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Kanaka Bay is a great spot to pull your kayak onto the beach at a mid- to high tide. Or you can easily hike from the pavilion to the bay. Located a hundred metres or so inland from Kanaka Bay is an historic ventilation shaft apparently 390 feet deep. The remnants of coal mining are evident all over the island. I remember as a boy rowing to a beach facing Departure Bay and then exploring inland until we found a cliff face with two or three mine shaft entrances. Mines crossed to both Newcastle and Protection Islands from either the No. 1 mine in Nanaimo or Pimbury Point next to the BC ferries. The miners often knew the time of day by the reverberation of ship propellers in the mine shafts underneath the channel or harbour. Each ship had its unique schedule and vibrational sound. At one point it was suggested visitors could reach Newcastle via the Pimbury mine shaft, but fortunately it was only an idea. I recommend traveling by kayak, myself.
The pavilion on the south end of the island has been the stage point for many great dances and celebrations over the decades. The BC Coast Steamship Service bought and fixed up the pavilion in the 1930s. They built a spring-loaded dance floor, a soda fountain, picnic shelters and a bathhouse. The company even imported beavers and muskrats for wildlife viewing. The large open fields around the pavilion are fun for playing games, such as, Frisbee, or simply jump back in your kayak or canoe and have a playful day on the water. Nowadays, the spring-loaded floor is still there, but the soda fountain is a First Nations-run cafeteria.
On the west side or channel side of the island is the well-named Saltery Beach. The Japanese built four salteries, which were suspiciously destroyed in a 1912 fire. There was a demand at the time for salted pickled herring; much of the herring was shipped to Japan. If you beachcomb you might find some remnants from this period. People have been combing this beach for decades and found a number of interesting items.
The Snuneymux People or Nanaimo Band run the various businesses on the island. Before European settlement they were composed of five clans. Each clan represented by a chief. In the early 1800s they waged war against the Lekwiltok tribes of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation. They had battles at Kelsey Bay and the following year in Maple Bay (several Salish nations banded together to defeat the Lekwiltok). The Snuneymux wintered in Departure Bay (where there have been archeological digs) among other locations including the Nanaimo River. Herring used to spawn in the shallows between Newcastle and Protection Islands, providing a great staple food . They also collected cedar, hunted deer and gathered shellfish on the island. Nowadays, the herring and shellfish industries are seriously depleted.
If you have the time paddle around nearby Protection Island. It’s another adventure into history. In Lynn Bowen’s book Boss Whistle I read a story about a ship or steamer that was loaded with 1910 cases of powder in its hold and 1800 kegs of black powder on deck. It was anchored in Nanaimo harbour on January 15, 1913. The captain had departed the day before but was forced back by a gale force winter storm. The next morning, the captain cast off into a wall of heavy snow. Suddenly, they discovered a fire burning in the bunker coal and it couldn’t be extinguished. The crew abandoned ship, but in their haste lost their lifeboat. Desperate to get his men off, the captain drove the steamer onto the Protection Island shoreline. One crew member, who fled the boat, grabbed a woman and her two children who were watching the ship burn from the beach. They just reached the safety of a log or trees before the explosion destroyed the ship, the Protection Island pithead and coalmine wharves. In Nanaimo, a short distance away, a rush of air swept through the town blowing out windows, stampeding horses and buggies, and scaring the wits out of the town people.
Gallows Point on Protection Island hides a few stories. In 1852, a HBC shepherd was murdered in Saanich. The Governor, James Douglas, sent a ship and men to apprehend a chief’s son and a Cowhican tribe member. It took more resources and ships to finally catch and try the aboriginal men under English law. They were hung on Execution Point now known as Gallows Point. It’s really fun to paddle past the lighthouse and revere for a moment or two in local history. I would recommend Newcastle Island: A Place of Discovery by Bill Merilees to find out more about Newcastle Island. Or read Lynne Bowen’s Boss Whistle or Scottish-born Jan Peterson’s books on Nanaimo and area. There’s lots to do and see from exploring the Newcastle Island quarry to several different hikes.
