Nanaimo - Nanaimo, Canada
Nanaimo, Canada
Where I stayed
Judy and Richards House
After a good night sleep in our Motel room in Port Hardy, we woke to a beautiful day. First stop was the little cafe in town for breakfast where we enjoyed a full English style meal with eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, hash browns and toast accompanied by mugs of filter coffee. It was then time to hit the road and take a leisurely drive down the coast visiting a few small towns and villages on the way.
The distance we would travel today was just under 390 km and we estimated that we would take around five hours to reach our destination of Nanaimo as we had no intentions of staying very long in each town on the way. The road follows the coast for a short distance and then heads inland through some forest areas before swinging back towards the coast at Campbell River situated at the south end of Discovery Passage. It is well known as the Salmon Capital of the World and sports fishermen travel there from all parts of the globe to follow their sport. It has a population of around 30,000 and enjoys a mild climate. We did not stop here but drove straight through, intending to stop at the next town, Courtenay but this didn't happen and we ended up in the small seaside town of Union Bay where we bought lunch at the Critters Cafe and sat on the beach enjoying the food and the view. Margaret had fun having a little paddle in the water and getting the sand between her toes. Union Bay was formerly a major shipping port with huge docks built to accomodate coal trains and sea going freighters to ship out coal from nearby Cumberland. These structures have now disappeared and only a raised rail bed and a few old pilings remain to remind the visitor of the history of the area. Its economy is now reliant on oyster farming. Thirty minutes later we were back on the road heading towards Nanaimo now just 90 kilometres away. It wasn't long before we had passed the small towns of Parksville and Lantzville approaching the outskirts of our destination Nanaimo.
We drove into town with a good part of the afternoon left for us to take a wander around the town. We had spent some time here at the beginning of our trip but due to the activity surrounding the wedding we were here to attend, we had not had a lot of time to see what Nanaimo had to offer. We emptied the car of our belongings into the very nice room made available to us in Jude and Richards house, washed down the car and took it back to the car hire company just down the road. This little Honda Civic had done its job and we were very impressed with it and were a little sad to see it go. It was a glorious day so we decided to go for a little walk and with the warm sun shimmering on the water we followed the path around the shoreline which terminated at the jetty with its little shops and eating places. A cup of coffee in the little cafe on the jetty was in order and we sat in the warm sun watching the people go by. The passenger ferry to Vancouver was about to leave and we watched it as it disappeared over the horizon. We would be catching it again next Monday to spend our last few days back in Vancouver. A visit to the souvenir shop to buy a few odds and ends, all made in China of course and then we were off again to see some of the older buildings in the town. We arrived back at the Southwell's home in time for a late afternoon meal. Jude and Richard had some friends over and we spent time chatting with them as dinner was prepared and served. It was not too long before it was time to get some shut eye so after saying our goodnights to our hosts we went to bed.
Saturday morning came and with it another beautiful day. After breakfast Jude and Richard suggested we visit the Old Country Market in Coombs, a small town close to Parksville and not very far away from Nanaimo. When we arrived the whole town was buzzing with activity as it seemed everyone on Vancouver Island had the same idea. We were intrigued to see goats munching on the grass planted on the market roof and made enquiries as to how this had come about.
The web site gives a bit of a history of the market:-
'The original market was created by Kristian Graaten. Kris and his wife, Solveig, emigrated with their children to Vancouver Island from Norway in the 1950s. Kris, who grew up in the small community of Lillehammer, was inspired to include a sod roof in his design of the market. Many Norwegian homes and farm structures are built directly into the hillside with the sod roof becoming an extension of the hillside. With the help of sons, Svein and Andy, and son-in-law, Larry, Kris unwittingly began to build what would become perhaps the most famous sod-roof building in the world. And now the question, “What if we put goats on the roof?”
Well, it was the weekend of the Coombs Fall Fair and the grass was getting rather long. Legend has it that, after a few glasses of wine, Larry suggested that they 'borrow' some goats to ‘mow’ the grass and perhaps provide some entertainment for passing cars. Needless to say, the goats became permanent tenants of the Coombs market that weekend and have been there for more than thirty years. Each spring, a trip of goats makes their home on the roof, entertaining both locals and visitors from all over the world. '
Attached to the market, which by the way has heaps of farm fresh produce for sale as well as other items, are a variety of places to eat from snacks, icecreem, smoked salmon to a full on Italian Restaurant. A very pleasant morning was spent here.
Dinner that night was eaten back at Nanaimo in a very nice restaurant on the town jetty. We had tried to visit a restaurant on a little island just off the coast but the ferry was jampacked and we eventually gave up. So we sat, ate, drank and chatted making sure that we did not make such a late night of it because it had been decided that we would visit Victoria the next day to have a little look around and also so that we could say goodbye to Jude's mother before we left on our way home.
Jude's brother is a motor mechanic in Victoria and he had been tinkering around with Richard's Mazda RX7 turbo charger which had been giving a bit of trouble. After looking around Victoria's picturesque harbour and its famous Fairmont Empress Hotel, where we thought about having high tea but changed our minds when we saw the cost, and visiting Mrs McEwen, we started on our way home, Mike and Richard in the super charged Mazda and Jude and Margaret following behind, a long way behind, in Jude's car.
Early start tomorrow so we had to sort out our things and be ready to catch the ferry back to Vancouver. Jude and Richard took us down to the ferry terminal arriving with time to spare and waited until the boat cast off. It was bitter sweet saying goodbye to them, not knowing if or when we would be seeing them again, but also getting closer to seeing our own family back home in Australia