Vancouver Island Bed & Breakfast in the Cowichan wine region

Two Cowichan agricultural events are taking place this coming weekend February 3-5, 2012. The First Annual Islands Agriculture Show is taking place at the Cowichan Exhibition Park in Duncan. The event starts February 3 at 8:30 am and runs through February 4 at 5 pm. Call 250-748-0822 for more information

At the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan it’s the 5th annual Westcoast BigLeaf Maple Syrup Festival from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday February 4. As this is a hugely popular event make sure to get there early. Vendors sell out by the end of the day so if you want your taste of local Vancouver Island maple syrup, don’t wait till the end of the day. And go out and watch one of the tapping demonstrations to learn about this new agri-industry on Vancouver Island. Call 250-715-1113 for more information.

Bed & Breakfast innkeepers not only provide accommodation and serve delicious breakfasts, they also often serve as ambassadors for their community and assist their guests with all kinds of information to enhance their stay. The question we are probably asked more often than anything else is “where to go for dinner”.

Fortunately the Cowichan Valley is home to a number of very fine restaurants so it is very easy to recommend these to our guests. We always ask them afterwards “how was dinner” and almost always the recommendation has led them to a great dining experience, often featuring locally grown or harvested foods.

Just around the conrer from Cobble House B&B

In Cowichan Bay, just a 15 minute drive away, you will find The Masthead Restaurant, another favorite with our guests. They specialize in seafood, but have something for everyone’s taste. All their entrees are served with “pot au feu” fresh vegetables and duck spuds, and they have a great wine list.

Back in Shawnigan Lake Village is another of our recommended restaurants, Steeples Bar & Grill, an “adventure in casual dining”. Located in a converted church, Steeples is a big part of the community as well. They have just launched their new fall promotion “Mediterranean Nights” and had a very successful Asian fusion promotion this spring.

While the bistro at Merridale Cidery is mostly open just for lunch, they offer hugely popular pizza nights on Sundays during the summer. Currently they are open on Saturday nights until mid December for Field to Table 3-course dinners. We met some of our guests at Merridale at one of the last pizza nights of the season and they really enjoyed the food and the ciders there! La Pommeraie Bistro is another popular choice with our guests, and it too, is just around the corner from Cobble House B&B.

While in a very rural location, Cowichan Valley restaurants are among some of the best restaurants on Vancouver Island. We’ll happily book a table for you when you come to stay, so you too can enjoy really fine dining in the Cowichan Valley.

Fall has arrived. It’s my favorite time of year, especially if we get some of that lovely “indian summer” weather; clear warm days, cool crisp nights. So far this fall of 2011 has been rather wet, but the sunny days have been there. The rain has greened up the grass everywhere and has taken the forest fire hazard level right down to normal, which is a relief when you live surrounded by forests as we do at our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast.

small maple changing color

People are harvesting the last of their produce from the many farms and private gardens around the Cowichan Valley. Lots of signs around the Valley selling everything from apples to herbs. There are still some flowers in the garden, and a few trees are starting to put on a colorful display among the west coast evergreens. The Cowichan Valley wineries are leaving the grapes on as long as they can to get every bit of sunshine possible to ripen the grapes, as the summer heat didn’t quite last long enough this year. Canadian Thanksgiving is just a week away, when we celebrate the rewards of long summer days of work and growth and the harvest that has resulted from our efforts. Time to clean up the flower pots and hanging baskets for another year, put away the patio furniture, and bring up a load of firewood to the house, so we can light the Russian fireplace at Cobble House.

Calendulas still add a colorful decoration to our fruit servings

We are open throughout the year, so come and enjoy fall in the Cowichan Valley. Happy Thanksgiving!

Vancouver Island British Columbia is blessed with a mild climate and many golf courses, so you can enjoy the game of golf for a large part of the year. Cobble House Bed & Breakfast is centrally located in Cobble Hill, in the Cowichan Valley about halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo, and the Valley has a number of golf courses for every level of golfer to experience.

Just 10 minutes away from our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast you can book a tee time at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club, 18 holes, par 71. The Club has a four star Golf Digest Rating and has a 10 stall driving range and practice putting green. Daytime green fees are in the $45-$64 range.

Arbutus Ridge Golf Club

The Cowichan Golf & Country Club on the south side of Duncan is the oldest golf course in the Valley. It has been in its present location just off the Trans Canada Highway since 1947, and is an 18 hole, par 70 course. Green fees generally range from $42 – $52. The Mount Brenton Golf Course in the mural town of Chemainus, which calls itself the Island’s “friendliest golf course”, is almost as old, having been around since 1948. This is a par 71 course with green fees ranging from $25-$45.

The newest course in the Cowichan region is Duncan Meadows on the northwest side of Duncan, along Highway 18. It has a reputation as a player’s course, with many lakes and ponds. Green fees are in the range of $40-$55 for this par 72 course. This past July, Duncan Meadows hosted the 2011 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championships.

If you continue west on Highway 18 around the south side of Cowichan Lake, you will reach the 9 hole March Meadows Golf Course in Honeymoon Bay. This is the home course of LPGA professional Dawn Coe Jones who still sponsors the junior golf tournament held at the club each year. Green fees for 18 holes are in the $33-$42 range.

Whichever Cowichan golf course, or courses, you chose to experience, you’ll find unique and different challenges on each one. Another thing you’ll find is beautiful scenic views of the Cowichan landscape, be it ocean or rolling hills and mountains. Come and play the game of golf in the Cowichan Valley, and find your choice of Cowichan Valley Bed & Breakfasts nearby to complete your stay.

July 28th was a day many people on Vancouver Island had looked forward to over the last several years. It was the official opening, or actually the re-opening, of the historic Kinsol Trestle near Shawnigan Lake in the Cowichan Valley. There was a great crowd in attendance at a well organized event.

Almost a year ago I blogged about the trestle when the rehabilitation work had just started and I took a trip to have a look. A construction cam was installed and allowed you to see the progress over the past year, and it was great to see things coming together. Funds for the rehabilitation were supplied by many individual donors as well as both the federal and provincial governments, the Island Coastal Economic Trust, the Cowichan Valley Regional District and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation. A major missing link in the Vancouver Island portion of the Trans Canada Trail is now complete. The trail now runs continuously from the south end of Shawnigan Lake up to Lake Cowichan and from Duncan to Ladysmith. The section from Duncan to Ladysmith was opened just a few weeks before the opening of the Kinsol Trestle.

There is still work to be completed around the trestle, including a pavilion listing all the donors to the project. A completed walkway takes you down all the way to the river on the north end of the trestle. Looking up at the 44 meters high trestle from the river is pretty awe inspiring, especially if you consider how the trestle was built back in 1920, without any of the huge cranes or other equipment now used for the rehabilitation. The rehabilitation created local jobs, used Vancouver Island lumber and the project was led by a local Cobble Hill company.

We have hosted numerous cyclists at our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast over the years, as they cycle and visit the wineries, or pass through on their way up-Island. The completion of the Kinsol Trestle on the Trans Canada Trail will definitely be an added attraction in the Cowichan Valley for both cyclists and hikers as well as visitors who are interested in seeing this piece of Vancouver Island history for themselves.

Recently I enjoyed checking out one of Duncan’s tourist attractions, the Pacific Northwest Raptors Centre. It was my first visit, although it’s been on my list of Cowichan Valley attractions to check out for several years. A number of guests at our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast have been to the centre and have enjoyed their visit, so I have been able to recommend it to our guests.

It was a perfect day to take a few hours off and I timed my arrival for the 1:30 pm flying demonstrations. This is a must as this is the highlight of a visit to PNWR. This afternoon’s demonstration started with Hera the immature bald eagle. What an impressive bird up close! Then we saw a Harris hawk, a barn owl, a turkey vulture (which is not a raptor) and finally a one-year old peregrine falcon. It was wonderful to see these magnificent birds up close and learn more about them and see the different ways they fly. I learned quite a bit, including “what is a raptor”!

Pacific Northwest Raptors is primarily an educational center. The birds are captive bred and trained to raise awareness and to give the public an opportunity to see them up close and learn more about them, and feel inspired about saving them and their habitat. In the past PNWR has also been involved in rehabilitating injured wild birds but they very unfortunately recently lost their license to do so While some of the birds are in cages, they fly free every day and are also taken out to give the visitors a closer look as well as the opportunity to ask questions. The staff at the center is very friendly and helpful and they obviously love what they do.

You can now also see some of the PNWR birds at the Church & State winery, near the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Pacific Northwest Raptors has also collaborated with the Vancouver Aquarium this summer for “Birds Up Close” and you can see eagles, hawks, falcons and other birds trained at PNWR at the aquarium until September 5th.

As our Cowichan Valley accommodation is located on a forested acreage, we often see barred owls around our property, so I was very interested to learn more about them and other raptors. They too are magnificent birds and a clearer understanding of them is important in helping them to survive and flourish so we can continue to enjoy them in their natural environment. While my preference is always for all wild creatures to be wild and free, I think Pacific Northwest Raptors is an important link in creating a greater understanding of these birds. They are open daily from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, with flying demonstrations at 1:30 and 3:30. It is really worth a visit.

On Saturday June 25th, 2011, our village of Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island is having a Community Celebration to mark a century of operation for the Cobble Hill Market. A variety of community organizations will be hosting entertainment and stage events open to the whole family.

The building that houses the Cobble Hill Market was built in 1911 by Tom Walton, and was therefore initially known as the Walton Building. When the building opened it was operated as a grocery store downstairs while the upstairs became a popular dance hall as well as a meeting space for clubs and a gaming parlour. There are apparently lots of local stories about the dances held there in the evenings! During the day, the upstairs space was used by Mrs. Walford Gosnell to teach art classes.

Eventually the upstairs was converted into living quarters and many families lived there while operating the downstairs store. The current owners immigrated from Hong Kong and have operated the store since 1995.

Quiet Cobble Hill village was once quite a busy community and a center for shipping goods via the railway. The current Cobblestone Inn Pub is on the site of the former Cobble Hill division of the Cowichan Creamery, around which many community events revolved until the 1940′s. There was shopping at the Bonner Block, and the village also boasted the busy Wilton Place Hotel. The Cobble Hill Post Office and Bank building is still in existence as the Black Coffee restaurant at nearby Whippletree Junction on Highway 1, on your way to Duncan BC. Whippletree is a funky collection of specialty shops and restaurants in historical Cowichan Valley buildings moved there from around the Valley.

At our Vancouver Island Bed & Breakfast in Cobble Hill, we had the pleasure several years ago of hosting the grandson of one of the two families our road is named after. We live on Cameron-Taggart Road and if you travel south on our road you’ll come across two farms now owned by the Wikkerink families. Orginally, however, these were the Cameron and the Taggart farms, with the Cameron farm on the west side of the road and the Taggart farm on the east side. Our guest was Bill Taggart who was showing his grandson around the area where he grew up. The Taggart children attended the Sylvania school at the end of Cameron-Taggart Road. This building is now a Lions hall.

Every area has its interesting history. Mr. Taggart shared with us some old photos and a book “At the foot of the hill” about the history of Cobble Hill and it was so fascinating learning more about the history of our immediate area and being able to relate it to the places you come by on a daily basis while operating our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast.

Located just 30 minutes north of our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast, the town of Chemainus is home to a great little theatre.  The Chemainus Theatre opened in 1993 and has offered comedy, musicals and dramas with some noted guest performers over the years.  The theatre holds an audience of 274 with each seat offering a great view of the stage,  and is fully wheelchair accessible on both levels.  An educational program has been part of its offerings from the beginning, be it post show discussions (Talk Back Wednesdays) or season long activities.

Currently showing at the Chemainus Theatre is “Steel Magnolias”.  Also a successful movie released in 1989 starring Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton and Shirley MacLaine, the story was an original play written in 1987 by Robert Harling, who wrote the play as a way to cope with his sister’s death.  It takes place in a small Louisiana town and you’ll meet the people who regularly gather at Truvy’s beauty parlor.  The next production at the theatre will be “Fiddler on the Roof”, which will run from June 17 to September 3.

Complete the Chemainus Theatre experience by dining at the Playbill Dining Room.  The dining room features an impressive buffet with a new menu inspired by the changing seasons and the theme of the productions.  You can purchase tickets for just the show, or for the show + dinner for a great evening out, or an afternoon matinee on Wednesdays or Saturdays.

Spend a few days in the Cowichan Valley and you can enjoy a variety of activities.   Play some golf, visit the wineries, hike the Trans Canada Trail, go kayaking, and visit the world famous murals and the theatre in Chemainus.  Our Cowichan Valley accommodation is central to it all, so come and explore our piece of paradise.  We’re happy to share it with you!

High school rowing has a big profile in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island in April and May of each year.

On the last weekend in April, April 29th through May 1st, the 41st annual Brentwood Regatta will take place at Brentwood College School on the open waters of Mill Bay, BC.  Brentwood College rowing is well known internationally and the program has produced numerous Olympic rowers and Olympic medalists over the years as recently featured by the Rick Mercer Report on CBC Television.

The Brentwood Regatta is the largest athletic event hosted by a single high school, and I’ve heard mention that it may be the second largest  high school rowing regatta in all of North America.  It is an official event sanctioned by Rowing  BC.  Typically there are about 1500 athletes participating, plus coaches, plus parents who come to watch their kids and help out with the teams.  Numerous teams come from the Vancouver Lower Mainland area, but also from Washington State, Oregon, California, and of course Vancouver Island.  Over the years teams from Australia, Bermuda, Ontario, and the UK have also participated.  This regatta is probably the biggest event of the year taking place in the region, with Cowichan Valley Bed & Breakfasts and hotels/motels in Mill Bay, Cobble Hill, Shawnigan Lake, Cowichan Bay and much of Duncan all filling up for this exciting sporting event.  At Cobble House Bed & Breakfast we’ve had the pleasure of hosting parents from Eugene Oregon, St. Georges School in Vancouver,  Sammamish Rowing, Green Lake Rowing and Everett Rowing in Washington State.  We’re looking forward to welcoming some of last year’s parents back to this year’s event!

near the finishing line at the Brentwood Regatta

Two weeks after the Brentwood Regatta the focus shifts to Shawnigan Lake where Shawnigan Lake School will be hosting its annual regatta.  Rowing is also a flagship sport at Shawnigan Lake School, making for some real competitiveness between the two private boarding schools, which are located just a few kilometers apart.  While the Shawnigan Regatta is a much smaller and more BC centric event, it too offers high caliber rowing, a sport practiced year-round on Vancouver Island.  Canada’s national rowing team trains primarily at Elk Lake in nearby Victoria, but also comes up to train on Shawnigan Lake.  There are several regattas held at Elk Lake every year and also on the Gorge, and a small regatta at Maple Bay in the Cowichan Valley on April 16th.  The relatively mild climate on Vancouver Island is definitely a factor in making this area a prime rowing environment.

If you’re in the area for either the Brentwood or the Shawnigan Regattas, do come out and check out some terrific Vancouver Island rowing!

It may surprise you to hear that on Vancouver Island, and in the Vancouver area, dozens of small farms are making maple syrup.  Traditionally, areas of Quebec and Ontario are known for making the famous Canadian maple syrup from sugar maple trees, but in the last decade tapping big leaf maple trees, especially on Vancouver Island, has become a growing agroforestry business, boosted by the “100 mile diet” and niche food production.  Many farmers involved in the production of maple syrup are hobbyists, but the business is growing and demand is far outstripping supply at the moment.

Big leaf maples are a different species than the sugar maples in eastern Canada.  There are some differences in the sap and how it can be collected.  There is a lower sugar content in Big Leaf sap and the syrup that can be made from it varies from golden in color to a dark chocolate tint.

On Saturday February 5, 2011, the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan will host the 4th annual Big Leaf Maple Syrup Festival.  Events run from 10 a.m to 4:30 p.m.  Visitors are invited to participate in workshops featuring tapping demonstrations, presentations and displays.  Cooking with maple syrup will be featured, as well as maple food.  There is also a maple syrup competition, judged by celebrity chefs from Vancouver Island, awarding ribbons for Judges’ Choice, Best in Show, and light, medium and dark syrup.  More than 2000 people attended the 2010 event and all the syrup available for sale sold out.

Vancouver Island maple syrup is obviously becoming a very popular local food product.  Spend a weekend at Cobble House Bed & Breakfast in the Cowichan Valley and explore this new industry.  If you have time left over, visit one of the many award-winning wineries and enjoy fabulous gourmet dining at several excellent Cowichan Valley restaurants such as Amuse Bistro, The Masthead, Steeples or the newest addition to fine dining in the Valley, the Stone Soup Inn.