Squamish comes to a stand-still several times a day as those long, 150-car freight trains snake through the downtown district at 30 km/h. Whistler is startled by the whistle and Pemberton-Whistler commuters keep track of the time and boot it home to try and cross the tracks before the train adds minutes to their journey.
But apart from the tracks cutting through our consciousness the train-society is largely ignored, even though a whole community travels through the corridor daily and lives out its life in co-existence with us. They are engineers, conductors, bridge and track maintenance workers, stock pushers as well as stewards and servers.
These people are seeing our communities from a completely different perspective as they follow their path through the valleys. Generally speaking trains have a pretty bad reputation for attracting some of the more “Anorak”-focused trainspotter types of the world.
The Digital Detox yoga weekend in the picturesque English countryside was a bit of a sham on my part. Despite promising to turn off my phone I kept skulking upstairs past lounging Millennials to check and see if my kids had texted or Facetimed, which morphed into looking at Twitter, which then morphed into reading articles about “Why we need to tune off and drop out” … or something. But I can’t say I was completely unaffected by by nature during the yoga retreat at Oxfordshire’s shabby chic manor Braziers Park. In fact something struck me hard in the middle of the night.
It was a painting of mountains that fell on my head at 3:30 am.
Ironic poltergeists aside, Braziers Park is an inspired background for a yoga retreat with Nova Milesko 1. The daily trials and tribulations of running a communal house and “integrated learning centre” provided fascinating colour. I don’t know if you’ve seen that interactive play Tony and Tina’s wedding but the gist is you are a wedding guest and the storyline spins out around you. It felt like a low-key version of that.
Yoga stage set
I’m sure the set of Braziers Park is no stranger to drama. During the welcome speech our resident host urged us to do our own washing up, be careful what we flush and note that the western patio is a terrible place for a private conversation as you can be easily overheard. I love that he had to mention this as one of three items in the welcome speech. It must have been a lesson learned the hard way … more that once.
The house is a communal endeavour that sees a mix of residents and volunteers taking on the running of the estate. As the website puts it:
“Braziers is a conscious experiment in living together. It was founded to explore how a group could develop more harmonious relationships and more effective group structures.”
The gothic stone building dates back to 1688 and remained an aristocratic setting until it became the commune and school it is today in the 1950s. Apparently along with playing host to many artists and writers over the years Marianne Faithful brought Mick Jagger there in 1967 declaring it to be “mixture of high utopian thoughts and randy sex.” I saw neither but, really, watching for one weekend is no way to form binding opinions or make sweeping statements.
No randy sex a la Marianne Faithfull currently taking place during break in yoga and meditation
I’m sure the daily life of Braziers Park has all manner of time to experience both as the community hosts courses, retreats, weddings and seminars; providing the food, accommodations and grounds for events like the Supernormal Festival, Sweat Lodge, Utopias Seminar along with introductions to game theory and permaculture. They also provide a few authentic individuals or damn fine character actors dressed from the BBC sitcom closet of 1975.
The promise of an intact commune seems to draw in interesting old guard characters along with a number of international bright young things passing through. One of the full time residents Hugh 2 says he came to Braziers after a Cornwall-based commune imploded under the weight of personality conflicts. Braziers is still going strong well into its 60th year so they must have figured out a formula for getting along.
One of my favourite edicts from a paper list of suggestions on harmonious living pinned to the cork board outside the kitchen suggested that if you are feeling cross it would be best not to take on any jobs unless they are mechanized.
That’s ideal advice. You would never find yourself fighting tooth and nail with venetian blinds if you had the wherewithal to recognize “now is not going to be a good time for a fiddly project.”
Residents wearing clothes
The course kept us busy and exhausted but food was always on hand at the end of each class, even if we did overhear at a meeting that someone one had forgotten to start the oatmeal that morning. It was dealt with so kindly.
“This is no ones fault, we are all over worked.”
It seems with a run of weddings and other events the community has become worn bare, a victim of its own success. But in actual fact the oatmeal was still delicious, the food was great and they managed to make a delicious, vegetarian, organic, gluten-free Sunday lunch that didn’t look like sick which should lead anyone anywhere to basically mic drop and rest on their laurels.
I hope after their guests left and the curtains closed they got back to nature, utopian or otherwise and found their harmonious balance … and sturdy picture hanging nails.
1 Full disclosure we are talking about my sister here so really anything I say is unreliable and open to scrutiny! But it was still awesome and you should go!
2 Hugh was dressed under duress in deference to the visitors. As an adult child of hippies I am more than familiar with the naked male hippie body and as beautiful as we all are I was super grateful he remained clothed, even if that did hinder his spirit a little. I also wish him luck in growing a sustainable roof on his A-frame cottage on the grounds, even by alpine standards that seems a very steep pitch.
I used to have a terrible fear of whitewater sports but didn’t think twice about climbing aboard a bright blue raft to join Dave Stibbe on a new rafting adventure down the Ottawa River.
As our group pushed off from the banks of Britannia Beach on a recent sunny day, he promises of a non-flip trip was soothing music to my ears.
Stibbe of Wilderness Tours Ottawa City Adventures, which officially opens Saturday, is bringing whitewater rafting to the heart of the capital. The two-and-a-half hour trip takes in the Deschênes, Remic and Little Chaudière rapids and includes body surfing, hanging off a bridge and cliff jumping by Seagull Island. My adventure took place during a soft opening while Stibbe and his team were ironing out any minor details. One thing that didn’t need any improvement was the sheer privilege of viewing the river from the water. Not many of us can attest to running rapids unless you are a whitewater paddler.
Joe Kowalski, owner of the venerable Wilderness Tours, says he brushed off the idea of urban rafting 25 years ago because he felt the river rolling through the city wasn’t exciting enough for high adventure rafting. But fast forward to today and with operating partner Stibbe, the duo decided it was worth navigating the course of red tape with the City of Ottawa for two years to bring the rafting experience to Ottawa’s landscape.
Wilderness Tours Ottawa City Adventures officially launches June 28. The three-hour trip leaves from the Britannia Beach area and takes in the sights and sounds along the Ottawa River past historic landmarks and down three rapids. Rafters are invited to paddle along with experience guides or relax and enjoy the ride.David Jackson / ExploreDavidJackson.com
But hang on, why isn’t this considered high adventure? Just this spring two lives have been lost and each year there are numerous requests for assistance from boaters caught up along this stretch of the river, particularly around the rapids.
Stibbe says it’s a matter of understanding the water, currents and rapids. This section of the Ottawa River rates between two and three out of five on the scale that measures rapids. He says the danger lies near the shore and in the site of the old Hydro ruins on the Quebec side. Guides can also steer the boat toward calmer or more turbulent waters depending on the level of fear versus adrenalin in the boat.
“We have extensive training and industry-leading safety protocols and can read the water,” says Stibbe. “That’s why I promise a no-flip trip. In these rafts it’s basically like driving a Mack Truck down a dirt road.”
Kowalski says taking on the Ottawa River without knowledge is like getting into a plane with someone who doesn’t know how to fly.
I had tried to tackle my fear of fast swirling water years ago with a course at Wilderness Tours and it worked wonders. On this trip, I was keen to appreciate a moderate journey down the picturesque Ottawa River. I wondered if this is what Champlain saw when he viewed the river four centuries ago. Dressed in helmets and lifejackets, we were invited to paddle along or just kick back and enjoy the pretty views. There was plenty of time for instruction before being drawn into the first set of rapids. The river is a kilometre wide in some areas and the sheer amount of space while floating down the centre, is breathtaking.
Stibbe’s tour offers a snapshot of Ottawa’s colourful past, its flora and fauna, the history of logging and some celebrity house-spotting. With electronic devices safely stored away in a waterproof barrel, social media is put on the back burner as the rafters soaked in the elements for the duration of the trip.
Wilderness Tours Ottawa City Adventures officially launches June 28. Rafters of all ages (six to over 65) can paddle or relax while enjoys views of the city from the water, take a swim and listen to guides recount some of the rich history of the nation’s capital.David Jackson
The Parliament Buildings frame the final vistas and as we bump up against the shore by Lemieux Island the no-flip trip does seem to have everything going for it, an experience for tourists, a new perspective for city dwellers and a face full of waves for the kids if they sit in the front.
Wilderness Tours Ottawa City Adventure
What: Rafting trips depart four times daily: 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., from Britannia Beach at Ron Kolbus Centre. Rafts are taken out at Lemieux Island with a return trip to Britannia by shuttle bus. All ages (six to 65 and over), rafters must weigh at least 50 pounds.
Price: $49 for adults and $39 for children, six to 13.
oonawoods 