Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/309330
18 w e s t w o r l d A l b e r t A | s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 (map) stesha ho, (bottom right) greg shea, (all other photos) shannon mendes T he carefree expression "We'll see where the wind blows" is popular among mariners. Here in the tight galley of the schooner Maple Leaf, the wind has blown the dinner conversation into racy territory – specifically a rambunctious debate about the dubious literary merits of the smash-trash hit Fifty Shades of Grey. I'm elbow-to-elbow with six women in the 60-plus age range, on a four-day exploration of the southern Gulf Islands. Such is the random nature of group travel that I find myself among these literar y mavens, afloat upon the Salish Sea, the sun filtering through mottled grey clouds and casting a metallic sheen upon the water. An hour ago we dropped anchor in Narvaez Bay on the east side of sparsely populated Saturna Island, much of which is now protected within the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. ough we're less than a three-hour sail from the burbs of Victoria and the amber glow of metro Vancouver, it feels as if we're a world away. Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is one of Canada's newest national parks, created in 2003. (bottom left to right) Maple Leaf naturalist Fiona Hamersley Chambers conducts a guided forest walk; rope coils adorn the deck; passengers relax in the ocean air. (top left to right) Mustard-and-rosemary- crusted rack of lamb whipped up by Maple Leaf chef James McKerricher; an abandoned homestead on Tumbo Island; a Tumbo-foraged morel mushroom. p14-25GulfSchooner.indd 18 14-04-29 9:14 AM