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Our Lady of Lourdes Indian Band Catholic Church – Sechelt
A simple church built of wood, Our Lady of Lourdes, was transported by barge to this spot on the waterfront on Shíshálh Nation lands in 1973 to replace an earlier building which had burned down. (iPhone6)
Woods and water are the central features of Canada’s Sunshine Coast.
This rugged, mountainous, landscape on the southern-mainland coast of British Columbia (BC) in Canada’s west is bounded by the Coast Mountains on one side and the Strait of Georgia on the other. Although it’s just a stone’s throw from Vancouver, no access roads have been built around the fjords or through the mountains, and the region is only accessibly by air or water. Most residents and visitors are dependent on the BC Ferries, which act as an extension of the local highway system.
Coniferous trees – especially Douglas fir and western red cedar – cover the steep slopes and have always been important to the life and livelihood of the people. The indigenous Coast Salish people built their longhouses and dugout canoes from the resilient and ubiquitous western red cedar. Much of their artwork was carved into and painted onto the beautiful local timbers.
The first European visitors explored the area from the waterways in the late 1790s (e.g.: José María Narváez, George Vancouver, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano & Cayetano Valdés), leaving their names on many of the local geographic features. The first European settlement didn’t happen for almost another century with the arrival of loggers, farmers, and fishermen.
Logging has always been important, developing into a broader timber industry in the early 1900s: most of Canada’s softwood comes from BC. Patches of brown, felled, land can be seen breaking up the forests of Douglas-fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, yellow cedar, juniper, yew, red alder, grand fir, mountain hemlock, broadleaf maple, sitka spruce, lodgepole pine, balsam fir, western white pine, white spruce, white birch, and black cottonwood trees that extend almost endlessly up the mountainsides to the snow caps. Smoke plumes rise up from the timber- and pulp-mills, meeting the clouds that frequently threaten coastal rains. Arbutus trees cling to rocky cliffs high above the rushing waterways; those waterways are made treacherous by the scattering of dangerous dead-heads – the almost-unseen stray logs that have escaped the long log-booms that drag far behind the sturdy tug boats that tow them.
The evidence of the importance of wood is everywhere.
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Wooden Boat – Gibsons
Whether in or out of the water, boats – of all shapes and sizes – are a feature of the West Coast. (iPhone6)
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Wooden Bench – Sechelt
Benches – donated in the names of loved ones – sit along the Boulevard on the Sechelt waterfront, overlooking Trail Bay. (iPhone6)
Watchful Totem – Sechelt
The northern-most West Coast Native tribes (the Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian) were the first to carve the cedar totem poles we are now used to seeing. Through cultural exchange, this art form spread across the whole region. This particular watchful face looks to the waters west of Shishalh tribal lands in Sechelt. (iPhone6)
A “Fixer-Upper” – Earl’s Cove
Even wood as resilient to the elements as western red cedar (Thuja plicata) can end up mossy in the damp shadows and weathered by time. (iPhone6)
BC Ferry – Earl’s Cove
The mountains are high, the rivers are wide, and the forest is thick: if you want to drive, car ferries are the only way to access the Sunshine Coast roads. (iPhone6)
“Welcome to the Heart of Powell River”
Powell River is the site of Western Canada’s first pulp mill, built in 1908. The pre-planned model company town was started in 1910. In 1995, the township and the 400+ original buildings that remained within the boundaries were designated as a National Historic District of Canada.
Rodmay Heritage Hotel
Built in 1911 as the Powell River Hotel, the Rodmay was the first commercial building in the old township.
Postmaster’s House
One of the first buildings in the township was the former home of the local doctor – build in 1910 to replace the earlier tented accommodation. The Postmaster’s House followed soon after. A typical Craftsman Style house built in 1912 of cedar shakes and shingles, it is now a private home.
Dwight Hall
The community centre, built in 1927, is still home to community activities.
Patricia Theatre
Once housed in an older building (1913), the Patricia Theatre (1928) is the oldest, continuously running cinema and vaudeville business in Canada.
Federal Building
The 1939 building that was once the site of the Post Office, the Customs and Excise services, and the Canadian Telegraph operations, has been re-purposed to house the local craft brewery.
Cedar
The trees in the gardens, …
Cherries
… and those lining the streets, are lovingly cared for.
Japanese Maple
Even plants that are not indigenous …
Honeysuckle
… do well in this wet and temperate climate.
The Old Courthouse Inn
The Provincial Building (1939) once housed the local police, forestry services, and other provincial government services.
Old Lamp
The interior of the old Provincial Building has been lovingly refitted and filled with antiques (iPhone6) …
The Sheriff’s Office
… and operates as a charming boutique hotel: The Old Courthouse Inn.
Derelict
The wet weather takes its toll, and not all of the buildings have kept up.
Arbutus Apartments
Build as the Oceanview Apartments in 1916 for married employees without children, the beautifully maintained Arbutus Apartments remind us again that the whole raison d’être for the township …
Mill Smoke and Roof Work
… was the mill, which as Catalyst Paper Mill, still operates. In its glory-days, the paper produced here supplied 25 newspaper outlets. In the foreground, you can see a carpenter working on the eaves of St Luke’s Hospital, originally built in 1913 by Dr Henderson.
While wood, and timber products, are still important to the livelihood of the Sunshine Coast, the area is reinventing itself as a centre for recreation, tourism, and retirement living. The forests still play a major role: providing a beautifully aesthetic backdrop, places to walk and sit, pulp for specialised papers, timber-products for modern building, and beautifully grained woods for homewares and artworks.
And, of course, plenty of fresh air. 
‘Till next time,
Happy Travels!
