Qualicum Beach
Qualicum Beach is both a beach and a town. The road from Parksville follows the coast and in Qualicum it is very close to the beach. An exit just before the beach heads inland to the town and shopping area. Read More …
Author: Louise
Researching 9 Lives – Parksville Fun
This was a goofy day. We started with brunch at a funky little restaurant on a side street called Honey and Oats. It looked like it was probably a storefront at some point, but now it had five tables for Read More …
Researching 9 Lives – Lazy Day
After the last two busy days, a lazy day at the beach was in order. My cousin Ann came to join us for a visit and after a late night, we rose late, then sat chattering until early afternoon. The Read More …
Goats on the Roof
Long ago, way back in the last century when I first started coming to the Rathtrevor / Parksville area I visited Coombs. Back then the store that had the goats living on the roof was simply the Coombs general store. Read More …
Cathedral Grove
Cathedral Grove is a stand of Douglas Fir and Red Cedar trees that are estimated to be from 350 to 800 years old. While many of the trees are enormous and obviously very ancient, it is also a living forest. Read More …
Researching 9 Lives – Cathedral Grove and Coombs
Today we went to two popular sites in the area, Goats on the Roof and Cathedral Grove. The two locations couldn’t be more different. Cathedral Grove is a protected enclave of old growth forest on the road to Port Alberni, Read More …
Pacific Rim and Tofino Ideas
Whenever we stay in Parksville, we always include a visit out to to the Island’s west coast. The beaches of Pacific Rim National Park are beautiful, unspoiled, and I’ve never seen them over crowded, even in mid-summer. Of course I Read More …
Favourite Pacific Rim Pictures
Pacific Rim and the beaches of Vancouver Island’s west coast are so beautiful that I took dozens of pictures. Here are some of my favourites. Fog and driftwood near the shoreline at Wickaninnish Beach Optimists? Long Beach looking south toward Read More …
Researching 9 Lives – Pacific Rim and Tofino
We took a day to drive out to Long Beach in Pacific Rim National Park. It is about 150 kilometres or a 2 hour drive from Parksville. The road winds through the mountains, but the first half, to Port Alberni, Read More …
Researching 9 Lives – Day 5
A lovely, sunny, and hot day—and a lazy Rathtrevor Beach day. High tide occurred in the morning, which meant deep water…or not. The water rarely gets really deep at Rathtrevor, which is what makes it such a great kids beach. Read More …