.9 miles; allow one hour each way),
around
Morte Lake
(5 kilometers/3.1 miles; allow 90 minutes for the loop), and in the far
north to
Newton Lake
from Granite Bay (4 kilometers/2.4 miles; 75 minutes each way).
Accommodations and Camping
Near Cape Mudge Lighthouse is
M
Tsa-Kwa-Luten
(1 Lighthouse Rd., 250/285-2042 or
800/665-7745,
www.capemudgeresort.bc.ca
, $145-280 s or d), built by the local Kwagi-
ulth people. The centerpiece of this magnificent waterfront lodge is the foyer, built in the
styleofa“bighouse”(atraditionalmeetingplace)usinglocallymilledwoods.Eachofthe
35spaciousroomsisdecoratedinaPacificNorthwestnativetheme,andeachhasaprivate
balcony with water views. Rates start at a reasonable $145 s or d, with meal packages
available. The lodge coordinates fishing charters and cultural activities, and its restaurant
specializes in native foods.
