Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Brentwood College Magazine HE object of this trip was to obtain as much general geography of the main section of Vancouver Island as possible, and to have a good time along with it. When travelling by bicycle one sees at least three times as much as travelling in a motor car. Our equipment consisted of two English bicycles, fitted with gears, a small tent, sleeping bags, extra clothing and a number of small essentials, excluding food except butter, salt, pepper, and the like. By this we carried as little weight as possible. As it was our packs weighed 40 pounds each. We started on Friday, July 2nd, 1937. Our destination this day was Parksville, 100 miles distant, and although one of us felt a little backache at first, it gradually wore off. It was quite hard going the whole day and when we reached Parksville, having bought our supplies for the next three meals we felt worn out and ready for a good sleep. The next day we set out for Courtenay. To our disgust we struck a heavy shower of rain that morning. However it cleared up in the afternoon. Of course we had to make time, to arrive in Courtenay early enough to buy supplies for Sunday and Monday morning. W e camped on a tiny creek just outside Comox. The next day we went to the Elk Hotel to see Mr. Osier who invited us to stay to lunch and at length for the night. After lunch we went out to see H.M.C.S. Fraser. That night we had an immense dinner and then retired. We had had a wonderful rest and so we were quite ready for our next ride back to Parksville the following day. As we left the Hotel we got a fine view of Comox Glacier, which looked perfect on such a wonderful day. Past Royston the roads were rather poor but that did not seem to slow us up and we arrived at Parksville in mid-afternoon. We set out for Alberni the next day. Cameron Lake, which we passed on the way, is very dreary with high mountains on all sides. We passed on through Cathedral Grove, and the gravel roads were quite decent. Going up the Alberni hill we got a ride from a passing truck. Mount Arrowsmith was right beside us all the way up and it still had snow on its peak. We came down into Alberni at a terrific speed and after visiting Port Alberni we landed up at Sproat Lake. Here we got the keys to the house of a very kind relative. The day had been pretty hard so we turned in soon. The following day we made friends with our next door neighbors. Wo obtained a boat and set out to explore the lake. It is a marvellous place so we spent the next week having a wonderful time here. We lived in absolute luxury and did just as we liked. There was a store not far away so it wasn ' t much trouble to get our food. Page Eleven

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Brentwood College Magazine The Bygadsbys, a laughable take-off on life in the Indian Service, was done in a very finished style both as to costuming and artistry, by the repre- sentatives of Grade XII ; while the Prefects trial scene, in which they subtly disposed of Christopher Columbus and Guy Fawkes, provoked sustained applause. After the interval, a surprise number listed as Christmas bells, elicited much favourable comment. From behind the drawn curtain issued forth the air, and accompanying harmonies, of four well-known carols executed most cleverly on hand bells. We felt a little regretful that these capable bell- ringers should choose to keep their identity hidden ; however, we realized that the effect of the carols might have been lost if we had been able to see the bodily contortions, not to speak of the facial expressions, of the modest participants. The singing of the group of songs by the choir revealed a splendid spirit of co-operation. The attack was sure and the tonal effects quite pleasing. The assurance with which the group sang London Town and Come to the Fair clearly showed that everyone was thoroughly enjoying the effort. In contrasting mood, they rendered the plaintive negro spiritual Goin ' Home with care, and thought to time and colouring. The last item on the programme, under the heading of Christmas carols was entirely misleading. As in the past, we were quite prepared to assist the choir in singing the old favourites ; however, the scene which the curtain rose upon removed all desire for participation — the atmosphere had swiftly chang- ed. No longer were we assembled in a school gymnasium enjoying a twenti- eth century Christmas entertainment; instead, we had been cleverly trans- ported into the England of Wycliffe ' s time. Eight monks, singing 14th century Latin carols were seen slowly wending their way towards a series of steps that flanked the base of a closed cathedral door. As the final strains of the Ad Cantum were dispelled, we became aware of the Adeste Fideles being sung ever so faintly, by an invisible choir. Slowly the double doors of the Cathedral opened from the inside, and a surpliced choir of boys emerged from within, to take up their places on the stone steps which led up to the door. The grouping of the singing monks and choir-boys, in their contrasting habits, was such as to direct our attention to within the edifice where, in beautiful simplicity, a gold cross on a white altar could be seen in the background. As the final Venite Adoremus found its way from the scene we felt that here, for a brief time, we had recaptured the true spiritual significance of the Christmas message. Page Ten

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Brentwood College Magazine On Friday the 6th of July, we left Sproat Lake for Long Beach. We got up early that morning in order to catch the mail boat, Uchuck, which took us down to Ucluelet via Ecoole, Franklin River, Kildonan, and Bam- field, all of which are on the shores of beautiful Barkley Sound. Bamfield is the Cable Station which sends out and picks up Pacific cables. From Ucluelet we rode to Mr. X ' s place at Long Beach. From his house one could see the waves and the rocky points for it looks right out over the Pacific. A diesel engine supplies the electricity for lighting, heating and cooking. The house is absolutely up to date in every way and extremely comfortable. In the evening we walked along the beach and picked up four glass ball s which the Japanese fishermen use as net floats on that side of the Pacific. The next day we found four more glass balls and did various other thing.-. Last night we were kept awake by the sullen roar of the huge waves which came in everlastingly. We looked for sea palms but had no luck. These sea palms are the only sea vegetation that stand up at low tide when there is no water covering them. This is one of the few places in the world that they can be found. We rode up the beach for about three miles and could have gone much farther because it is twelve miles long, and at low tide it s between four and six hundrd yards wide. The next day we went back to Ucluelet after having stayed at a very fascinating place. On the way back to Alberni we went through one of the huge salmon canneries around here. That night we hit Sproat Lake at 10 -15. On Wednesday the 21st we started for home, after leaving the lake about 8 :30 a.m. We walked for miles and miles up the Alberni hill. We went up in roughly three hours and came down the other side in three minutes. We arrived at Parksville at 3 o ' clock and continued past Nanaimo and finallv camped about ten miles south of the latter on the banks of Haslam Creek, after an extremely hard day. We rose about twenty to four this morning (the sun rose at seventeen minutes to) and we were on the road by five. The morning air was cool which made it easy going. We passed through Ladysmith at 6 :30 a.m. and reached Duncan at 9 o ' clock. Both of us nearly killed ourselves catching the 10:30 ferry. We were so thirsty that we drank a whole tin of awful old canned milk. Thus ended one of the most enjoyable three weeks of any summer holiday. We greatly appreciated the kind way in which everybody treated us. Next summer we intend to make a similar trip to Kelowna. P. Holmes. M. Wilby Page Twelve