We had a lovely picnic out on the rocks and the kids had a great time wading out on the beach area – but be sure to bring water shoes as it’s a rocky beach and you don’t want “barnacle feet” as Ella calls them.  Speaking of Ella, we met another little girl named Ella whom our Ella took in tow and helped guide her along, until our Ella herself slipped and fell.  Luckily a woman sitting on the beach was better prepared than we were with magical band-aids – you know the kind, even when there’s no blood, one or two of these band-aids and all the crying stops.  Yes, you know.

This is one of the nicest ocean-front parks we’ve been to and we’ll definitely be back again.

[Note - the Google map is incomplete - switch to the Satellite view and you'll get more accurate directions - Follow the signs off Northwest Bay road to Beachcomber marina and then keep going past the marina]

Of course we have to start with the beaches.  At Qualicum Beach our picnic place of choice is the grassy area next to the parking lot on the left side of the Beach Hut.  While no picnic spot along there is more than a stone’s throw from the beach, being a stone’s throw from great take out food and ice cream is a great bonus, plus there’s good shade if things get too not (we should be so lucky!).  With smaller kids, you just need to be careful at Qualicum Beach because you’re close to the traffic.  On the other hand, if the tide is right, you can  just move the picnic out onto the sand.

Parksville’s community beach has a lot of picnic options, but our favourite is to find a good tree by the playground.  George has a couple of trees staked out because they’re equidistant to the playground and the concession stand.  Lineups might be long sometimes, but those fries are worth the wait and the kids love the soft ice cream with coloured edges.  We dare you to stay less than an hour at this spot on a beautiful sunny day…

Spider Lake, just off the Horne Lake exit of the Island Highway, is another favourite picnic spot by the water.  If it’s looking like a nice day, we recommend getting out there as early as possible (for George and Ella that would be 7am!) because the park fills up fast close to noon.  There are two main picnic areas facing each other across one arm of the lake, joined by a trail – we call them the forest side and the sandy side.  We’ve never been sand people, but they always eem to having a good time too.  For us, it’s the forest side all the way.  There’s also a little island that Grace is anxious to paddle over to this year – or perhaps just sit in the boat while George paddles.  By the way, part of the attraction of Spider Lake is that there are nothing motorized on the water to disturb the tranquility – that’s the jog of the kids screaming while catching tadpoles and frogs.

A new spot we discovered this year is at Morningstar Farm and Little Qualicum Cheeseworks.  Aside from the fun of visiting the farm animals (watch for goats on an overhead walkway!), there’s a lovely picnic area with a fabulous view of Mount Arrowsmith.  There’s also a little trail to walk off the picnic.

So we’re motoring up the island highway past Parksville, then Qualicum Beach, the sun is blazing, the kids are singing along to ‘Come On Eileen,’ when up ahead we see dark ominous clouds. That’s way past Bowser, no worries we said.  We pull off the highway and head up the Seaside route and those dark clouds seem a little closer.  By the time we pull up to the beach, it’s hailing!

Now, as we huddled on the beach, the magnificent mountain scenery somewhere in front of us behind a mass of grey cloud, we looked to the left – sunshine – and we looked to the right – sunshine – and we looked at each other and ran back to the car.

Fortunately, this is Vancouver Island and if one fun trip doesn’t pan out, you’ve got another waiting for you just down the road.  Ours turned out to be Qualicum Beach.  First a stop at the Shady Rest with a beautiful window seat on the ocean (pretty much every table has a great view and lots of light anyway, but it’s always nice to be right at the window) and delicious fish and chips.

Then it was out on the beach for more than an hour of dodging geoduck sprays, spelling practice in the sand (my husband says that having fun is no excuse not to be learning every second… yea, he’s a barrel of laughs), and skating on the flat sand.  You’d be surprised how many skating moves the girls got in.

Boy did the generation gap show out there on the sunny, but windy April beach.  I in my kerchief and pa in his cap… or at least three layers of clothing, while the kids were running around in just their bathing suits.  I vaguely remember that metabolism.  Meanwhile George is trying to conduct a lesson on the effect of the sun’s rays on epidermal layers.  That’s right Grace, put that dead crab on his shoulder.

As for that beach near Bowser, we’ll report back when we’ve seen it in the sunshine.