Taking Vancouver Island's "most beautiful shortcut"

If you're like our family, you've been to Victoria many times yet always trod a favorite, same-old tourist path. Our usual haunts include paying homage to Haida masks at the Provincial Museum, picking toffees from the bulging jars at the English Sweet Shop, raising our pinkies for a spot of tea at the Empress and, always, strolling through the Butchart Gardens.

We were nudged out of this pleasant rut when we stumbled upon a little-known ferry that makes what locals (or at least those in the tourist trade) claim as "the island's most beautiful shortcut."

The Brentwood-Mill Bay Ferry makes possible a loop drive pairing a visit to old favorite Butchart Gardens with striking out a bit into more adventurous territory: scenic Malahat drive and foodie heaven Cowichan Valley.

The ferry is key because, while both Butchart and the shores of south Cowichan Valley are only a few miles away as the crow flies, they're on opposite shores of Saanich Inlet. So those driving must dip down around the inlet and climb the steep Malahat stretch of the Trans Canada Highway.

Reaching a summit at 1,156 feet, the Malahat's turnouts afford spectacular vistas to the Gulf Islands, Mount Baker and the city of Victoria. The views make the 45-minute trip worth it, but it's a schlep to drive it to-and-fro.

That's where the ferry comes in handy. With room for 16 cars, this smallest vehicle-carrying ferry in the B.C. fleet is also the oldest passenger-vehicle saltwater ferry service in British Columbia (begun in 1924). Chugging the three nautical miles in 25 minutes across the inlet allows you to bypass Victoria and the Malahat.

The ferry landing at Brentwood Bay is a five-minute drive from Butchart Gardens. In fact, from an overlook at Butchart's Japanese garden, you can see the ferry route beyond the harbor where the Butcharts once moored their yacht.

Cross to Mill Bay, which is 26 miles north of Victoria, and you're in the midst of countryside that offers a host of local pleasures — farm-to-table restaurants, wineries, a cidery and more. Mill Bay is also home to the elite Brentwood College boarding school, which hosts an April regatta that brings 1,500 young rowers from Canada and the U.S. If you happen to be here then, it's an impressive sight: narrow shells slicing the waters while live bands play and boarding-school kids man food booths. Every room within miles is filled by months ahead, so plan accordingly.

This is B&B country. We enjoyed staying away from the highway, near the village of Shawnigan Lake (pop. 4,000), with its general store, tiny museum and a few shops and restaurants, including Steeples, one of the area's best. Housed in a former church, much of its food, wine and hard cider — in dishes such as Cowichan Valley sirloin steak with portobello mushrooms in roasted shallot demi-glace, $19, or apricot-glazed, apple-pancetta-stuffed Cowichan Valley pork loin, $18 — is grown or raised nearby (look for the neon-lit steeple at night). The village is close to Shawnigan Lake with its many small resorts and cabins; Merridale Cidery and its excellent bistro La Pommeraie (see accompanying story); and Shawnigan Lake School (another boarding school; very British around here, you know).

The loop drive can start at either end, but you're better off heading first up the Malahat, because the views are to the east and best seen from two turnouts accessible from the northbound highway.

In summer you may want to plan your course to end the evening viewing Butchart Gardens' night illuminations and concerts, and fireworks on Saturdays.

Carey Quan Gelernter is a Seattle Times editor; cgelernter@seattletimes.com.