Exploring Newcastle Island in Nanaimo

Hey guys, Heather here!

Since I began working with Tourism Nanaimo at the beginning of the summer, I’ve been inspired to rediscover the Harbour City. After checking a few boxes off my list I decided I to go on a ‘re-adventure’, and do something I had not done since I was in grade 7…  hike around Newcastle Island! I called my brother, my very first adventure buddy, to tell him the plan and he was eager to join me in reliving our youth.

Me and my brother!

The morning was a little gloomy but we made a pact that rain or shine this hike was happening, we did grow up on the ‘wet-coast’ right after all! We arrived early for the ferry (which runs every hour on the hour from Maffeo Sutton Park) so we walked the waterfront and grabbed a Nanaimo Bar latte from my favourite coffee shop, Javawocky. We made our way to the Newcastle Island ferry where we hopped on the Island Mist foot passenger ferry ($9 round trip adult fare, $6 for child and senior) and set sail on our 10 minute ocean cruise.

Getting ready to hop on the passenger ferry

We arrived on Newcastle Island and all my childhood memories came flooding back to me. The clubhouse still hosts interesting art pieces, the totem poles are still standing proud, the open campground and playground reminded me of why I loved this little island so much. My brother and I set out on our journey, first checking the map at the beginning of the trail to decide what our path would be.

We decided to stick to the perimeter path of the island, which is approximately 7.5 kilometers but there are several joining trails that allow other island adventurers to shorten or lengthen their hikes if they choose (the trails are suitable for all experience levels, including children, dogs and those on bikes).

The perimeter path follows the coast line of the island, providing stunning views of the Pacific Ocean while also catering to those seeking a more forested surrounding. I should also note that in addition to the breathtaking views, Newcastle Island is enriched in fascinating history and cool points of interest along the trails, such as the Giovando Lookout and the Sandstone Quarry.

I highly recommend leaving a few hours open to hike Newcastle Island. My brother and I kept finding ourselves running out to all the various lookout points, astonished every time at the beauty around us (we may have stopped to catch some Pokémon along the way). We even took a moment on one of the beaches to get our ‘Om’ on and reflect on how lucky we truly are to live in the Pacific North West.

We live here?! 

We met a few people during our hike who frequently like to spend the day island hopping. They begin with hike around Newcastle Island and finish it off with lunch at the Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island. It’s a little know fact, but if your check with your ship’s captain, they may be able to drop you off at the pub for a small additional fee. Sounds like a pretty great way to spend a day if you ask me!

Mmm. Dinghy Dock food.

I hope you are as inspired as I am to get out and explore all the wonders Nanaimo has to offer.

Until next time!

Cheers,

Heather 🙂
info@tourismnanaimo.com
250-751-1556

What’s Up: September 9th – 14th

What’s Up This Week September 9-14, 2015

Featured Event: Nanaimo Harvest Festival 2015, Sept. 12 (Saturday)

The Harvest Festival celebrates the bounty of the season with music, fresh local food and all things culinary. Enjoy live music on multiple stages, local vendors selling produce, crafts, fashion and accessories, local food items, and more. While you’re enjoying a full day of entertainment in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarters, make sure to stop into some of the many local shops, boutiques and coffee shops. The event is free, but organizers are asking for a suggestion $1 donation to go towards Nanaimo Foodshare. Entertainment starts at 11am and runs right through until 5pm. For more information please visit their event website.

Credit: Sean Helmn / Tourism Nanaimo

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9^th

4:45-9pm: Ladies’ Nine & Wine, Fairwinds Golf Club, $49

4:00-6:30 pm: Bowen Road Farmers Market at Beban Park.

7:00-9:00 pm: Wine Wednesdays at ACMe Foods Co. ( with live music).

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10^th 

4:00-9:00 pm Maffeo-Sutton Park Market. FREE

6:30 – 8:00 pm: Author Reading: Poet Joseph A. Dandurand “I Want”. Strong Nations Books, FREE

7:00 – 9:30pm: Famous Local Landmark Tour, meet @ the Bastion, $25/adult.

7:30-9:00pm: Raising Vancouver Island’s Flag of 1865, Bowen Park Complex, FREE. Join the Vancouver Island and Coast Society and learn about the official flag of the Colony of Vancouver Island from 1865. Experts will provide historical background on the flag and the 150^th anniversary.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11^th

ALL DAY: Golf for Life 2015, Fairwinds Gold Club (Nanoose), $200/player

10:00-4:00 pm Morningstar Bison Ranch Tours, train ride $20/adult $5/child.

2:00-6:00 pm Bastion Waterfront Farmers Market, next to the Bastion. FREE

7:30pm Victoria Baroque Players “Surprise Symphony”, St. Andrew’s United Church, $28/adult

  

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12^th

8:00-3:00pm: Lantzville’s Minetown Day Festival 2015, Lantzville, FREE! Join the community in celebrating Lantzville’s history by attending a full day of family fun including a pancake breakfast, the Parade, hay rides, street market and a ton of rides and games.

9:00am: 10^th Annual Run for the Mountain, Westwood Lake, $20-25/adult

10:00-4:00 pm Morningstar Bison Ranch Tours, train ride $20/adult $5/child.

10:30-1:30pm: Brie/Neufchatel Cheese making Course, Gabriola, $100/adult

11:00-5:00pm: Harvest Festival, Old City Quarter, by DONATION ***please see info on Featured Event***

1:00-4:00pm: Blackberry Tea, Cedar United Church Hall, $5/adult

6:00-8:00pm: Live Music at New York Style Pizza, FREE

 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13^th

10:00am-2:00 pm Cedar Farmers Market at the Crow and Gate Pub Field in Cedar.

10:00-4:00 pm Morningstar Bison Ranch Tours, train ride $20/adult $5/child.

10:30-2:30pm: Mozzarella and Chevre Cheese making course, Gabriola, $95/adult

1:00-4:00pm Jazz Jam Sundays, ACMe Foods, by DONATION($10)

1:30-4:00 pm: Lantzville Farmers Market, St. Phillip’s Church (Lantzville), FREE

3:00pm: Return of the Salmon BBQ, Newcastle Island, $60/person (incl. ferry). Head over to Newcastle Island and enjoy an afternoon of traditional storytelling, a gorgeous nature walk and a delicious Salmon BBQ. For more information and/or reservations please call 250-740-2300.

For more local events, check out our events page at www.tourismnanaimo.com/events

Make a SPLASH This Summer in Nanaimo

With summer in full swing, who doesn’t want to cool off and relax at a lake or beach?! Here are some local favourites:

Westwood Lake

This lake has it all. A nice sandy beach, two swimming areas, boat launch, boat rental right around the corner, and City of Nanaimo lifeguards are also on duty in the summer. So bring your beach towel and sand buckets and spend the day at this gorgeous lake.

Westwood Lake in the Summertime

Beautiful Mount Benson

Long Lake

Another great lake for swimming is Long Lake, conveniently located in central Nanaimo along the Island Highway. The beach area is right adjacent to a forested playground area, which is nice as it provides some shade and kids entertainment.

Long Lake

Peeking through the Trees

Departure Bay Beach

Departure Bay Beach is one of Nanaimo’s longer stretched bays. The swimming area is usually not as busy as other spots in Nanaimo and you can watch the ferries passing by. It also has a dock for jumping and a roped-off area specifically for swimming.

Departure Bay Beach

Panoramic of Departure Bay

Ocean Swims

Nanaimo has a number of beaches if you are looking to dip your toes into the ocean. Piper’s Lagoon Park is a local favourite ocean swimming spot, along with a beautiful walk if you’re up for that too. Added bonus: the lagoon area is usually also a little warmer than the ocean.

Other beaches to hit up include Neck Point Park, Blueback Beach, Kanaka Bay (Newcastle Island), Descanso Bay on Gabriola Island and Sebastion Beach (Lantzville).

Sebastion Beach, Lantzville

What’s your favourite swimming beach? Sound off in the comments! Until next time!

-Helga

Up Up and Away with Sunshine Coast Air!

Hey y’all!

I’m back for round 2 of being a Visitor Information Counsellor this summer (I LOVE it!) and today I’m gonna share with you our adventures in Flightseeing with Sunshine Coast Air. 

My co-worker Jenna and I got to go a few weeks ago with some visitors from Germany. TBH (to be honest), I was a little bit nervous as I’m not a huge fan of flying. However, I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable I felt and how extremely excited I was once we got down to the docks and ready to board the plane.

Ready to fly!

It was kind of funny; I was talking to the German visitors and mentioned that one of our co-workers, Helga, is German and that when I left the Northfield Visitor Centre that she was speaking German to them (it’s my favourite to hear!) Turns out, the German visitors that Helga was speaking to were the same ones we were going to fly with! So cool!

For the flight, we started by going around Jack Point and then headed over to Gabriola Island. The view of the cliff-filled coast was amazing; I didn’t realize Gabriola had that kind of coast! It was beautiful. After soaring over Gabriola we went over Entrance Island, which was over flowing with sea lions! I’ve never seen that many, it was insane. One of the German visitors commented “how lazy” the sea lions are…and she is right!

Entrance Island

Cliffs of Gabriola

Next up was Newcastle Island. The water was so clear and looked amazing, I couldn’t believe it. A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I attempted to kayak around Newcastle Island (look for that in an upcoming blog post!). Long story short, we couldn’t make it around due to wind so we had lunch in Kanaka Bay, which we could see below us on the seaplane, so that was neat. After that, we were off to Pipers Lagoon and Neck Point which are two of my favourite parks in Nanaimo. They are so pretty to walk around, but wow, that view from above!

Neck Point Park

Other than the view, my favourite thing about this was that we went with some visitors from Germany. It was awesome to be able to experience our beautiful city with some friendly visitors.

Seriously though, I cannot stress to you how amazing the view is from the seaplane. You cannot beat the view of Nanaimo from there. Have fun flying!

~Laura

That’s me, on the right, hanging with Jenna at the Bastion!

Get to Know the Tourism Staff: Helga

Happy Saturday, readers!

Today we are THRILLED to introduce you to our newest Tourism Nanaimo Team member…Helga! Helga has joined us in the role of VIC/Distribution Clerk. She has worked with us for a few years now as a summer student and as well as a part time staff in the off-season. We asked Helga the same questions as all the other staff, so here are her answers!

Meet Helga, our VIC/Distribution Clerk!

In your opinion, what is Nanaimo’s best kept secret?

Not a lot of people know that Nanaimo is home of the International Centre for Sturgeon Studies at VIU and that you can tour the place and have a look at the research facilities and some really cool huge fish. The tours are super interesting and you usually get to touch and hold some baby sturgeons.

What’s one place/event/activity in Nanaimo that you have not yet participated in but would love to one day?

I have to admit that I haven’t fully explored the Cedar and Yellow Point area and I have never been to the Crow and Gate Pub. All these are on my summer bucket list.

Entrance of the Crow & Gate Pub

If a visitor was only in Nanaimo for one day, what would you recommend they must see?

Heading downtown is always a must see. Even if you only have an hour you can stroll the waterfront walkway and along Commercial Street. With a little more time, Newcastle Island is a fun walk and then from there you can hop over to the floating restaurant on Protection Island.

What’s the most interesting/surprising thing you’ve learned about Nanaimo since working for Tourism Nanaimo?

I never knew how popular mountain biking is in Nanaimo. It is pretty amazing if you look at a map, how many kilometers of biking trails there actually are.

Mountain biking trails are everywhere!

Thanks Helga – so great to have you on the team. Next time on the Explore Nanaimo Blog, we’ll learn about Laura’s adventures with Stand Up Paddleboarding! Stay tuned!

Kayaking Hot Spots in Nanaimo

Hey y’all.

Since the weather is getting nicer, I decided it’s time to bring out the old kayak!

I like to start slow, especially since I haven’t been kayaking in about a year and am still pretty new at it!

Kayaking around Newcastle Island with Alberni Outpost

A great place for beginning kayakers is Diver Lake Park. It’s a smaller lake so beginning kayakers can easily go around the lake at least once. But hey, if kayaking isn’t your thing, you can canoe, paddleboard, or even bring an electric motorized boat in for fishing. Lots of Rainbow Trout to be had here! The awesome thing about Diver Lake Park, is that it isn’t just a lake, there are beautiful walking trails, a playground, wildlife viewing, and even a fitness circuit and BMX track!

After getting my paddle wet and easing myself back into kayaking, I took the short drive over to Long Lake. This lake is larger than Diver Lake, but still totally doable for beginners. I usually just stay in the part of the lake that is near the highway, which has the perfect launch area. There are many lake front properties along the water, and many people have speed boats with tubes and jet-skiiers trailing behind. This can make kayaking on the lake a little more fun…if you like a bumpier ride! Again, if kayaking isn’t your thing, there is a swimming area with a dock for those hot days. There is also plenty of Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout to be snatched up!

Photo Credit Cinnabar Vista Productions

Now that I had reminded myself how much I love kayaking, I decided that I need to hit the open ocean! (when I say open I really mean as close to the shoreline as possible haha!). Departure Bay is a nice area for open ocean kayaking (even paddleboarding!)

My next kayak adventure will be to Gabriola Island to explore some tidal pools and see some wildlife!

Silva Bay Kayak Adventures Gabriola Photo Credit Cinnabar Vista Productions

Starfish along Newcastle Island | Credit: Tourism Nanaimo

Where do you enjoy kayaking? Or is canoeing more your thing? Let us know in the comments below!

Laura