Trip to Nanaimo to Campbell River; Powell River to Gibson’s
Just back from a whirlwind trip over to Vancouver Island and back via the Sunshine Coast. Ella took her first ferry trip (and then two more!) Nanaimo, our first stop, looked like a funky spot and was bigger than I imagined. It is set on a hill overlooking a port. It is only an hour and a half by ferry from Horseshoe Bay so we will go back for a longer stay.
Next, we drove north and the beaches at Parksville and Qualicum Beach look lovely. Parksville, in particular, is a favourite spot for retirees. We arrived in Courtenay in the dark and stayed overnight. A big treat was decent Chinese food (lacking in Squamish!)
I liked the Courtenay area which is in the Comox Valley. One could see the Coast Mountains in the distance across the Straight of Georgia rather than feel surrounded by them. The area was very much like parts of Ontario and Quebec.
On Sunday we went to see Comox which is a smaller community on the outskirts of Courtenay. Aside from the military base, it also houses the local airport. We then left and headed further north to Campbell River which is another "Salmon Fishing Capital". We didn’t fish but went to a salmon fish hatchery and drove around the area before heading back south of Courtenay to Fanny Bay to buy fresh oysters (and smoked salmon). I have never seen such large oysters. I was a piggy and bought the medium-sized container when I really should have just bought a small. I still have three or four oysters left as it is only possible to eat three at a time they are so huge (I’ll have to see if I can find out what kind they are). We then took the ferry from Comox to Powell River arriving there after dark.
We booked into a motel and it was only this morning that I realized we were right on the ocean where we were staying. We poked around Powell River then drove to Saltery Bay for another ferry ride to the Sechelt Peninsula. I really liked Sechelt. It has a great beach and a small downtown core. A real treat was Vietnammese fare for lunch. We then went to Gibson’s (of The Beachcombers fame) which reminded me of Lunenburg, NS for some reason.
Managed to get back to Squamish at around 6 pm. Ella will likely sleep for a few days to recover. I’m beat too. It is great to know that within a couple of hours one can be on Vancouver Island from here and expect that we will go visit fairly frequently.
