Village steers visitors in a relaxing direction

As the early evening sun angled sharply through the towering trees near the entrance to the Country Cupboard Cafe just west of Sooke, owner Jennie Vivian stopped our conversation about her cute chaletlike building and gestured toward the window behind me. The sunlight, she said, looked different somehow. To her the change in the light was the first sign of fall, regardless if the calendar indicated it was only late August.

After 10 years at the same location in the unincorporated berg of Shirley just west of Sooke, Vivian makes prognostications about the seasonal changes that usually are right on. In fact, they are about as right on as her tasty homemade cheesecake and clam chowder.

Besides the calendar and difference in the sunlight, other indicators such as fewer tourists and less traffic along the West Coast Road on Vancouver Island point to the transition as well.

With fewer visitors, late summer or early fall is an excellent time to visit the southwest shore of Vancouver Island. With any luck, maybe some of the warm weather we've experienced this summer will translate into balmy conditions clear into October.

Sooke is a small, mostly water-recreation-oriented village and harbor about a 40-minute drive west of Victoria on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It got its name from the T'Sou-ke First Nation people. The first white settlers arrived in the area in the mid-1800s. Further settlement was triggered by a moderate gold rush in 1864. The natural harbor, mild climate and extraordinary marine and timber resources made the region a popular destination for settlers over the years.

Today Sooke's population, hovering around 12,000, is divided among the village proper and three other areas along the West Coast Road (Highway 14) — Otter Point, Shirley and Jordan River. Sometimes the village of Port Renfrew at the end of the West Coast Road, about 50 miles west of Sooke, is included in the Sooke region designation.

Tourists are drawn to Sooke's pristine saltwater beaches, one of the many outdoor attractions of the area. JEFF LARSEN / SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Besides its close proximity to Victoria, Sooke is an easy hour drive from the Washington State Ferry terminal at Sidney, B.C., and just 10 or 15 minutes farther from the BC Ferry dock at Schwartz Bay. As always, if you are traveling by car from anywhere east of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state I recommend traveling to Vancouver Island via the Anacortes-to-Sidney Washington State Ferry. Customs clearance is a snap both directions, and the boat ride is the most scenic of all the routes.

Whale-watching, salmon-fishing charters, kayaking, golf, hiking trails, pristine saltwater beaches coupled with quality city parks and Canadian provincial campgrounds make Sooke a popular day trip from Victoria, as well as an overnight destination from the United States or other points east of Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

When it comes to accommodations, Sooke is different — very different, in fact. You just can't call central reservations for a major hotel chain such as Best Western and book a room in Sooke. There aren't any major (or minor, for that matter) hotel chains. But there are more than 80 bed-and-breakfasts in the area, along with several inns and resorts. Accommodations can range from the ultra-luxurious to a basic cabin on the beach. Prices range accordingly.

Ed and Val Durr thought they would open their Charm 'n' Sea bed-and-breakfast late enough in March last year to avoid any unpleasant weather. Almost freakishly, it snowed the day it opened. But as it turned out, the snowfall seemed to match up pretty well with the year-round Christmas theme the two designed for the elegant and tidy B&B.

The three rooms and common area are adorned with several hundred special Christmas ornaments and artifacts, many of which the two acquired during their extensive travels in Europe. A beautifully decorated Christmas tree is the centerpiece of the common area. A small sign near the main entrance reads, "0 days till Christmas."

The couple designed their large home, perched on a hillside overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Otter Point, as a bed-and-breakfast, rather than the conventional way of transforming an existing home into a B&B. All the rooms are elegantly appointed and quiet, with full bathrooms. Ed and Val handcrafted 36 Victorian-style lamp shades that are spread throughout the home. The ham and asparagus breakfast crepes that Val prepared were superb, and the covered, outdoor hot tub off the large common area helped soothe my weary writer's elbow. Beach access is just across the highway.

Close to Sooke is the popular recreation area called the Sooke Potholes, a series of deep pools carved out of rock formations by the erosive forces of the Sooke River. The pools are all public and function as swimming holes during the summer. JEFF LARSEN / SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Every three weeks, the restaurant at Point-No-Point Resort changes the four gourmet dinner entrees on its menu. What doesn't change is the spectacular view of the strait from each of the 11 tables at the quaint restaurant.

As we admired the view, waiter Colin Pickell told me that with any luck, diners can watch whales during each of the two dinner seatings, lunch or afternoon tea, using binoculars that are part of each table setting.

One evening Colin jokingly told a group of diners to keep an eye out — a pod of orcas was scheduled to swim by around 9 o'clock. To everyone's surprise, a pod showed up at 5 minutes to 9 and cruised past the restaurant. Tongue-in-cheek, he apologized for the pod's early arrival.

Besides the restaurant, Point-No-Point Resort, about 15 miles west of Sooke, has 25 cabins, all with kitchens, fireplaces and fabulous views. Some are more rustic than others, but no matter, each cabin gets a fresh daily supply of firewood delivered for free.

Sooke Harbour House owner Frederique Philip is just about as proud of the elegantly styled book she self-published this year ("The Art of Sooke Harbour House") as she is of the famed hotel itself. Besides photographs of the artwork, the book features a series of recipes inspired by the artwork that is so prominently featured in the 28-room hotel near Whiffen Spit in Sooke.

Born in France, Frederique and her husband, Sinclair Philip, who is a Canadian native, attend to every detail of the resort hotel and gourmet restaurant, lauded as one of the finest in Canada. Surrounding the hotel is almost two acres of herbs, vegetables and edible flowers, part of what helps amplify the restaurant's Pacific Northwest and Canadian cuisine.

All of the rooms' color schemes and furniture are inspired by the artwork and actually become part of the whole. It's like the room almost becomes the artwork. Spacious and unique, each room is flush with available light from large view windows and skylights — light that helps soften and blend the artwork with the rest of the furnishings.

To get a better feel for Sooke's harbor environment, I walked a portion of the part-man-made, part-natural milelong Whiffen Spit Park near Sooke Harbour House, almost to the end where you can look back and see just how protected the little harbor is from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It's a flat, pleasurable walk and late in the evening sea otters often frolic in the kelp beds just off shore.

Afterward I grabbed a local microbrew and an order of owner Neil Meija's famous halibut and chips in his own beer batter at Mulligans Bar and Grill that overlooks the 9-hole John Philips Golf Course. Other local restaurants that got raves while I was there were the 17 Mile House Pub, Mom's Cafe for a 1950s flavor, and the new Stone Pipe Landing.

Close to town is the popular recreation area called the Sooke Potholes, a series of deep pools carved out of rock formations by the erosion forces of the Sooke River as it cascades from the foothills and into the harbor. The pools are all public and function as swimming holes during the summer.

There's a popular campground at the end of the long and dusty road that runs along the river. The skeleton of a building that was built into the side of a canyon wall along the river stands as a testament to a failed resort project a number of years ago. Parking and campground fees are in effect year-round. In October, spawning salmon become the main attraction at the potholes.

CA wind surfer in the Strait of Juan De Fuca near Sooke, B.C., heads to shore. JEFF LARSEN / SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Because the Sooke region is so broad and diverse, I really needed several more days to see everything. I hiked the 20 minutes to the China Beach Day-use Provincial Park, but I missed places such as the Sooke Regional Park, the Sheringham Point Lighthouse and French Beach Provincial Park. I look forward to a return visit to explore Port Renfrew at the end of Highway 14, as well as several other beaches and parks in the region.

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