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2022 BC Coastal Circle Tour
Our biggest trip of 2022 is a 15-day circle tour of a beautiful section on the southern BC Coast, with stays in Sidney, Nanaimo, Comox, Powell River, and Gibsons. The 530km (including ferries) circle we drew: July 15 to 18: Sidney BC July 18 to 21: Nanaimo July 22: Bonus day in Comox, Goose Spit…
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Comox Bonus Day
After Parksville, we said goodbye to Amy and Aaron and headed north to catch a ferry in Comox. It’s a quick 1 hour drive, and we had a choice of two routes. The faster option was through Highway 19, a boring 4-lane highway that would get you to Comox about 10 to 15 minutes faster.…
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Parksville – seaside vacation destination
When we stayed in Nanaimo, we visited Parksville on multiple occasions. In hindsight, we should have looked for a place to stay closer to Parksville since there were so many more things to do around here. No only is it only a short 10 minute drive to the eclectic community of Coombs, Parksville also has…
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Coombs – eclectic attractions
Coombs is famous for its “Goats on the Roof” aka Old Country Market, which is way too popular for the location it’s in. There’s almost always a traffic jam on that small drive around the market with very limited parking. Honestly, I feel the market is probably only worth a visit if you haven’t seen…
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Nanaimo – hopping stone to nearby attractions
Our second multi-day stay on our BC Coastal Circle Tour was in Nanaimo, with our good friends Aaron, Amy, and their son. We arrived at dinner time, so we headed out to the Old City Quarter for a highly rated Italian restaurant, only to find it closed. Thankfully, there was a Japanese restaurant nearby run…
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Duncan – BC Forest Discovery Centre
The second leg of our BC Coastal Circle Tour is in Nanaimo, so we said goodbye to Sidney and the Saanich Peninsula. We did some research before the trip to find some things to do along the way, since it’s a rather monotonous drive otherwise. We considered visiting Bamberton Beach for its sandy beach and…
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Elk/Beaver Lake Paddle
Elk/Beaver Lake is a Regional Park in the Capital Regional District, located halfway between Sidney (and Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal) and Victoria. The lake derived its funny name when the two once-separate lakes became dammed and the water level rose to flood the marsh land between them. Instead of renaming the newly formed lake, they…
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Sidney BC – City of Crabs
Sidney BC is an easily-overlooked town right off the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. We’ve driven past it many times on our way to Victoria, only occasionally stopping at the MacDonalds for a quick bite. We’ve rectified this error this time, and spent a fabulous 3-night stay here with our good friends David, Rofie, and their…
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Kinsol Trestle Trail
Quick Facts: AllTrails link: Kinsol Trestle Trail, 3km with negligible change in elevation if you stay on the trestle Difficulty: very easy, stroller friendly Traffic: moderate Facilities: portable toilet at the trail head View: very cool looking trestle Overall score: 5/10 During our camping trip outside Victoria, we took a little detour and visited the…
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Camping at Goldstream Provincial Park
Goldstream Provincial Park features a campground just 25 minutes outside Victoria via Highway 1. It has what we call the “deluxe” facilities by provincial park standards: hot shower, flush toilet, deep sinks for dish washing, and even decent cellular reception. But our first impression of the campground was less than perfect. At around 2pm, there…