Oak Bay carves its own identity from Victoria

Isabel Nanton
Vancouver Sun; CanWest News Service

December 22, 2004

OAK BAY, B.C. - Midway through the last century, some tiny immigrants flew in from sunny California to settle on southern Vancouver Island. Since then, revelling in the semi-Mediterranean climate of their new home, they have opted to live year-round on these mild Pacific shores.

So when, on a recent island getaway in the Oak Bay district in Victoria, I spotted several of these Anna's hummingbirds, still perkily blossom-feeding while preparing to set up their breeding territory -- which they do from November to January, laying their first clutch of eggs in early February -- I was reminded that these savvy birds had selected one of Canada's most livable climates as their base.

And southern Vancouver Island must, I figure, remind them of their Californian roots, while Oak Bay, specifically, reminds me of Carmel.

Both communities are enfolded by an aquamarine Pacific Ocean, stippled offshore by unusual islands, have golf courses with heart-stopping views, plus parks, art galleries and good food. And both have resisted overt commercialization.

Until recently, Oak Bay boasted no fast-food outlets, and it still, locals assured us, contains no gas stations within its boundaries.

This is home to cyclists, pedestrians and kayakers and, though there was a time when folk joked that the bay was still a far-flung outpost of the former British Empire, concealed behind a "Tweed Curtain," we found that the availability of all this outdoor activity makes it quite a lively place.

Granted, the district's architecture and exquisite gardens still echo English design, but Oak Bay has segued smoothly into the 21st century, a place, for example, where, as an alternative to afternoon tea, you can get fresh sushi at the marina.

On our getaway, we fuelled up on a substantial cooked breakfast at the Oak Bay Guest House before cycling out to admire the greens of the Royal Victoria Golf Course, silhouetted against Washington state's Olympic Mountains.

At Cattle Point Park, we encountered Oak Bay-based artist Ted Harrison walking his dog before we wheeled off for an ice cream at Willows Beach and, later, a leisurely pint at the Snug Pub in the Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

A stroll in Oak Bay village found us taking advantage of the mild climate to sit on the patio of Otavio's Italian Bakery, after which we browsed through the Avenue Gallery and Side Street Studio -- representing the work of some 175 B.C. artists.

Home brews and fish and chips were consumed at the Penny Farthing Pub before we popped into the Blethering Place Tea Room for "blether" (wandering gossip).

Kiwi native Ken Agate, who has for 22 years owned and run this Oak Bay landmark, agrees that his place is a magnet for folk craving nostalgia. Boxes of English "sweets," blancmange, tea cosies, dolls and tins of "mushy peas" line the shelves behind the lace curtains -- recalling commodities sold in Britain after the Second World War, when the country was finally throwing off the constraints of food rationing.

But what Agate offers in tandem with the nostalgia is a local gathering place where, as he puts it, "customers from every walk of life feel permission to be themselves." Kids do homework alongside war veterans. The spandex aerobic crowd sip coffee beside a men's church group.