AN ELEGANT GARDEN PARTY AT ROWENA'S INN

Sometimes travel writers get a bonus. We work hard for our clients and by way of thanks we receive occasional invitations to their events. I received one for the end of July 2013.

Rowena's Inn on the River invites Julie H. Ferguson to their 

First Annual Garden Party on

Sunday, July 28, 2013.

11am to 3pm

Theme: The Great Gatsby

Of course, I accepted and rushed out to buy a hat! At the milliner's, I failed to stick to the 1920's theme because I'd long wanted a fascinator, but my dress turned out closer to the Gatsby ideal. 

The summer day was perfect as I drove out to Harrison Mills wondering vaguely if anyone else would dress up and wear a hat. I shouldn't have worried — this garden party was the real thing.

The two hundred plus guests had dressed to the nines, hats galore. Obviously everyone was thrilled to have an excuse to wear a hat—some had jewelled headbands and feathers, others sported wide brimmed-Ascot-style hats. But no-one wore a cloche. A vintage Rolls Royce Phantom, red and black, was parked on the lawn and attracted much attention. Flappers circulated with trays of flutes full of pink champagne; a band played soft jazz from the terrace, and a traditional afternoon tea was served in the inn.

I only knew a handful of the guests, but it didn't matter. Everyone was friendly as we mingled or relaxed around the pool on the banks of the Harrison River.

A couple danced divinely to the music of the era, but I didn't see them do a Charleston, which seemed a pity. They did teach two couples how to do a few moves, but the afternoon heat made everyone languorous.

Inside the inn, once the family home of the Pretty family, afternoon tea was laid out in the traditional way. We ate the dainty cucumber sandwiches and smoked salmon canapés in the living room or under the beach umbrellas on the terrace. There were scones with jam and clotted cream, and multi-coloured, tiny cakes too, and guests enjoyed cups of tea.

 Before I said my farewell thanks to Betty Anne (Pretty) Faulkner, the owner and host of the event, she kindly posed looking gorgeous for a few photos beside the Roller. 

The Rowena's Inn inaugural garden party had delighted me and provided everyone with a taste of a more gracious era when time seemed to move more slowly. And I kept expecting the queen to materialize...

I must extend my thanks to Betty Anne and her wonderful staff at the Pretty Estate Resort, which includes Rowena's Inn, the Sandpiper Golf Course, and the River's Edge restaurant, for the invitation. This classic garden party was not to be missed and now will be a annual fixture.

IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos (Julie H. Ferguson) 2013. All rights reserved.

A BUMPER CROP OF TRAVEL ARTICLES

Rowena's Inn at
Pretty Estates Resort

June 2013 brought me a bumper crop of articles published in print and online. Most flowed from travel in 2012, so long is the lead time with magazines these days. Today I'm finding that the time from pitch to publication is often 12-14 months.

I don't mind this, but my clients (hotels, tour companies and tourist boards) sometimes get impatient. All I can do is try to encourage the market to publish at a time that tourists are planning their vacations, rather than arriving at destinations.

Here are some of that harvest from 2012 :

A Convocation of Eagles: Bald Eagles Gather for a Salmon Feast on the West Coast of  British Columbia, online at Travel with a Challenge.

Extraordinary Encounters: Why I Travel, online at Europe Up Close and Business Travel Commentary, Reuters UK.

History Lives Here: Kilby Historic Site, print only in British Columbia History, Summer issue, available at http://bchistory.ca/publications/journal/index.html. (View the video here)

The Best Kept Secret in the Fraser Valley (Pretty Estates Resort— Rowena's Inn and Sandpiper Golf Course, etc), in print and online in Senior Living. (The video is below the article)

Exploring a Vancouver 'Hood, online at Day Trips Travel Guide.

Harrison River: Unknown and Unspoiled online at Travel Writers’ Tales, an independent travel writers syndicate, and in print and online in BC newspapers. (View the video here)

All images:  Photos by Pharos 2012-13

EAGLE WATCHING, HARRISON MILLS: DAY 3

Today turned out to be one of those highlights that I'll never, ever forget. I took a boat safari on the Harrison River to see the Bald Eagles that gather every fall to feed on the salmon carcasses that litter the waterway after spawning.

Eagles were everywhere: on beaches, gravel bars, and atop pilings. They roamed the log booms in Harrison Bay and the wetlands just east of Pretty Estate Resort. They filled the bare trees, soared in the sky, and bickered over one piece of salmon when there were dozens all around them. I heard them mew, whistle, cluck, and shriek, we got so close. I lost count after several hundred!

Earlier I had chipped the ice off my windshield before I drove to Kilby Historic Site where I met the boat from Fraser River Safari, the company leading the safari, and signed my waiver. The boat is ideal: large, with huge windows that open, and it's heated, which was a bonus. I was glad to be in my hiking boats as we crunched across the gravel and sand to reach the beach under the railway bridge where the boat was waiting.

Rob and Jo Anne Chadwick were a great team. Rob piloted the jet boat with skill and understanding of the many photographers aboard. Jo, his wife, did the commentary, and did it well. We learned about the river and its history, the local First Nations, the logging and fishing industries that began in the 1850s and still continue today. But she excelled with her knowledge of eagle habitat, migration south to feed, life cycle, and behaviours.

Fresh snow caked the mountain peaks and the sun highlighted them all morning.  The steel-grey river was higher than usual for December and was running fast, full of the pouring rain of the last few days. The light was not as bright as I hoped and photography was a huge challenge. To prevent camera shake and to stop the motion of the birds, I had to use a high ISO and a wide open aperture of f4.5, the widest I could get my long telephoto lens. Even then the fastest shutter speed was only 1/500th. Still it worked reasonably well, producing one decent shot in about seven, and one in ten that was great.

We saw the confluence of the Mighty Fraser and the Harrison River and then turned around and made our way up the Harrison as far as the rapids. Rob beached the boat on a gravelbar so we could see the remains of the salmon left by the eagles having eaten their fill. Gorged, would be a better word! They don't leave much behind for nature to decompose.

My three-day winter getaway deep in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia gave me a taste for the cycle of nature that has been occurring here from time immemorial, a touch of luxury at Rowena's Inn, and some gourmet food at the River's Edge. Highly recommended!

IMAGES: (c) Photos by Pharos 2012. All rights reserved

Related articles

• Winter Getaway With Bald Eagles
• With the Eagles Day 2

EAGLE WATCHING, HARRISON MILLS: DAY 2

Awoke to the rain pelting down and a leaden sky, but soon the sky was lightening and a wind blowing. I knew the weather would improve. Twenty-four eagles sat in my tree and others were feeding by the river.

My breakfast was delivered at 9am in a picnic hamper. I laid the table and opened it up. A pitcher of OJ, Eggs Benny, a cranberry muffin, fresh fruit salad, and a pot of coffee set me up as I watched the eagles breakfast too. I piled on my clothes, grabbed my camera and set out. 

The wind was bitter cold and strong, but the rain had stopped. Mountain peaks covered in fresh snow peeked from the clouds. I quickly discovered eagles are shy. The instant they heard my shutter fire, they were up and away. The light was poor, so I reset my camera to ISO 800 and put it on shutter priority at 1/500th or more so I could get the aperture as wide as possible. It worked.

Met Betty-Anne, the owner of Pretty Estate Resort, who took me on a tour to see the eagles from the best vantage points. At the flats to the east of the property, we walked through the wetlands stepping over salmon carcasses and watching the birds standing in the shallows, occasionally ripping bits off them. They're noisy birds - all kinds of calls - and they fight over choice bits of rotting fish. Saw the tree with the webcam on an eagle nest about 135 feet up - on David Hancock's site and in the spring we may see the eggs hatch and the eaglets.

A heavy rain shower forced us inside Rowena's Inn where the most delectable  traditional afternoon tea awaited us in the elegant living room. I felt a bit like royalty but for my old cords and hiking boots. A hot drink was welcome as I was frozen. Yes, we savoured cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off; also ones filled with chicken curry and smoked salmon. There were fresh-baked scones with jam and clotted cream and tiny pastries of all kinds. Flying in the face of tradition we both drank a glass of wine with our tea (!) as I asked questions about the history of Rowena's and the estate. Betty-Anne generously talked about her idyllic childhood here and how their family property was converted into the resort in the 1990s so everyone could enjoy it as they had for nearly 75 years. 

The sun came out and I was given a golf cart so I could return for more photos of the eagles. It was all too brief and the cold wind had me hurrying back, the smell of wood smoke from the cottages in the cold air. 

I lit my log fire as soon as I had stripped off my parka and sweaters, and then discovered another cheese plate in the fridge. Now I'm writing this up as dusk falls, rain splatters against my window, and I'm cosy and warm.







Images: Photos by Pharos 2012. All rights reserved

Related Articles:

• Eagle Watching, Harrison Mills: Day 3
• Winter Getaway With Bald Eagles

EAGLE WATCHING, HARRISON MILLS: DAY 1

All I can hear is the rain beating a tatoo on the roof of my private cottage and the log fire crackling as I type. The night has fallen on a monochrome landscape of dripping trees, brooding mountains, and a silent, steel-grey river sliding west to join the Mighty Fraser. 

Before dusk I counted fourteen Bald Eagles in a tree close by; twenty soared in the gloomy sky above; and one fed at the river's edge. 

I'm at Rowena's Inn on the River in Harrison Mills in December enjoying the peace and anticipating seeing thousands of eagles who congregate here in the fall. They come when food supplies dwindle and the cold bites in the north to feast on the remains of salmon that have spawned in the Harrison and Chehalis Rivers. Between five and seven thousand put on quite display here - more eagles in the fall than anywhere else in BC. It is only an hour and a half from Vancouver, but feels a world away.

First though, I find a cheese plate and a bottle of good BC wine in the fridge as I put my beer away to cool. The cheeses are local, made by Farmhouse Natural Cheeses in the Agassiz region. I bought some last May at the farm store and they make an excellent snack.

Looking east up Harrison River

Through two wide bay windows, views of the river and Mount Woodside shrouded in mist form the backdrop to the fairways of Sandpiper Golf Course and a small lake. Inside the decor of knotty pine and the floor to ceiling river rock fireplace forecasts cosy and comfortable evenings with a good book. The Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom will come in handy after bird-watching tomorrow in the rain, which the weather office predicts will last for my entire visit. But I'm prepared with good rain gear and a hat.

A gourmet breakfast is delivered to my door every morning to start my day and I look forward to enjoying it tomorrow at my table looking at the eagles before I get a tour of the property with the owner, Betty Anne. After this I shall be interviewing her for articles I'm planning while we have Afternoon Tea in the Inn. More on that tomorrow.

But tonight I brave the weather as I walk to the River's Edge resto for an early Christmas dinner. On my way, I can see only seven lights stretched out on the far river bank reminding me that we are close to the wilderness. I'm glad the bears are denned for the winter….

The resto was warm and cosy with a fun server, who is also the manager, and the Christmas decorations were tasteful and not overdone. My home-made soup was sweet roasted peppers and tomato bisque - so thick I could stand a spoon up in it. Delicious. Turkey was moist and tasty. Nice Pinot Gris to go with it. Loved chatting with the owner's husband originally from London before 1957. He is probably on the other side of 80 and has the most wonderful smile. I spent most of the time trying to make him laugh and grin. We reminisced and both decided we like Canada better, less expensive and less crowded.

Rowena's is a gorgeous place to stay even in the rain:  wildlife in abundance, far away from the madding crowd, unspoiled views, and history to keep me entranced.

Images: Photos by Pharos 2012. All rights reserved

Related articles:

• With the Eagles Day 2
• Eagle Watching, Harrison Mills: Day 3

PRETTY ESTATE RESORT

The first of several articles about my May 2012 visit to the Harrison-Agassiz region of British Columbia is published. It is the story of a wonderful day at the Pretty Estate Resort that is known for Rowena's Inn on the River, the River's Edge restaurant, and Sandpiper Golf Course.

"A Golf Getaway Deep in the Fraser Valley" can be read here at Day Trips Travel Guide.

© Photos by Pharos (Julie H. Ferguson) 2012