French Beach on the Salish Sea
After our last camping trip at Gordon Bay was shortened because of an impending storm, we wondered whether to keep our reservation for the following weekend at French Beach. However, the weather was improving and we decided to go ahead as planned.
We hadn’t been to French Beach Provincial Park before and wanted to check it out. Our goal this year is to travel to new places and explore the area; so we packed all our camping gear in the car again and headed out.
French Beach is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island along the shores of Juan de Fuca Strait. This is the outlet for the Salish Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
You may be wondering how these names came about. We have French, Spanish and indigenous native names all in this one area. Here are the stories.
The strait was named in 1787 in honour of Juan de Fuca, the Greek navigator who sailed in a Spanish expedition in 1592 to seek the fabled Strait of Anián which later turned out to be the Bering Strait. The international boundary between Canada and the US runs down the middle of Juan de Fuca Strait.
The Salish Sea runs along the coast of Washington State and British Columbia, and includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound and Georgia Strait. It extends from the southern tip of Vancouver Island to about two-thirds of its length to the north.
The name Salish refers to the language of the First Nations groups that originally occupied the area. It pays respect to the Coast Salish, the indigenous people who lived in connection with the sea long before western settlers arrived.
In July 2010, First Nations and government leaders gathered in British Columbia to officially adopt the name Salish Sea. B.C. Lt.-Gov. Steven Point, himself of aboriginal descent, attended the naming ceremony.
Coast Salish peoples have traversed these waters for thousands of years, and this name pays homage to our collective history. Today’s celebration reflects the growing unerstanding and appreciation of our cultures. It is another step in the bridge of reconciliation.
British Columbia Lt.-Governor Steven Point, July 2010
As for French Beach, it takes its name from pioneer and naturalist, James French, who journeyed for two adventurous years from New Brunswick to Victoria in the late 1800s. His occupation was to travel the world bringing exotic animals to zoos for the entertainment and enjoyment of the public. It seems that his explorations brought him to western Canada where he fell in love with the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.
James French eventually settled on a large section of land west of Sooke in 1885, and in 1974, his home and favourite beach became French Beach Provincial Park. He had hoped that a large section of the west coast of Vancouver Island would be made into a provincial park. In 1994, the establishment of Juan de Fuca Park helped fulfill this dream.
It was a sunny morning when we began our trip to French Beach, for which we were very grateful after the rainy weather we had been experiencing this spring. It was still May and we were probably challenging the weather gods by camping so early this year, but we were determined to get out there!
We couldn’t check into the park until 1 pm. So we stopped at a wonderful little restaurant called Stickleback near Sooke for lunch and what a find it was! The veggie burger with yam fries and salad was scrumptious. You can judge our reaction by our happy faces.
Once at the park we set up our camp. By now we were getting very experienced at this, and in record time, we were ready to make our next meal and enjoy the evening by the fire.
However, there was one wrinkle in our plans. We had been forewarned by friends who had travelled in this area, but we weren’t really sure what we would find. We soon found out they were right. There is very poor cell reception along this section of the coast. In fact, worse than poor reception – you are roaming, picking up service from across the channel in the US!!!
You might ask why we needed cell reception when we were on vacation. Shouldn’t we just turn the devices off and tune out? Enjoy nature? Well, there were two main reasons – although I am sure we could find a few more! 🙂
David needed to stay in touch via computer with a project he was working on. You can see him intently examining his computer in this photo. But the most important reason was that I wanted to write my blog posts. What better reason could there be?
So what was our solution? I had to sign up for a roaming package on my cell plan, and then we used my phone as a hotspot to get an internet connection for our devices. Unfortunately, the speed of the connection was very slow which meant it was impossible for me to do any writing on my tablet – which is why you are getting this post a month late.
Stay tuned for more about our French Beach weekend which will arrive just as soon as I get it finished!
