Guided paddle tour is a fun -- and fitting -- way to explore Victoria

VICTORIA, B.C. -- We glide past a great blue heron, which stands regally motionless on a tidal rock less than 10 feet away. A few moments later a harbor seal pops his head up and studies us with great, brown, limpid eyes. Meanwhile, cormorants call overheard as they struggle to take flight.

It's hard to believe we are just off downtown Victoria. But a few hundred yards from the city's Inner Harbour, the pleasures that come from a near-wilderness experience abound -- if you are in an ocean kayak.

Recently my husband, two daughters and I spent a glorious March afternoon exploring Victoria by paddling down the Gorge Waterway, which winds its way from the Inner Harbour to an idyllic bay three miles inland.

We don't own kayaks, so we rented two singles and a double from Ocean River Sports, Victoria's premier kayak outlet, nestled between Value Village and historic Capital Iron. It's on Store Street, by Victoria's waterfront, just north of Chinatown and mere minutes from the downtown core.

My 13- and 11-year-old girls have kayaked a few times before, but being a cautious mom, I opted for the 2 1/2-hour guided tour. Not only would the presence of an experienced guide enhance our safety should one of us unexpectedly dump, but we'd pick up interesting tidbits about the history of this vibrant water route that has figured so significantly in Victoria's past.

Ocean River guide Gary Allen didn't disappoint. In his early 50s and exuding a calm, reassuring presence, Gary not only gave us safety tips and helped refine my daughters' paddling styles, he also kept us entertained with historical stories and natural-history trivia as we paddled from the busy, industrial core of the Inner Harbour down the strip of serenity that is the Gorge.

First stop, the Inner Harbour, which buzzes with sea traffic. Float planes constantly land and take off and the small harbor ferries shuttle from shore to shore. The Coho ferry to Port Angeles needs almost the entire harbor to make its turn to head out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. During weekdays, the bang and clang of working shipyards and a metal recycling plant in the Rock Bay section of the harbor create a steady din that's not heard on weekends.

We hug the shoreline and don't spend too much time in the Inner Harbour, just enough to get a photo of us with the copper-roofed BC Parliament buildings in the background.

John Yanyshyn / Special to the P-I

Writer Anne Mullens, left, and daughter Kate Baldrey paddle under a bridge over Victoria's Gorge Waterway.

After a few minutes of paddling, we are in the peaceful and serene Gorge, a narrow, winding tidal inlet that in some places is less than a hundred feet wide. The only sounds are birdcalls and dipping paddles. We pass parks and stately old houses. A few of the tiny harbor ferries chug up alongside, giving tourists a scenic tour of the waterway.

Paddling along the Gorge is a Victoria activity you can do yearlong. Ocean River rents kayaks 362 days a year (closed on Christmas, New Year's and Remembrance Day, the Canadian equivalent of Veterans Day). But no matter the time of year, be prepared for changeable, cool weather.

Before we rented, Ocean River gave us a helpful tip, especially for my younger daughter and me, who often suffer stiff, cold fingers: wear rubber dishwashing gloves to keep the wet and wind off our hands. The tip works. Despite being early March, we are toasty warm and our vibrant-pink gloves flash as we paddle.

Guide Allen is a lifelong resident of Victoria and he points out landmarks along the way, such as ancient aboriginal middens, equivalent to shell-infused garbage dumps, and an old burial ground.

"This used to be called Deadman's Island," he says, as we survey a small rocky island. Up until the late 1880s, the local aboriginals used it as a funeral site, where they placed the newly deceased in the tree branches of the island. Gary tells us as we paddle around it: "Some kids came here one night in the 1880s and burnt it down to nothing." For years the perpetrators were unknown, until one, in a fit of guilt, finally confessed.

We pass Point Ellice, scene of a horrific disaster in 1896. An old wooden bridge used to span the narrows here. During the May celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday that year, the bridge collapsed under the weight of a streetcar packed with revelers. Although hundreds were plucked from the water by nearby boaters, 55 people died, crushed by the falling timbers of the bridge. It still ranks as the worst disaster in Victoria and the worst streetcar disaster in North America.

John Yanyshyn / Special to the P-I

A Victoria Harbor Ferry, also a scenic way to experience Victoria's waters, putters past kayakers on the Gorge Waterway.

Just beyond the steel span that replaces the old bridge is Point Ellice House, a historic home preserved in 1890s glory. In summer, it is a favorite Victoria tourist destination, especially for its high tea and croquet on its expansive lawn that slopes down to the Gorge Waterway.

No tea for us today, however. We paddle leisurely up the Gorge. There are lovely homes to look at, some great old boats, and herons and cormorants perched on trees and rocks. We pass by the concrete foundations of a former high-diving competition site that was a Gorge highlight from the 1890s to the 1920s.

It is hard to believe that swimming races, diving championships and regattas were a constant presence in the Gorge up until about the 1940s. Then industry made the waters too polluted for swimmers. Over the past decade, however, a conscious effort at cleanup and controlling polluters has made the Gorge swimmable once again. However, high-diving competitions remain dormant. Gary tells us the last diving contest ended in the 1920s when one of the contestants severed his spine after hitting a rock and later died of his injuries.

Taking in the layers of history, we paddle for about 45 minutes until we arrive at the actual "Gorge." It's a rocky narrows less than 20 feet wide, spanned by the Tillicum Road Bridge. During tidal flows, it becomes a raging current and "reversing falls." So much tidal water must squeeze through the narrow passage that water elevation can differ by 3 feet or more.

John Yanyshyn / Special to the P-I

Cormorants perched on a channel marker eye Anne Mullens as she bobs off the Selkirk waterfront, a newly developed area that once was the site of a large sawmill. Gliding about in a sea kayak also may yield up-close views of harbor seals, great blue herons and other marine wildlife.

When we arrive, water is flowing rapidly out with about a 2-foot difference in elevation. It is too dangerous to try to navigate through to get to the inlet beyond it and the historic Craigflower Farm, one of the first white settlements on Vancouver Island.

Instead, Gary shows us how to safely play in the current. My 13-year-old, Kate, likens it to a carnival ride. We paddle up as close as we can get to the tidal outflow, turn our kayaks till they catch the current, then ride it out. After five or six rides, we finally stop, despite Kate's protestations. The sun is sinking lower and it is time to head back. The tidal current makes our paddle home less taxing.

As we exit the green expanse of the Gorge, the city looms before us, an urban picture of concrete, glass and steel. But we feel as if we've had a refreshing escape into a historical world. We welcome the city before us, like time travelers arriving home.

If you go

Ocean River Sports -- 1824 Store St.; 250-381-4233 or 800-909-4233; www.oceanriver.com The company's 2 1/2-hour guided historical tours of the Inner Harbour and Gorge Waterway are at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily. Cost is $59 per person. Without a guide, kayaks can be rented for $25 an hour for a single, $35 for a double.

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