Paddler’s Paradise: Exploring
Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island

Throughout childhood, we’re encouraged, coaxed and taught about every aspect of what it is to be human by those who gave birth to us. They literally help us take our first steps in life. But when those same people turn 80 and you find yourself coaching them through their own new experiences, it can get exciting. 

This happened to me on a recent trip to the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island with my mother and father, Dave and Davina Hempsall who are in or nearing their eighth decade. They were responsible for teaching me how to paddle a canoe when I was five years old. We’ve been on numerous paddling trips through the years and even built our own cedar strip. I’ve gone on to paddle a number of different craft from pack rafts to SUPs but my parents didn’t bother to branch out. Despite living near the ocean, they’ve never sea kayaked before! I wanted to change that and Cowichan was the perfect place for it.

The Cowichan Valley is a 3,500-square-kilometre region in southern Vancouver Island between the large cities of Victoria and Nanaimo. It includes the communities of Ladysmith, Duncan, and Chemainus, and offers all manner of watersport experiences from paddleboarding on Cowichan Lake and sea kayaking the Saanich Inlet to whitewater canoeing on the Cowichan River. It’s also a renowned agricultural area that boasts food markets, wineries, cideries, farm-to-table restaurants, and multiple breweries and brewpubs.

I had driven the eight hours from my home in Nelson, BC, enjoyed a sunny 1.5-hour-long ferry ride through the Southern Gulf Islands, and then stayed at my parents’ home near Sidney on the Saanich Peninsula. The following day we drove an hour north to the tiny Fuller Lake in Chemainus to start our adventure. There, another retiree was waiting to school me. 

Rick Bryan is a short, athletic man in his 70s with white hair and a playful grin who’s “been paddling since before the dawn of time,” he says. He is a founding member of the South Island Whitewater Club and is also heavily involved in the Recreational Canoeing Association of BC. We were meeting so he could teach us how to roll a playboat, a small plastic river-running craft that he insisted not be called a kayak because we’d use a canoe paddle to propel and steer it. Although my parents are good sports, they took one look at Rick and me donning wetsuits and bowed out, claiming it was too early in the morning to get soaked.

Over the next hour Rick taught me a variety of different paddle strokes and techniques to prevent tipping over in a fast-moving river. He then gleefully told me it was time to go upside down. While he held the boat I rolled over so my head was fully submerged and then I’d snap my hips and sweep the paddle to right myself. We did this a dozen times until I tired of getting water up my nose. As we packed up, Rick told me about the Cowichan River and other whitewater locations on Vancouver Island where he regularly paddles with his friends, some of whom are a fraction of his age.

Seeing a septuagenarian easily maneuver a boat inspired my parents and they were looking forward to their inaugural sea kayak expedition the next day. After all that dunking, though, I needed to eat. 

We drove 20 minutes south on Highway 1 to Red Arrow Brewing in the town of Duncan. There we ordered flights of beer, including what would be our favourite of the day, the seasonal Elderflower Sour made from its namesake that only blooms once a year under the shaded canopy of the local forests. It’s kettle soured with a touch of floral effervescence to make it a perfectly refreshing summer drink. We also ordered fish tacos, a beef melt and a pizza, and then the friendly staff gave me a tour of the facility, which was the original home of the Arrow Custom Motorcycles company. Outside there’s a large dog-friendly patio and a Coast Salish totem carved by artist Tom Lafortune. The old showroom is now the brewery’s lounge and outside the red brick building is a large patio and tented stage where live musical acts play. Be sure to spot Christopher the gargoyle who lives on site. 

Quw’utsun (Cowichan) is rooted in the Hul’q’umi’num word “shquw’utsun” which directly translated means “to warm one’s back in the sun.” Experience the rich, warm culture.

Many of the First Nations communities in the Cowichan region are Hul’q’umi’num peoples, who speak the Hul’q’umi’num language, within a larger First Nations group referred to as the Coast Salish People. Additionally, there are two First Nations part of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth peoples who speak Ditidaht.

The food was delicious and because we didn’t have any other paddling excursions booked that day, we decided to check out Merridale Cidery and Distillery 15 minutes south in Cobble Hill. Tucked into a beautiful valley between Shawnigan Lake and the ocean, Merridale is definitely worth a visit. The grounds are stunning and I highly recommend walking down to the ponds and around the orchards. Aside from the cellar door there is also a restaurant that serves ciders and spirits made on site. I highly recommend trying the spiced rum.

Later that evening we settled into our rooms at the Temperance Hotel in Ladysmith, a new addition to the accommodation scene in the Cowichan region that features a century-old building with a colourful past. Originally constructed in Nanaimo, The Temperance was chopped up and moved to its current location and in the ensuing 110 years it has housed everyone from miners to doctors. In September 2020 Denise Bergquist and Stefan Queitsch bought the building and spent the next four years “updating every inch of it,” she says. The result is stunning: a modern, boutique hotel that pays homage to its history via the hewn hardwood floors, funky lights, and the black-and-white murals and pictures depicting turn-of-the-century scenes of Ladysmith.

We awoke early and drove a half hour south to Cowichan Bay where we met Gary and Georgia Newsome, owners of Coastal Bliss Adventures. They turned out to be the perfect guides for our journey as they’re in their 60s and have a lot of skill and patience when it comes to teaching old paddlers new tricks.

My parents slipped into the cockpits of their single kayaks no problem and soon we were all navigating the calm waters of the bay and exploring the Cowichan River Estuary. They loved it. The bay is well protected from the wind and they eventually got the hang of steering the kayak rudders using their foot pedals while propelling forward using the two-bladed paddle. We weren’t in the water long before a dozen harbour seals checked us out. It was so cool to see their little heads bobbing out of the water around us: at times they were so close we could hear them exhale. They remained nearby for a half hour and during that time we also saw wild swans, kingfishers, bald eagles, and fish jumping. Perhaps they were escaping the seals.

My parents had such a good time learning to sea kayak during the three-hour adventure, they wanted to try their hand at another new form of watersport: paddleboarding. So we booked lessons for the following day as well as a unique night-time float tour. We then spent the afternoon touring Duncan, the largest community in the Cowichan region. As it was Saturday, we visited the thriving farmers’ market that spreads out across four city blocks, displaying everything from local produce and baked goods to funky hand-made birdhouses and tie-dyed clothing. 

All year round, rain or shine, the iconic Duncan Farmers’ Market invites the community to come out and meet some of the Cowichan Valley’s most popular farmers and food producers, exhibiting their finest selection right behind Duncan City Hall. Depending on the season, up to 110 vendors pack into City Square and down along Ingram Street.

For lunch we visited the Craig Street Brew Pub, located one block from the market, and it was absolutely packed. We lucked out and got a seat on the front patio and proceeded to watch the servers do an admirable job keeping up with the throngs. We ordered a tuna poke bowl, a Mediterranean pizza and a fresh salmon bowl, along with beer flights that included the Arbutus Ale, which has subtle notes of vanilla, the super-light Cowichan Bay lager, and the Mt. Prevost porter, which was a favourite because of its cocoa flavour and smoky finish. After the lunch rush died down a bit, I toured the 1940s building that boasts a beautiful antique bar and a real wood-burning fireplace. Very cozy.

In the afternoon we took part in something I think every visitor to the Cowichan Valley should experience: The Pacific Northwest Raptors facility. To see birds of prey up close is a primitive experience: they’re so dinosaur-like! There were falcons, eagles, owls and hawks, and a highlight was the flying demonstration during which trainers strolled among us seated watchers and had birds swoop over our heads to land on their arms.

After the excellent time with the Raptors we had a bittersweet experience at the Small Block Brewing Company in Duncan. It turned out we had arrived on their last day of business and owners Cate and Aaron Scally were pouring their final pints. However, Cate told us the brewpub had been purchased by Jason Barber who just happened to be sitting at the table next to us. He told us his plans for the establishment: he’s going to rename it Deadhead Brewing, change up the menu offerings, renovate the space and reopen it later this summer.

That night we returned to the Temperance Hotel in Ladysmith and strolled the seven blocks to the Bayview Brewing Company. Opened in April 2022 by friends Rod Alsop and Jon Ludtke, the Bayview features both a large, eclectic food menu (Jon was a chef for over 25 years) and an extensive beer list. Our flights included the subtle and tasty Lady Guava Gose and the delicious 7 Belles, a dry-hopped saison named for the practice of ringing bells at 7pm in honour of the area’s healthcare workers. Other offerings included beers inspired by desserts, such as the Simple Twist of Fate, described as a “blackberry, lemon-cobbler sour,” and the Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner peach and coconut hazy pale ale. The winner of the best food menu item goes to the dill pickle pizza: it sounds weird, but it’s so good!

If you arrive and there’s a long line-up, don’t be discouraged. The staff are so efficient, diners don’t have to wait long for their meals. After our egg bennies and cappuccinos, we drove 45 minutes to Gordon Bay Provincial Park on Cowichan Lake, the traditional territory of the Ts’uubaa-asatx people, who have been the stewards of these lands since time immemorial. My mother grew up in Victoria and spent time vacationing in Cowichan, but she was continually surprised by how large the area is, as well as the size of the lake. Stretching 30 kilometres in length, Cowichan Lake can get rough in windy conditions but Gordon Bay offers a perfectly sheltered area to learn how to paddleboard.

Josh Tisch is the owner of Pristine Paddleboard Adventures and he has set up his “Paddle Pod” headquarters in the park. He has an infectious enthusiasm and spent 45 minutes doing dry-land training with my parents showing them how to balance on a board, the various paddle strokes, and what to do should they fall in. That latter lesson proved invaluable because no sooner did my father stand up on the board than he tumbled backwards into the water. I found myself sharing the advice he had given me as a youngster, saying things like, “Keep trying, you learn from your mistakes,” and “Practice makes perfect.” Despite this, and given the unseasonably cool temperatures, he elected to go ashore and dry off, so my mother and I were left to explore the bay and its small islands on our own for an hour. She too fell in near the end of the tour but laughed it off and said she was eagerly awaiting the night-time glow cruise. 

We had a few hours to kill until sundown so we went to the Oak Taphouse located in Duncan. “The Oak,” as locals affectionately call it, is a traditional Tudor-style pub that was built in 1980. Forty years later it was purchased by Lance and Liz Steward, the same couple who own Craig Street Brew Pub. It serves the same craft beer as that location, and, like our experience the day prior, the restaurant was absolutely hopping when we arrived. We didn’t want to drink before our nighttime paddle adventure so we ordered fish and chips and burgers before returning to Gordon Bay to watch Josh set up the glowing paddleboards. 

He attached four waterproof strips of LEDs to each board, explaining that each strip was 1,000 lumens so we’d have good visuals in the shallows. The lights were also bluetoothed to a remote he carried so he could change their colours from pink to green to red to blue. Next he put a waterproof speaker on his board, started a playlist that included tunes of the “music festival meditative” genre and then he embarked with my mother and I in tow. (My father elected to stay by the campfire and guard the cans of Red Arrow Elderflower Sour we had purchased for a post-paddle toast.) 

I have to admit when I first heard about the Glow Cruise Light and Sound Experience paddleboard tour I thought it was going to be gimmicky. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Paddling around the Gordon Bay islands on a cloud of fluorescent lights was incredible. The LEDs illuminated ghostly shapes in the shallows making a submerged tree look like a giant dinosaur skeleton and water plants look like they belong in a Dr. Suess book. At one point I scrambled onto a rocky island and watched my mother and Josh float through a narrow channel making trails of pink and green that danced to an ethereal soundtrack. It was beautiful.

All too soon the tour was over and we returned to my father and the campfire to toast Josh and a wonderfully unique experience. 

Later that evening, on the way back to the Temperance Hotel, my parents spoke of how much fun they had experiencing new forms of paddling and how enjoyable it was to get to know the Cowichan Valley better. My mother then talked excitedly about bringing her girlfriends back and revisiting the restaurants, the hotel, the farmer’s market, the sea kayaking and, most especially, the nighttime Glow Cruise. I listened sleepily in the backseat, trying hard to stay awake and keep up with their conversation, just as I had done when I was five years old.