Wells & Barkerville

Quina, Erin (Quina's longtime friend and our district colleague) & I left one day early and made the road trip up to Wells, BC on July 5th (many thanks to Erin who drove!). There was much chatting, eager anticipation, excited stories, stops for Subway & DQ and plenty of small towns to see along the highway. We drove through Hope, Yale, Boston Bar, Lytton, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Quesnel before arriving in the very small district of Wells. We had booked a room at The Wells Hotel for the night.

Once arrived, we settled in and had some dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was fairly decent. Then we walked about town. It definitely had a small-town feel. There were a few local art installations, interesting bits here and there, and some lovely flowers around. But mostly, it was devoid of all activity. It was pretty dead. It's not even a town, really, it's a district. I gather that it's not big enough to be a town.

The next morning after breakfast we headed to Barkerville! Seeing that Barkerville is so close to the Bowron Lakes Provincial Campground (the start of our circuit), we wanted to go a day early and spend it there. I had never been before, and I think Erin and/or Quina had only been when they were little. We also agreed that it was better seen before the canoe trip, and not afterwards, when we were likely to want to just get home.

As soon as you step foot into Barkerville, you're transported back in time. There are actors ready to greet & educate you, shops to peruse, and presentations to see. We made our way up the main concourse, stopping in almost all of the restored buildings. We watched a presentation on etiquette, Quina & Erin dressed up for an old-time photo, I panned for gold, we had ice cream, we sat in the Richfield courtroom (of Judge Begbie fame) and listened to the actors thunder away, we took many photos, and we even attended school.

Ah, yes. School. The three of us being teachers, we were very interested in attending the Barkerville school. 30 adults and kids jammed their selves into the one-room schoolhouse and awaited the lessons of the day. The teacher was very strict, and put up with no nonsense of any kind; she even shooed away adults who were looking in through the windows. First, all ladies & girls were made to wear bonnets. Then, there was a health and cleanliness inspection (hair & fingernails). Then we practiced some handwriting and learned the differences between animal, mineral and plant. We finished our lessons with another "fun" etiquette activity (one which I was called to the front to demonstrate).

Ironically, upon leaving the schoolhouse, I ran into a highschool friend, Laura, who I had not seen in years. How small the world is!

Once we were done in Barkerville for the day, we headed out to the parking lot only to run into Doug & Ed, two of our canoe trip colleagues. We made a plan to meet back at the Wells Hotel for dinner, before we all had to make our way to the campground for our first night. Before dinner though, we made one last stop to the Barkerville graveyard, which was somber and lovely.

Civilization was soon to be left behind, however...



Photos here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvvJBjQ