Kidding Around Vancouver Island

As we were driving around the Cowichan Valley last weekend, we happened upon Cowichan Bay, a quintessential seaside village about a half hour from Victoria or Nanaimo. We spent an afternoon strolling the quaint shops that line the harbour – from deciding on a real or a fake shark’s tooth necklace, to checking out pottery [...]

We got to spend a lot of time in the Cowichan Valley this past week as our eldest took part in a week-long day camp at Eagle Arts Academy. Now in it’s fifth summer, and located on the Maxwell School campus overlooking Shawnigan Lake, the Academy brings teachers from around the world to work with [...]

If you’re looking for an all-day outing for the family, our favourite is still the community beach at Parksville. The huge playground and small water park, combined with a concession stand and the spectacular long shallow beach mean hours and hours of fun. If you can, plan your day around the tide tables – arrive [...]

Qualicum Beach (here’s a map) is great for a few hours by the water – and here the focus really is on the water because there aren’t playground or other park facilities. There is however, lots of great food all along this big stretch of highway. Just so you know, the highway is down to [...]